Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s plan to revamp school management system is indeed laudable. One hopes it works well at the ground level also. Guidelines concerning School Management Committee (SMC) released on May 6 provide, most importantly, for involvement of local community and teaching staff to tackle various issues arising from time to time. There is provision for digital monitoring by the authorities along with community vigil called ‘social audit’. This measure is expected to control the absenteeism of teachers, misappropriation of funds, drop-out rate of children, etc. which are known to afflict the functioning of government schools.
This plan might help console the teachers who have had no say in the administration of schools. We must not, however, gloss over the ground situation. The biggest obstacle in the sound working of schools comes from the government itself, at both central and state levels. The fact is that the teachers’ work is not given the respect it deserves. Why otherwise would the government treat them as handymen for every kind of job that has nothing to do with teaching? Whether door-to-door surveys are to be conducted or election duty is to be performed, teachers are the first category of employees to be roped in. Right now, it is the census duty in which not only the government school teachers, but also private school teachers have been drafted. As per information published in local newspapers, in the Sonipat district alone, 514 teachers from 136 private schools have been roped in for the task. So, if you, as parent brought your child from the government school to private school, thinking that s/he would be regularly taught in the private school, you are mistaken.
Multiple other duties prescribed for government school teachers in recent past include surveys for validating voter cards, ascertaining incomes, Parivar Pehchan Patra, etc. They are even asked to deliver food kits to TB patients. Add to these, the sizeable paperwork that the education department enjoins upon teachers from time to time. It is a fact that the overwhelming majority of teachers are women, for whom the problem is more acute since they have to do all types of household chores and also to look after the children.
Shortage of teachers in Haryana schools is something about which the teachers’ unions have made representations many times but without any positive outcome. Vacancies have not been filled up for a long time now. The present estimate puts the shortfall in Haryana at around 15000 in all categories – PRT, TGT and PGT, which underlines the severity of the problem. This puts the school education scenario in a pitiable state, particularly when the New Education Policy with its ambitious targets is being implemented. The result is overburdening the teachers and/or assigning them more classes/ periods than the mandate. If the department allows, temporary contractual hirings are done, which again, are not as fruitful as the regular staff is.
It is a question of understanding correctly the teacher’s role. It seems the bureaucracy thinks of teacher’s job just as any layman in the street thinks — that the teachers teach for 2-3 hours and enjoy rest of the day; that they have too many holidays, etc. If this is the perception, then it must become a cause for concern. Who will make the officialdom aware that in order to teach the class, one has to prepare in advance at home too, spending good bit of time not only on lessons but also on numerous student activities and projects, functions to celebrate festivals or the birthdays etc. of national icons or the international days like the Mother’s Day, etc.
To conclude, we find that there are umpteen non-teaching jobs which are assigned to teachers so that it leaves them little time to complete courses which means the students lose in the end. This casts shadow on the future of the nation. The government should spare the teachers and depend upon workers in other departments. The best course would be to raise a separate cadre of employees who can be given the duties related to elections, census, surveys, etc. etc.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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