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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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Provide
quality education Need to
think before revamping Campus
NoteS
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Provide quality education Haryana is a progressive state, yet it lags behind many states and union territories in providing quality education to its schoolchildren. Undoubtedly, the Education Department has been striving hard to bring about qualitative improvement in academic standards, but it still has a long way to go for achieving its goal. There has been vast expansion of educational facilities by way of opening and upgrading schools and colleges, but it has left behind the qualitative aspect. The performance of government schools in board examinations is dismal. It is sad to note that not even one student could pass the middle standard examination held in 2007 in as many as 50 schools. In another 13 schools, only 5 per cent students passed while the pass percentage of yet another 37 schools was only 10 per cent. Twenty-eight high and 15 senior secondary schools showed zero per cent result in class X and XII examinations, respectively. There are a number of schools with pass percentage below 30 per cent in all the three examinations. The state government has announced that it will observe 2008 as the year of education, which shows its anxiety and concern to stem the falling standard of school education. Now, a large number of schemes are being launched to attract, enrol and retain boys and girls, particularly those belonging to scheduled castes and other weaker sections of society. All elementary schoolchildren will be given textbooks and workbooks free of cost. Funds have been earmarked for giving stipends, scholarships, books, school bags and one-time allowance to scheduled caste boys and girls. A provision has also been made to give bicycles to girls belonging to the SC category. Though such incentives may help in enrolment and retention of children, these cannot ensure imparting of quality education. If the government really wants to revamp school education, drastic reforms will have to be brought about in the existing system. The recently launched mega projects, Edusat and Model Schools, can benefit only a very limited population The opening of 20 English-medium Model Schools, one per district, is not going to make any significant difference. A recent visit to one of such schools, set up in 2006, has made interesting revelations. With the exception of two schools, which were opened in newly constructed buildings, the students of other 18 model schools were not willing to be taught through the medium of English. A model school should play the role of a pacesetter, worthy of emulation for other schools. However, a comparative study reveals that these schools are in no way better than those in their vicinity. As many as 1,350 government senior secondary schools and nearly 8,000 government primary schools have been connected with satellite under the EDUSAT programme. Quality of education depends largely on the quality of teachers. Even the best textbooks based on the enriched and updated curriculum can’t ensure better quality education unless the knowledge of teachers about their subject(s) is up to date. So, to upgrade and update their professional skills, there should be a regular system of pre-induction and need-based in-service education. SCERT and DIETs, entrusted with the responsibility of imparting in-service education to teachers, are the weakest link in the school system. A committee, assisted and guided by academicians, should look into the working of SCERT and DIETs with a view to suggesting improvement in their functioning. There should be a Programme Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of secretary education to advise and guide SCERT, DIETs, EITIs and BRCs in planning and organising pre-induction and in-service courses. The training of teachers under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is not having desired impact on the teaching-learning environment, hence no tangible improvement in the teaching methodology. Unless the implementation of various schemes under SSA is monitored effectively, the aim is hard to achieve. Academic supervision is conspicuously absent from schools in Haryana. The officers concerned hardly find time to visit schools. Most of the school heads are not so effective in disciplining the non-performing teachers and also those found guilty of dereliction of duty. So, the school-based management or administration should be strengthened. There is also need to introduce accountability in the system, so as to make not only the teachers but also all those involved in the educational process. Non-performers should not be allowed to go unnoticed/unpunished. Also, the school system in the state has been a victim of large-scale frequent transfers of teachers and supervisory officers. Under such circumstances, all schemes and programmes get derailed. That is why Haryana has not been able to achieve a major break through in quality education even after four decades of its existence as a separate state. — The writer is a former Director, Primary Education, Haryana
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Need to think before revamping The Haryana Education Department has mooted far-reaching restructuring of higher education in the state from the coming academic session. A hectic round of meetings in this regard is already on in state universities. However, these meetings seem pointless because the agenda note indicates that the department is well prepared to deal with the ‘resistance’ by various stakeholders and push through the proposals. All the same, there should be wider debate on the issue. A feeling of disquiet with the current state of affairs in higher education and the urge for its improvement are understandable as well as warranted but given its far-reaching import, it requires a well-thought-out action plan. Education being a long-term phenomenon can’t do with frequent changes done at a short notice. Many reasons can be cited for the shortcomings in higher education. However, a more than decade long ban on appointments in the universities as well colleges coupled with the declining share of state funding in Haryana (e.g. MDU gets about 20-30 per cent of its requirement from the state) are the major reasons behind this. Unfortunately, nothing has been said about these issues in the proposals under consideration at the highest level. Coming to the specific proposals, the semester system and continuous evaluation in higher education is certainly desirable but usually these two don’t go well with external and centralised evaluation system. The fact is that the semester system requires a high degree of adherence to deadlines which may not be possible for examinations involving a large number of students. Earlier, the semester system was introduced in MA courses in a few universities. In MDU, it was introduced but had to be withdrawn. Unless it is assured that its underlying causes of failure are done away with, you should not back to it. Surprisingly, there is no reference to this experience in the present exercise. Before universities switch over to the semester system, they need to conduct undergraduate/postgraduate examinations within a short period, cut down time spent on paper setting, evaluation, declaration of results as well as effective number of preparatory holidays, otherwise introduction of the semester system would actually cut down number of teaching days by increasing examination and preparatory days. Also, there is scope for improvement in the existing annual examination system. There is a need to evaluate students on the basis of objective-type and short-answer-type questions. This will force teachers as well students to cover the course in detail. There is also a proposal for making computer education compulsory at the undergraduate level. It must be ensured that computer education at the undergraduate level comes with adequate resources. However, what is beyond comprehension is the insistence that all the changes are to be introduced from the next academic session. Is it because that officers concerned want to get it done before their regime in the Education Department ends? If that be the reason for urgency, higher education in Haryana certainly does not have a bright future ahead.
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Campus NoteS A two-week training course on repair and maintenance of new and renewable energy devices concluded at Haryana Agricultural University. As many as 25 unemployed youths attended the course organised by the Department of Agricultural Processing and Energy of the College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology of the university. According to Dr Yogender Kumar
Yadav, coordinator, the participants were trained in installation, operation, repair and maintenance of renewable energy devices like solar lantern, home lighting system, street lighting system, solar heater and solar water heating systems. HAU’s Director of Research, Dr B. S.
Chhillar, who was the chief guest at the valedictory function, gave away certificates and tool kits to the participants. He also released course manual of the training course. Teachers stage dharna
Teachers of Haryana Agricultural University, led by office-bearers of the HAU Teachers Association
(HAUTA), staged dharna recently to press their longstanding demands. The HAUTA president, Dr Kuldeep
Deswal, and the Secretary, Dr Rakesh Mehra, said the authorities had been ignoring teachers’ demand for grant of two advance increments when promoted under the merit promotion scheme. The anomalies in salary of teachers recruited before and after January 1, 1996, had not been removed so far. Besides, their demand for regularisation of research associates had also not been met. The age of superannuation for teachers in central universities and other organisations had been raised to 62 years. This benefit had not been extended to HAU teachers. The HAUTA leaders also demanded withdrawal of transfer orders, suspension orders and chargesheets issued recently to harass teachers. — Contributed by Raman Mohan
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