The right to quality education is, I believe, the perfectway to bridge the gap between different cultures, and reconcile variouscivilizations. Without such a right, the values of liberty, justice andequality will have no meaning. Ignorance is by far the biggest danger andthreat to Human kind.
To a common man’s understanding, Education and Schooling aretwo synonymous terms. But the fact is that, getting children into the school isone thing and educating them is quite another. Let’s stick to some facts.Because, education is, right now, the worst suffering sector in our state.
A recent survey cum research conducted by some scholars of alocal University shows that while there is an improvement in enrollment rate ofJ&K Govt schools, the students in rural areas are appallingly behind in thelevels of learning. The findings are based on a survey of 5000 govt schoolchildren between 6 and 14 years of age. For an overall snapshot, consider thefollowing.
Of the 5th graders surveyed in rural areas, 46% can not reada sentence in English and 39% can not write a paragraph in English. 43% can notread a story in Urdu and 55% can not write a stanza in Urdu. 54% of them cannot do two-digit division.
Speaking about the Kashmiri language, which is being taughtas a compulsory subject up to the middle level, 78% are unable to read Kashmirilanguage and 83% can not write the Kashmiri text.
For past decade, the abysmal level of school enrollment was the principal concern in J&K’s education sector. A number of initiatives were launched to improve the enrollment of govt schools.
Some particular initiatives include the SSA & RMSA schemes, Mid day meal, Scholarship schemes etc. These initiatives, to some extent, bore the fruit. But what led to undesirable results mentioned in above given figures? Who are to be blamed for these lacunae?
According to experts, some factors responsible for theseundesirable results are the faulty methods of evaluation, lack of trainedteachers, saturation of less qualified teachers due to schemes like SSA atelementary level and lack of modern technology based school infrastructure.
It’s a fact that recruitment of RETs under SSA scheme playeda pivotal role in improving the enrollment but at the same time the youngteachers were unable to improve their qualifications which turned them in toincapable class teachers. The lack of training worsened their experience aseffective teachers at the elementary level.
Since Kashmir is a conflict zone, classwork remainssuspended for significant time. This forced the authorities, at the time ofevaluation, to give grace marks to the students and many a time mass promotion.This resulted in the promotion, to the next class, even those Students whodidn’t knew anything about the syllabus.
As for the Mid day meal scheme is concerned, it definitelyserved a purpose in rural Kashmir. According to the nature of the scheme, itdemanded cooks and kitchens. In many cases, circumstances forced the teachersto purchase, cook and serve the children. On that basis, the scheme turned outto be a disguise.
During 2015-16, the then education minister & education director, took a rare initiative by following the mechanism of teaching minimum levels of learning (MLL) at the elementary level.
The purpose was to get out of the syllabus ambit & stick to the basic valve of equipping the children with minimum levels of learning. Ultimately, the initiative failed with a political turmoil.
As of now, the education sector of J&K is seriously lagging behind as compared to the other states of the country, Which has added into the suffering of the whole population.
There’s a dire need of reform in the education sector of thestate.
Ishfaq Pirzada is a teacher at Govt BHSS Warsun Kupwara.