Hate the system not the teacher

Recently the ministry of education passed a loud and clear message to the
teaching community that none of them will be spared if they failed to perform in
a much better way. The statement spoke louder that the performance of the
government teachers is not par excellence and that the teachers have been
proven a lazy lot as per their observations. Well, apparently the common
perception is exactly the same hence there can be no denial of this assumed
fact. However, what the said ministry has assumed is only a half truth as a coin
always has two facets. When a machine malfunctions consistently, it should be
believed that something is wrong with its operator who might not be
manoeuvring it efficiently. Every year the (disgraceful) results of 10th and 12th
class board examinations become hot news. From a common man’s kitchen up to
the ministry of education everywhere the teacher is maligned as he is supposed
to be the sole responsible for the same. Most of the people do not know that
besides teachers’ lake of commitment there are some serious reasons for why
the government schools are showing poor performance. Firstly until the invasion
of private institutions no government institution underperformed. Government
schools even established in ordinary mud houses were the centres of intellect,
morality, humility and the like. Now the most intelligent lot of the new generation
is taken by the private schools and the remaining filth that either belongs to the
poor or to the illiterate families is enrolled in the government schools. Here a
teacher is supposed to do miracles. He is asked to produce statesmen, poets,
philosophers, intellectuals and the like from a class of children which stand
nowhere in the society. On the other hand the government itself encourages the
private sector and neglects its own. I have my personal experience in this behalf
and can site many examples to support my view. Once on annual day function
we invited one of the dignitaries of the education department to come and
preside over the faction but he did not oblige us despite making a solid promise
whereas the same dignitary did attend a function organised by a private
institution in the same locality and surprisingly he reached there well in time. It is
but natural that the government officials will certainly encourage the institutions
where their own kids are getting education. Why will they panic for those areas
where their skin remains untouched? Not only this there is a good number
among the concerned authorities that run their own private schools not for the
reason that they want to serve the nation by providing quality education but only
to swell-up their assets. Had not that been the case, there was a nice opportunity
for them to render their services to the nation in a much better way by giving
due attention towards the government schools....... The president of the country
will visit schools like DPS but will never bother to step into a muddy government
school where poor people are enrolled. In this age of science and technology the
government schools still lack in basic infrastructure although the SSA scheme
has changed the look of these schools to greater extent but the things inside the
four walls are still to experience a positive change...... Secondly all the children
enrolled in the government schools in class 1st legally cannot be failed or
detained until they reach class 10th. There is no bar or criterion to filter the
relatively good students out of the junk. A student how dull he/she may be is to
be promoted to the next class every year without considering his/her daily
attendance, his performance and progress, his behaviour or conduct or for that
matter his worth. In contrast the private schools screen test the students before
admitting them in their institutions. And the trash left behind is passed to the
government teacher. Just imagine when these thrown away students will face the
board examination in class 10th what can be their fate. Unquestionably, they are
sure to fail. Once they fail in their first real mental test, the teacher at once
comes to everybody’s mind and people start reproaching him. Both electronic
and print media deem it their obligation to prove teacher the culprit. Everyone
throws the volleys of ridiculous words at him but he is heard by none. In fact he
is supposed to accept the charge levelled against him without any protest so that
the real culprits may not come to common man’s notice..........

RT( Rehbar-i-Taleem) factor is another example that can be cited to prove

the government’s indifference towards education. Simple matriculates are
engaged as teachers in the far flung areas under the kind shadow of RT scheme
whereas for the same assignment in cities and towns even PHD’s get dropped or
we can put it like this that they are not believed to have the worth to teach. Then
the monthly remuneration of these highly qualified RT’s is ridiculous. 1500
rupees a month, hardly enough for such a teacher to buy a pair of quality shoes,
is a contempt of all the labour laws. A second class carpenter can earn at least
six to seven thousand rupees per month but an RT can only dream of 1500
rupees. A big question here, can 1500 rupees do any magic? As big and
significant the job is as big should be the salary. How far this can be termed as
just and how far is it logical to dream of intellectual revolution in such
circumstances. Still then the things are not as worst as they are propagated to
be. All the products of the government schools are not as mediocre as they
generally are supposed to be. Fair number of KAS and IAS officers, poets, writers
and social workers is the product of various government schools which is an open
fact but unfortunately the private schools using their wit succeed to take the
credit in their favour.

Another important reason for the failure of the government educational

institutions is that the heads of the various schools are chosen on the basis of
seniority not merit. As senior one is as high profile chair he can sit in hardly
matters whether he has the intellect and skill to run an institution in a desirable
way or not. It is the headmaster of a primary or middle school who is responsible
for shaping the nation and as such his post is more significant and sensitive than
that of a district or divisional officer of the concerned department. Performances
largely depend upon the calibre of the heads of the institutions which apparently
and unfortunately bears no significance here.

Having another look at the whole education policy is very badly needed. If
the authorities really feel the pain and want to make history by overhauling the
malfunctioning system of education, they should come forward with some viable
mechanism rather than devising laws or decrees only to annoy the teachers’
fraternity. By hammering the sensitive machine one cannot make it to function
smoothly but only can produce noise.
Sabir Hussain Isaar

Greater Kashmir...1st September 2009