School education is a workhorse, not a showhorse. Anything below par or outdated in this pivotal sector is a recipe for disaster whose ripple effect sweeps through the other sectors and institutions. Appreciably, the school education in Jammu and Kashmir has made much headway; it’s certain aspects, nonetheless, need sweeping reforms.
Which is tantamount to point out that left unheeded or given scant attention, those important areas are unlikely to sit well with the progress of school academics in the long term. In particular, we need to reassess and reevaluate the performance of these aspects: the teaching – learning activity, exams and infrastructure.
Speaking of the teaching -learning mechanism in place, the general public feels that a chronic shortage of the sympathetic and caring teachers obtains at schools. “Many masters/teachers behave rudely and arrogantly when we ask them not to leave duty over the recess period or at any other duty time for home routinely “, a few residents told this author scornfully. Also the residents reasoned that these teachers have never been transferred from their home schools, emboldening them to abuse their mandate on impunity.
Notably, the Jammu and Kashmir School Education Department (JK SED) has very recently directed all the government educational institutes to have photographs of teachers on display to ‘prevent the practice of teaching staff by sending proxies on their behalf. ‘
And mostly due to the unprofessional and unbecoming conduct by dozens of teachers, the first causality is the academic work of their schools. As per a National Level survey by NCERT and UNICEF (2022) in JK schools: “Around 14 percent of students were not able to identify the initial sound and final sound in any of the given grade level words while the national level performance is 4 percent.”
Meanwhile, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has stated that the ability to read and write and perform basic operations with numbers was a necessary foundation aside from being a prerequisite for future schooling and learning.
It is noteworthy that a majority of the school teachers in this region have their services non-transferable; this has caused many among them to misunderstand that the government schools are their personal fiefdom and that they are above the departmental code of conduct. Small wonder, we time and again read horrible things making headlines involving such teachers.
The bottom line is that this discourteous and uncaring outlook by these stagnant teachers tarnishes the reputation and standing of the education department in public eyes. Also it hurts the morale and public- first attitude of the few dutiful and good teachers at schools.
Pertinently during his “LG’s Mulaqaat”, a live public grievance hearing program at the Civil Secretariat on 30 December 2023, the JK Lieutenant Governor affirmed, “It is my solemn pledge to ensure sensitive and caring government machinery at all levels to enhance the overall well-being of the common man.”
Back to the teachers, it is widely understood that the transferable services will certainly move the self-seeking but non- moving ones out of their home schools; get them interact with other teaching personnel in the wider environment; and enable them to review their duties from a broader perspective. A changed attitude of these teaching elements can eliminate their “we the boss and we better know the public interests approach”. The change of scene is likely to widen their mental horizon, putting their academic activities in a new light.
Take exams. School exams impact the lives of students strongly but are yet to play their due role in achieving the aim of education. Bettering these exams has been the focus of education policies. However, as of today no significant exam reform has seen the light of the day. Also, no external revisit of the school exam system has been carried out thus far to evaluate its effectiveness. Staying alive, therefore, has been an old exam system with certain minor changes here and there.
Since the quality of education largely rests on the quality of exams, it is necessary to change the school exam system and prepare students better for the challenges of the 21st century. Imperative to promote is creativity, innovation, critical thinking and a spirit of inquiry. That will produce academically efficient students. The system should also be made credible by tackling cheating and the other wrong practices. To this end, we need different kinds of leadership skills, decision making, structure, approaches and resources.
The infrastructure at schools too needs a relook. Despite imparting trainings to teachers every year, establishing kindergartens at schools and providing washroom and electricity facilities, the Education Department unfortunately has not seen the performance of the government schools living up to the expectations. Why so? Not because the academic work remains at the back burner. But because some crucial infrastructure elements are awaited in many schools. Topping the list are classrooms and teaching tools.
Several schools have extra classrooms and teaching tools like writing boards, desks, tables, etc to teach effectively. These facilities are unavailable at a good number of elementary schools. Hence congestion and noise pollution — for conducting teaching-learning activities of two to four classes simultaneously in one room — prevent a clear and effective communication. Plus, no writing boards or the presence of small/ broken ones discourages and demotivates even an upright teacher.
My honest opinion is that these poor accommodation primary or middle schools can be merged with the nearby schools — even upto the distance of two kilometers; or two to four classes of such schools can be shifted to the nearby school. This will pay rich dividends to society on three fronts: one, both the shifted and the remaining students can have better accommodation; two, the left government building (in case of a merger) can be used to provide health or veterinary facility to people. Three, the extra staff can be better utilized at other schools. With the JK SED looking committed to improve the educational setup here, school education is poised to bloom.
(Author is a teacher and RK columnist. Ha can be reached at: [email protected])
