Adil Lateef
Srinagar, Jan 11: Despite much higher per capita expenditure on the students of Government schools, they have lagged behind in the results of matriculation examinations that were declared here last evening.
The figures show that 78.91 percent students of private schools have qualified the examinations while only 51.50 percent students of Government run schools have passed. Even though the pass percentage in the Government schools have gone up as compared to last year from 49.60 to 51.50 but the private schools continue to dominate the results. The pass percentage of private schools was 76 last year.
This year, 14,716 students have been declared successful out of 29,162 students of Government schools while 24,981 students out of 31657of private schools have qualified these exams. If one goes by the figures, nearly half of the students of Government schools who appeared in the matriculation examinations have failed to qualify for next class as the fail percentage stands at 49.50. Most of the students in Government schools have failed in Mathematics and Science subjects.
Dean School of Education Central and a prominent Educationist, Prof Nazeer Ahmad Nadeem, said the Government teachers are not showing any interest in teaching and they need to be “sensitized towards their responsibilities as nation builders”.
“This is the same old story. There is no substantial change on the ground and we believe the teachers in the Government schools are well qualified but there is no interest in teaching. We have been saying time and again that till teachers are not made aware about their crucial role they won’t teach,” he told Excelsior, adding “the teachers are attending their classes and no work is happening in class rooms.”
Prof Nadeem, who was the member of several expert panels constituted by Government with regard to improving the education system, said that the there is no implementation of the comprehensive continuous assessment evaluation scheme. “By this scheme, you distribute the syllabus segment wise like Unit 1, Unit 2, and Term 1 and so on. But they are not doing this and no testing is conducted in Government schools,” he said.
He said that the per capita expenditure on a student in Government schools is highest but the input is lowest compared to the private schools.
However, Jammu Kashmir Teachers Forum (JKTF) chairman Abdul Qayoom Wani while absolving teachers, blamed Government for the poor results in the schools of Kashmir valley. “The former Education Minister Nayeem Akhtar made only verbal announcements but on ground nothing was done. The primary reasons for poor results in the Government school when compared to private institutes is the lack of proper infrastructure, non-availability of subject-knowing teachers and lack of empowerment and encouragement,” he told Excelsior.
Several teachers of the Government-run schools blamed the late examinations for the poor results. It is to be mentioned here that most of the Board and University examinations were held late last year due to floods in September 2014. The matriculation exam, which is every year held in November, was taken in the month of March 2015. “Due to academic disturbances, the students could not focus on the studies and we too were disturbed,” said the teachers while putting the onus on Government for conducting late examinations.
Follow our WhatsApp channel