Improve standard of Govt schools

Yajin Bhatt
There is no denying the fact that education has invariably been acknowledged by almost every individual in today’s world, just as three basic necessities for survival  of every human being- food, clothes and home. Without education man is as good as a beast. If man is not educated in the real sense then there would be continuous disregard of ethics, norms and institution meant for the purpose. There will be persistent undercurrent of violence everywhere.   Education has a lot to do with empowerment and enlightenment that is why no development can be thought of by pushing aside knowledge and education. No individual can be called as a human being in real sense in this working world until he has been educated in the proper manner. A person who gets a good education can be expected to become a better citizen. Home is of course a first place of learning for a child but when it comes to formal learning, schools undoubtedly have got an imperative place.  Seen in this perspective school education is of prime importance for the all round development of the children. It is the first place where they first access requisite knowledge essential for standing up to the demands of modern life styles.
Unfortunately, today this noble profession has completely lost its sanctity. Without going too deep and too far let us analyzes the education scenario of our capital city that is Delhi. Giving birth to a child and nurturing him into a healthy citizen is every parent’s responsibility but the most tedious job lies in ensuring Nursery Admission for the child in a good or desirable school. The process of imparting education cannot be started abruptly but has to be imparted to kids at the formative age. When blockades start appearing at the initial stage, how encouraging it will be for the parents to carry with the mistrust and deception.
Admission scenario has become so grim that parents start their R&D for the schools both far and near and other formalities associated there with, when the child is still in the womb of mother, unaware of the hassles of life in the outer world. New Year celebration become automatically sullen and dull, till the admission of 3year old kid reaches to the desired result. Not only the parents but all the well-wishers remain restless till child gets admission in any desired school. Though the child is unable to express himself but smells some uneasiness in the air because every now and then he has to accompany his parents, either to take prospectus or interviews in the nearby hub of schools. Fact is that everywhere, every year considerable number of schools come up, having good infrastructure, state of art facilities for children but still nursery admission nightmare is persist and even before my own parental experience. These schools are inaugurated affiliated to so and so boards amidst much pomp and show with little attention being paid to the efficiency of teaching faculty and teaching quality. The hype so created by private schools through electronic and print media naturally attracts one and each parent. Publicity stunts apart, a sane parent surely want the kids to get admitted in the schools that can explore the best in their child. Schools like Sankskriti, DPS, Modern School of Barakhamba to name a few, are the gems of the schools but getting admission in these cannot be everyone’s  cup of tea with lot many parameters, pulls and pressures associated there with.
I wonder is there anyone (barring the poverty scenario) who doesn’t go to school or any parent who does not provide best quality education to his child irrespective of not getting admission in the desired school, because of such a hue and cry in the admission process. But in this Mission Admission, every parent leaves no stone unturned to run from pillar to post and struggle just to secure the future of his child in this competitive world. Admission process is infested with multidimensional problems. Competition is bred for seats but not for the subsequent process. Every year new guidelines are being set for the Nursery Admissions, creating lot of confusion and making parents paranoid. Uncertainty, in norms, guidelines, confusion regarding the points system is unnerving. Donations etc. are openly paid and demanded. Thus Education today has become means of minting money, an object of business which has serious repercussion on our society. The more one can pay, higher the education he can get. Not only this, schools have become innovative enough to devise the means of extracting money through schools books, stationary items for each class and uniforms and separate charges for the extra co-curricular activities, projects, smart classes etc, wherein the parents are left option less but to pay with a heavy heart. Apart from huge amount of monthly fee, there is equivalent amount collected in advance from each parent in the form of annual charges, which always remains unjustified and pinches the helpless parent before such school authorities.
Now the situation in rural India is getting effected by similar trend, the people in villages who are purely dependent on govt. schools and colleges are no more interested in the govt. setup this tendency has given to rise to increase an enrollment in private Schools. From the surveys conducted by various organizations it has been found that state run schools are less efficient than the private ones. Whatever may be the reason for this inefficiency a huge amount of exchequer is simply misused. The govt. policy of recruiting teachers on wholesale basis without proper standards to measure their efficiency could be one of the reasons for the rotten condition of such schools. Once they are recruited they find themselves in the safe zone with fat salaries and other benefits trickling in, with least attention being paid for the objective for which they have been recruited.
One remains wonder struck that when most of the people are preferring private schools over the Govt. schools then why govt. is not acting as a hard task master to remove this discrimination or why severe measures are being deliberately avoided just to promote the business of those who have made this noble profession an unethical business?   In fact the poor performance of the govt. schools, wherein the class 5th standard child is not able to solve class 2nd level problem, automatically sends a positive signal to the private players to maintain their monopoly in this sector.
The condition of the private schools is same as the Indian state wherein a parent like a common man does not know what happens to his hard earned money, which he pays in the form of tax. School authorities do not feel like being accountable towards the parents, who actually run their schools, with their heavy chunk of tuition fees that is being deposited in the school coffer. Parents are being harassed and befouled at every stage in such private schools.
Education should always be driven by devotion, innovation and exploration of hidden talents. While it is true that education must evolve with the passage of time but commercialization of education is a worst thing that could ever happen. This has become another mafia for which govt. is required to take immediate measures before floods cross the safety level. First of all the performance of govt. schools need immediate improvement with proper selection of teachers, accountability on their part and periodical upgrade the methods and teaching techniques. It must be mandatory for all the govt. employs including the bureaucrats and other ministers to admit their kids to Govt. schools as to bring efficiency in their performance. Because it is seen that those running the govt. schools be that teacher or the principal send their own sons and daughters to private schools, making me now realize the hidden meaning behind one famous sign post in one of star hotels, “The owner of the hotel and his family eats in the same hotel”.
When education standard of govt. as well pvt. Schools will come at par the commercialization of education automatically will come to an end. Parents will overcome the fear psychosis of school admission leaving them to stride for grater standards and hallmarks for their children.

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