Standards in Govt schools

Mr. Venkatraman of an NGO had shared in our Tamil Nadu circle about school standards in Government schools.

The highlights of the views expressed are given below.

Different standards amongst students
• While the government schools have mix of students of different level of capability and some students perform quite well, the standards of the large segment of students in government schools remain below par.

Students live in stressful conditions :
• Almost all students studying in government and corporation schools belong to lower income group and live in stressful conditions facing social and economic hardships due to variety of reasons including the head of the family being a liquor addict in many cases. The living conditions in the family and in the surroundings are certainly not conducive for the students in the formative age group . With parents often not in a position to guide and discipline their children, quite a few of them appear to be not having any sense of direction and tend to misbehave .

Teachers well qualified and cannot be blamed largely :
• While the teachers in government schools are well qualified and quite a number of them are dedicated, there are also teachers who take the job lightly , as there is no system of rewards and punishments for the teachers.
Anachronism of promoting all students :
• In the name of encouraging the students from lower income group and deprived families to join government schools , the government has introduced an all pass system upto 9th standard which has killed the incentive for the students to study and equip themselves with requisite knowledge.
• In the absence of any check for promoting the students to higher class , the standard of an average student has fallen considerably. There are some students even in the fifth standard who cannot do even two digit addition and sometimes cannot even write one sentence in Tamil correctly. Even the standards of some student studying in higher classes are no better.

Freebies to the students :
• The government has been showering the students in government and corporation schools with large number of gifts including books, note books, shoes and chappals, cycles, laptops etc. apart from noon meal, some of which are unnecessary. As a result, mind set have developed amongst students expecting everything to come free from the government, which mind set they continue in their life even after passing out.

While good students use the laptops well, there are also students who sell it away.

Lack of punishment as deterrent :

• With the indiscipline becoming a common issue amongst section of school students and with the teachers not being in a position to impose deterrent punishments on misbehaving students, teachers often feel helpless and weak. It is even reported that the students attend classes in drunken state in isolated cases and girl students are sometimes harassed. It is extremely disturbing to read in newspapers that even teachers in some government schools have misbehaved occasionally with the girl students. Such incidents reflect the type of prevalent climate in some government schools.

Unrelated assignments for teachers :
• Government sometimes sends teachers in government and corporation schools to unrelated jobs such as taking census. In such event when teachers cannot take classes, students are left idle wasting their time and they indulge in unwanted activities.

Political interference :
• There is often political interference by local politicians in the affairs of the school insisting on one condition or the other and the teachers are scared to resist such demands.

Lack of consultation :
• Government often takes decisions with regard to affairs of the schools without due consultations with headmasters and teachers who are the stake holders. Such decisions sometimes happen to be misconceived. The bureaucrats appear to think that they know more about the issues faced in government and corporation schools than the teachers themselves.
Some poor parents opt for expensive private schools
• Of late, even some parents belonging to lower income group admit their children in private schools, as they believe that the future of the students studying in private schools would be better. The poor parents do this, even though they cannot afford to pay the high fees demanded by the private schools and in the process, the poor families drive themselves into debt burden.

Sons / daughters of government employees rarely in government schools :
• Employees in the government rarely send their sons and daughters to study in government and corporation schools. What does this show ?

N.S.Venkataraman more