Teachers, students need to be more committed

The curriculum, textbooks and, for that matter, the total educational process in our country have been undergoing frequent changes with an eye to fine-tuning.

There is no gainsaying the fact that since the post independence period, education has grown enormously in quantity. Schools and colleges have multiplied like anything. Many special kinds of educational institutions have also come up. The number of students studying in these institutions is also rising by leaps and bounds year after year. There has also been a craze for putting up more and more buildings either to expand the existing infrastructure or to start new ones. In other words, a serious attempt is being made to bring seculareducation to every one’s door step irrespective of its basic quality.

But it’s a fact that quality decreases in proportion to the increase of quantity and as a result of that students are lacking the two kinds of fundamental knowledge like “How to live” and “How to think”.

A recent report of the National Achievement Survey 2017 published in the news paper shows that students are learning less as they move to higher classes. A survey of over one lakh students in Government schools in over 700 districts has proved this.  On an average, a class VIII student could barely answer 40 per cent of the questions in Math, Science and Social Sciences. The national average score of the language was little better at about 56 per cent. They say this is a result of insufficient investment in public education and the Government’s inability to implement the RTE Act in letter and spirit.

After enacting the law in 2009 in all State Government and the Central Government schools, education has been made free for each child up to the age of 14 years under free and compulsory elementary education. Admission in nursery and primary classes are being done through random selection on lottery to reduce the stress among the small kids and parents as well. Even Prime Minister of our country has shown his grave concern over exam stress on students.

In State Government schools, books are distributed free of cost along with mid-day meals. The NCERT is internationally famous for publication of text books (Class –I  to Class XII). It has been providing text books in all CBSE affiliated schools in subsidized rates. All this can be mentioned as a gesture of true spirit for implementation of the RTE Act. The CBSE has already issued circular in the year 2017 to all private CBSE affiliated schools for making it compulsory to introduce NCERT text books in all classes and requested to open a special counter to provide NCERT text books. So the Government’s effort for right implementation of RTE Act is continuous but it requires proper monitoring.

Till today, a majority of private schools, though CBSE affiliated, are beyond the control of the Government. Their exorbitant fees structure, alliance with the private publishers and mutual business with the so- called coaching centers are hindrances in school education and as such, there is no able mechanism to address these problems. The Government’s machinery should be strengthened to monitor teaching – learning situations in schools in a right perspective.

Coming to schools sincerely, completion of syllabus in appropriate time, original love for the profession by teachers and commitment to the working place may bring positive outcomes.

(Dr Ray is an academician and columnist; E-mail: rdrayfreelancer@gmail.com)