School Complex System to help improve learning outcomes

The government has introduced the School Complex System to improve learning outcomes and strengthen school administration. As per the system, a Government Senior Secondary School will function as a nodal/leader school for high, middle and primary schools falling in its catchment area and the principal of a senior secondary schools will function as the administrative head for the entire complex.

Secretary (Education) Rakesh Kanwar notified the decision today. Director, School Education, Ashish Kohli said that the decision was in continuity of the unification of the directorates of school education into one unit. “The unification of directorates will become meaningful only if schools function as integrated units, not in silos,” Kohli added.

Under this system, the school principal will be the administrative head of the complex for day-to-day administration and implementation of the programmes, schemes and campaigns of the department. He/she will be required to visit each school in the complex at least once in two months to examine the learning levels of the students and oversee various programmes. The principal will have to ensure that no school in the complex is without a teacher and he will have the authority to depute a teacher from one school to another. Besides, he will be the sanctioning authority of leave to all teachers within the complex. “With one administrative head, resource sharing will become easy and effective,” said Kohli.

The integration of schools is likely to check the depletion of enrolment in government schools. As per the guidelines, all teachers will make efforts to convince parents to enrol their children in government schools. As per the Education Department, the average enrolment in government schools in the state is 49 against the national average enrolment of 166. The average enrolment in schools in the US and China is 526 and 565, respectively. As many as 87 per cent primary schools have fewer than 40 students.

The situation is equally bleak in standalone middle schools – only seven per cent schools have more than 40 children. “Small schools act as barriers to optimising the available resources. Key skills like critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration are best learned in large and diverse groups. For this, we need larger, vibrant schools with high enrolment and adequate teaching staff,” said Rakesh Kanwar, Secretary Education, in the notification.