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Quality education, a long way to go

Of the 1,54,442 students who appeared in the entrance test for admission to Meritorious Schools this year, just 4,836 qualified.

Quality education, a long way to go


Sanjeev Singh Bariana in Chandigarh

Of the 1,54,442 students who appeared in the entrance test for admission to Meritorious Schools this year, just 4,836 qualified. Only those who score above 80 per cent in Class X of the Punjab School Education Board are eligible to take the exam for admission to Class XI in these schools, aimed at helping deserving students get placement in professional colleges at the all-India level. This is to say that just a little above 30 per cent students could match up to the minimum standards of admission.

This year, more than 88 per cent students have cleared their matriculation examination and more than 85 per cent have cleared plus two. While the department is right in basking in the glory of the results, it needs to work towards removing the lacunae entrenched in the school education system.

From officials to principals and teachers, everybody admits that “low quality” classroom teaching continues to be the Achilles’ heel of school education in the state. 

While a senior principal says “our overall teaching quality is below average”, Krishan Kumar, education secretary, concedes there are certain missing links in the existing system. “We are well aware of our shortcomings. Special teacher training programmes have been initiated by subject experts to address this. However, it will take some time for the results to show. All long journeys begin with the first step. The results this year show that our journey has started on a positive note,” he says.

At the same time, teachers feel that attaining quality in education will be quite a long trek to success. Didar Singh Mudki, state president of Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan-Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan Teachers Union, says, “Good results do not mean the standard of education has risen magically. In the absence of any mentionable extra-curricular activities and sports, education remains incomplete. Also, we lack basic infrastructure and facilities in schools. Many buildings are unsafe and there is no provision of drinking water and clean toilets in several of them.”

Convenor of Sanjha Morcha, Devinder Punia, points at the inadequate number of teachers. “How can there be proper teaching when there are not adequate number of teachers? We are at least 25,000 short of the required numbers. We always find ourselves filling in for others. I am a science teacher but have been forced to teach maths.”

At a workshop attended by teachers of different subjects, a senior teacher says, “We are being forced to teach with exams in mind. We are not thinking of any alternative activities like sports, debate or drama.” A sarpanch from a Tarn Taran village says teachers are being given all kinds of duties even when there are not enough to teach. “Teachers are sometimes seen participating in the making of mid-day meals. This year we also saw them doing the rounds of the school periphery to check smoking. Their role seems to have changed from that of guru to chowkidar,” he says.

Missing Link

One big problem that the education department faces is the quality of teachers. Serious aspersions have been cast on a certain category of teachers recruited by the previous government. Fingers have been raised at the degrees these teachers had produced at the time of recruitment. A senior official said they were aware of the fact that many teachers teaching English cannot speak or write themselves. “The situation is no different in other subjects,” the official says. Accepting the missing link in the right quality of teachers, the department is soon commencing teaching enhancement classes for English teachers.

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