The result of class 12th students declared by JK Board of School Education (BOSE) for Jammu division has come up with some revelations wherein government school students are seen performing better as compared to previous years.
As per the JK BOSE figures, the pass percentage of students has been recorded as 72 percent- Boys 72 percent and Girls 74 percent.
The official figures also reveal that 16032 students from more than 157 Government Higher Secondary Schools (GHSS) appeared in the exams and produced 72 percent of the students.
On the other hand only 646 students from private schools of Jammu division appeared in the exams and the overall pass percentage of students was 88 percent.
The government school students have not only passed their exams, a good number of them have also shared the merit list with the private schools students as well.
If we talk of the science stream, the first 10 positions in Science stream have been shared by 25 students out of which 14 positions including first three positions are secured by the students from government schools in Jammu division. Such performance of students from government schools hints that the government schools are heading towards fair performance.
The government school students have performed well in their examinations despite the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic which led to the prolonged closure of the schools for the last two years.
Interesting thing is that the students from far off areas of Jammu division have fairly performed in the examination which needs appreciation and encouragement to the students and the staff of these institutions. Such schools must be given recognition in the government education sector. They otherwise remain in news for all bad reasons including dearth of staff, school buildings and poor learning outcomes of the students.
But the JKBOSE result of class 12th students has contrasting figures as well. While some schools figure in the merit list there are other schools which fall in the category of poor performers.
Let us take an example of how schools have fared overall. Government Higher Secondary School (HSS) Kilhotran is a case in point. Around 300 students from the school appeared in the exam and produced 95 percent results. Not only this, the students of this school bagged the first three positions in Science stream as well.
But on the other hand we have some schools which have poorly performed in the class 12th examination. Around 121 students from Government HSS Ramban appeared in the class 12th exams and the school had only 26 percent result. Also, Government HSS Mahoo Banihal produced only 23 percent results. Only 22 students from this school appeared in the exams. Government HSS Thuroo has produced only seven percent results.
There are 14 such government higher secondary schools which have failed to produce above 50 percent result in the examination. Even some schools have below 30 percent results as well. The revelation has come as an eye opener for the department to address the grey areas.
We cannot blame only the students and the teachers for the poor performance in the class 12th examination because there are various factors related to it ranging from availability of staff, school buildings and other prerequisites.
Even the poor performance of the students in some schools has surprised the department as well which has started the detailed analysis of the class 12th results.
“We have divided the schools into groups. One group includes schools which have produced 30 to 60 percent results while the other group includes those schools which have above 60 percent result,” Principal Secretary School Education Department (SED) Bishwajit Kumar Singh told Greater Kashmir. He said the department will analyse the result and decide about the further course of action and the interventions which need to be taken to fill the gap.
The fact is that the majority of government schools including the higher secondary schools have a dearth of teaching staff which tells upon the performance of the students in their exams.
“Yes it is true that some schools do not have adequate teaching staff which is one of the reasons behind poor results. But on the other hand there are some schools which have produced 30 percent results despite having 100 percent staff,” Singh said.
One of the major reasons for not having adequate staff in schools is the delay in granting promotions of the teaching staff by the department. As per the figures there are around 3000 posts of lecturers vacant in the School Education Department which has left the majority of the higher secondary schools teacher deficient.
There are no subject specific permanent lecturers in these higher secondary schools. During previous years, the department would fill the gap by hiring academic arrangements on contract basis but the engagement of these contractual lectures has been caught in official wrangles for the last two years which has deprived the students of adequate teaching staff.
The vacancies have piled up in the department for the last more than eight to 10 years as the department has delayed holding meetings of the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC).
“We are puzzled to see how the department in the past has not ordered promotions on time in the last 10 years. It is not possible for us to fill all these vacancies within a few days as it takes time to arrange DPC meetings and seek vigilance clearance as well,” an official in the department said.
A day after the result was declared, the department started a school wise analysis of the result to ascertain the cause of poor performance of some schools.
There are some far off areas in Jammu division where the government is yet to post or depute adequate staff in the schools which ultimately tells upon the performance of the students in the exams. These areas include Paddar in Kishtwar district where there is lack of resources and teachers in schools.
“There are some far off areas in Udhampur and other districts as well where we do not have sufficient subject specific teachers and lecturers in schools for the students,” Director School Education Jammu (DSEJ) Ravi Shankar Sharma said.
“We have got the school wise result on the basis of which we will analyse the performance of schools and interventions will be made to fill the gaps,” he said.