Promoting Quality Education in J&K

Iftikar says that teachers should be held responsible for the poor performance of government schools

Take them to task

Iftikar Rashid Wani

While going through various recently published newspaper articles about the performance of government schools, it seems that a rosy picture is being drawn. All those who do so forget the recent 10th and 12th class results where many government schools performed miserably low. Do our teachers recognise this failure?

It is beyond any doubt that a teacher is the soul of any education system. He is the role model for his students. He leads them from darkness to the light. He is the architect of nation’s destiny; but on ground we don’t find it so. Teachers have lowered their status by their actions, deeds and poor work culture. They have least concern for their students, indeed the recent trend has been that of exploiting the students on one pretext or other. Today’s teachers lack dedication, motivation and commitment towards their job. What happened to Midday Meals is known to all. The fact is that where and when they get chance to lay hands at a benefit they do so. In such circumstances how can one expect that they can affect the morality of their students? In Islam, or for that matter in any human civilisation, one is judged by his actions, when our actions speak otherwise how can we shape the lives of our students. It seems that the education department is just to adjust unemployed youth, whether they deserve it or not. Appointments in this department are impacted by various influences. The recent selection list of teachers at district level speaks also raised many questions in the minds of common people. The favouritism and nepotism marred the merit of the other applicants. Can we simply ignore all this mess and move ahead; off course not.

Teachers are the role models for any society and therefore remain under sharp scanner of the society. There is no comparison between teachers and those working in other departments. We all know it is the education which decides the fate of nation. Education system is the heart of any well meaning association of humans at a larger scale. Any fault in it can impede the functioning of entire system. If a flaw is found in it, it must be rectified immediately. If the performance of any particular school is not good its teaching staff should be held responsible for it. Presently teachers are getting a handsome salary; shouldn’t these teachers realize the importance of hard work. Remember in other countries it is only teaching job which one hardly gets because there are so many tests and other procedure to check the mental abilities of the applicants. They treat the job as their baby and nourish it with their blood and sweat. But here education department is served by those who find no other department to work in. What can one expect from such teachers?

There is Rehbari Taleem scheme where a person with PhD is found competing with a matriculate. Isn’t it ironical? Who is responsible for this mess? I do accept that we have a many teachers who work very hard to achieve the goals; the goal to educate the youth. But it is shameful that majority of teachers are not attending their jobs the way they should. Take the example of teacher training. Here only those teachers are deputed who fail to grease the palm of clerks because others remain busy in imparting private coaching during the training period. This way the very purpose of training is defeated because those who are really capable of benefitting from that do not attend the training. On the other hand there are teachers who have passed NET, SLET but are teaching at primary school level. How can they benefit the society when they are wrongly placed?

The lack of interest from parents aggravates the problem. The performance of the students is also a factor contributing to the motivation of teachers. In the absence of parental supervision students perform poorly and consequently it affects the motivation of teachers; thus spoiling the whole scheme of things. Nowadays the concept of tri-polar process, in which teachers, students and parents are the stake holders, is quite popular. Even if a teacher works very hard on his students the low level of participation from parents leads to poor results.

Another facet of the problem is the atmosphere of our schools. Generally we wait for government to improve it by pumping in more money. But teachers at their level can manage things to a good extent. Why should they wait for external funds for managing a small library and a laboratory? There are certain provisions under which they can purchase many things to inculcate scientific temperament among those poor and helpless students. It is high time teachers make sincere efforts to evolve a new model fully realising their responsibilities, and work for the good of this nation.

(Rising Kashmir)