Prof Javed Mughal
Mission sans vision is of no significance at all and since the dawn of independence, our country, almost in all the domains of activities, has been crawling ahead without any vision. Vision is the destination and a mission is a tool to get upon it and one who runs on the road to success without any cut-and-dried goal in life reaches nowhere and off-course keeps on groping in the world of darkness. In India, as ill luck would have it, education has been the subject of our last and the left-handed preference which could never succeed in inviting the rapt attention of our subsequent Governments across the state or country so far. The governments appeared and disappeared but displayed no serious concern about this component of the state-craft despite the fact that the educational system is the de-facto back-bone of any nation or country. Unless the educational arena of a nation is fully groomed and governed, the desired and desirable amelioration of the system can nowise be expected and brought about. Our Governments have always treated this sector as a last subject to be considered and they if they could not understand it well; they left it aside and stepped forward. A renowned environmentalist and Botanical Scientist Dr. (Prof) Yash Sharma, currently Head, department of Botany University of Jammu while expressing his anguish once revealed in a top brand discussion, “It is an intellectual tragedy with power-lords of our country that they always treat Education a third-line-preference in the governmental mechanism. When it comes to the point of constructing roads and buildings, the top-class agencies are invited for the purpose but when the school or a college complex has to be raised, the small, sub-standard and corrupt contractors are propitiated.” We have never been serious about all that is happening or has happened in educational system now or so far. Simply issuing circulars, transferring the employees, raising school buildings, extending affiliations, recognitions, appointing officers, celebrating the days and festivals, holding exams and declaring results are the dull routine affairs going to serve no purpose at all. If at all we wish to think along the lines of educational improvement, we have to do the following things on the priority basis:
* First of all we must plan to have a unified system of education where all the educational institutions can be brought under on logo. Either it should be privatized or included into public sector whatsoever. By doing so, we shall not fall a prey to the educational disparity between haves and have-nots. All rich and poor must be treated at par and allowed to receive education equally. The lethargic attitude of the Government teachers is basically the by-product of the fact that all the rich, enlightened and influential people put their children in private schools whereas the poor and weak parents are left with the only choice to send their children in Government schools and are easily exploited by the government teachers. Hence, when all the people alike proceed to the same place for the purpose, the things can change in a better way.
* Subject-preference is subordinate to a student’s choice and interests. Here in India and our state as well we kill the very incentive and instinct of a student by imposing subjects on him and then we brag of promoting subject. But the imposition of a stream on the students in the name of subject promotion is not only a setback to the nation but a criminality to the students as well. This way we produce reluctant graduates and postgraduates who have already extended an irreparable loss to the society.
* The release of increments and promotions must be based on the monthly, terminal or bi-annual performances of the teachers. The separate format should also be there to record the continuous performance of the monitoring authorities as well. Any lapse must be deal with severely under rules. There should be no compromise on the students’ career.
* All the Ministers, bureaucrats and other officers must be duly trained and fully equipped with the latest techniques of educational improvements.
* The sufficient infra-structure, the complete staff and all other instantly required facilities should be made available in the educational institutions. Only then a desirable education can be imparted to the students. Now-a-days almost all the colleges of state are understaffed by at least 40-80 percent on an average and here lies the genesis of the whole tragedy with educational system. There are no fully equipped labs, modern apparatus for experiments, standard books in the libraries, satisfactory arrangement for teachers and students, toilets for the students and sufficient class-rooms in most of schools and colleges but our so-called custodians, lying in the state of stupor, expect quality education.
* First of all a demarcating line has to be drawn between the responsible and the irresponsible faces in the teaching profession and after plucking out the later from the gamut the system, the former must be given due respect and recognition in the society especially in the corridors of secretariat where they are intentionally demeaned by those who are themselves the worst creatures of the universe. Unless a teacher is provided financial security, treated with due care and honour, the peace of mind and the solace of heart can’t be achieved and without these two indispensable requisites, the performance can’t be upto the mark.
* There should be an adequate arrangement of GOCs, Refresher Courses and other National as well as International Workshops and Seminars for teachers in the rural Colleges situated in any of the centrally located rural Colleges since these Colleges are already understaffed and under-privileged and hence the teachers can’t be deputed to the distant stations for the said programmes despite the fact that these programs are essential for the academic over-hauling of the teachers.
* Since an educational institution is a component of the macro-society and the society is the ultimate source of survival for an abode of learning, the civil society must be involved in regard to the revision of the educational system and I am sure that the civil society, being the second-line stakeholder, can seriously, responsibly and genuinely contribute to the ideal betterment of education.
* The cult of Parents-Teachers meet is dwindling now-a-days and in the first instance it needs to be re-invigorated so that the parents can share their experiences about their wards pointing out the Achilles heels in the academics of their children. The parent can provide very important clues and certain outline along which the teaching fraternity can work to bring about a formative change in the system.
* After a detailed scrutiny of the teachers at school as well as the college level and picking up the genuine lot of teachers and rejecting the trash, the first thing to be done by the government is to bring forward a legislation in regard to restoration of a teacher’s dignity making it mandatory for all concerned offices to reflect the due credit upon the teachers when they are in the offices. I have observed it many a time that not to speak of the school teachers, even College Professors are made to keep standing before the base-line clerks in their offices even for the very small routine affairs. I detest and disdain this kind of attitude of the teachers but the system is ultimately responsible for this obnoxious state of affairs. Things should be streamlined in such a way that no teacher can be compelled to go to the clerks and the officers with folded hands but it is observed that a situation is created deliberately to drag the teachers into the petty games of bribery and corruption. This attitude needs to be dislodged by the Government.
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel