Last week of April, the principal secretaryschool education department Asgar Samoom made it public that the governmentteachers produce poor results as compared to the teachers in private schoolsdespite getting ten times better wages than latter.
Here I am sharing the tweet: “Govt teachersget 10 times better wages/ incentives/infrastructure but isn’t it true thatteaching-learning outcomes are better in 3000 elementary private schoolsvis-a-vis 29000 Govt Schools; teachers & Govt need to work together toimprove QUALITY of school education in JKUT.”
It was not a revelation but coming from theadministrator of the school education department took everybody by asurprise ashe revealed the shortcomings of the department on his micro blogging website-Twitter.
He not only revealed the shortcomings buthinted that excellence can be achieved if department and the teachers worktogether.
His tweet was flooded with responses fromthe teachers, masters and lecturers but none came up with the solution; onlyhighlighted the mistakes done in past by the policy makers. The debate ontwitter lasted for hours only to end with blame game. The blame was finally puton the department as it failed to upgrade the infrastructure and revise thecurriculum in schools.
The tweet also exposed the infightingbetween the teaching communities as General Line Teachers attributed the poorperformance of the government schools to the SSA teachers appointed in thedepartment under a centrally sponsored scheme. However, for me it was a vagueargument because the SSA teachers revived the education sector in far off areaswhere the schools were at the verge of closure. Even these days also, thedepartment is deploying the SSA teachers in higher secondary schools to takeclasses of secondary and senior secondary level students. You can blame thepolicy makers for using the scheme for their personal interests but not theteachers who are working in toughest terrains.
The debate on twitter ended after a longthread of verbal brawls and blame game from different associations of teachersbut there was no solution from either side. It has been an ever going processthat no one has got the solution to the problem that ails the education sector,all resort to buck passing.
I was taken aback by the blame game ofteachers who tried to save their skin and wanted the department to firstrectify the past mistakes which according to them can reform the sector. Theteachers (SSA, General Line, Lecturers) who were vocal on twitter inhighlighting the past mistakes, have been seen hitting streets for every nowand then in past to press for their demands. Ironically, not a single sloganwas ever raised for demanding proper infrastructure, adequate teaching facultyor updated curriculum in schools. The protest was always for promotions,salary, arrears and related issues which we can relate to their careerprogression.
I have seen the education department veryclosely for last almost eight years now and have come across through variouschallenges faced by department in reforming the sector. From transfers to upgradation of infrastructure and from decreasing enrollment in schools toincreasing number of concrete school buildings. One of the unique challenges inthe department is to decrease number of teacher deficient schools, at a timewhen the number of in-service in the department is more than what is actuallyrequired. There are schools where teachers outnumber students and also thoseschools which never get the required faculty. Here the schools in rural areasare worst hit.
Given my experience, I have come to believethat this issue is not as simple as it seems to be. There is more to it thanmeets the eye. Several attempts were made in past to bring reforms but thosereform measures were never taken to logical end. For example, the departmentwanted to create a database of all teachers, masters and lectures and decidedto reshuffle the staff as per the demand and requirement in schools. But due toinfighting in the department, the initiative never materialised. Also,authorities had also decided to keep certain conditions for the staff to beposted in DIETs and SIE but the decision was never implemented only because ofthe infighting and the non-cooperation from the teaching community. With theresult these research institutes (DIETs and SIEs) are labeled as dumping sites.
There are dozens of such reform initiativeswhich were put under the carpet due to non-cooperation of the teachingcommunity, particularly the influential lot.
One of the major reasons for blame game inthe department is that the attempts made by any administrator are linked to hispersonal likings not as a policy matter. With the result the administrators seetheir association with the education department brief because they all knowonce it hits the collective ego of influential Babus in the government, he willbe shifted to other department leaving his initiatives incomplete. It goes likethis, and the new administrator comes with his own ideas which again fades awaywith his shifting to the other department.
Anyone who was appointed as head of the department has never dared to take any such initiative that will disturb the vested interests. If he does so, he is shown the door. In this way, everyone contributed in getting our government education sector deteriorated.
Now what can help the department in achievingthe excellence is the joint effort from the policy makers, and the teachers whoare the foot soldiers of the department. The way teachers are working amid thispandemic is an eye opener. They don’t find any excuse (lack of infrastructure,outdated curriculum) to stop from rendering their services. But it is justtheir will power to deliver. Similarly, regretting the past mistakes is not asolution to the problem but positivity for making a better tomorrow canflourish the department. Create sense of belonging than being merely anemployee from 10am to 4pm.