Onkar Singh
The role of a school in the socialization of a child, dissemination of knowledge, character building, inculcation of scientific temper and discipline, responsible citizenship and appreciation for geographical and cultural diversity of a country is indisputable. The fact that the government schools in India form the largest network of educational institutions catering to the largest number of students obviously define their importance in shouldering such a huge responsibility.
Unfortunately, the general image of government schools in Jammu and Kashmir is not good. Government schools carry the tag of negativity that reflects adversely both on their teachers as well as the students. A general impression has come to stay in the public psyche that the government schools are meant for the children of the poor. Second, they are not student friendly. Third, they are un- attractive as places of learning compared to the private schools. Fourth, there is little teaching despite teachers getting hefty salaries. Fifth, they are manned by authoritarian administrators and careless teachers. Sixth, they have inadequate outdated and poorly maintained infrastructure and school campuses. Seventh, they are characterized by input/output mismatch i.e. the amount of money spent per student per year in terms of salaries and other expenses does not match the learning outcome and pass percentage in these schools .Eight, government school teachers do not take interest in teaching because their own children do not study in government schools.
There is ample truth in the last statement. If the teachers do not have any stake in the institutional system they serve in, there is little reason for them to put in their best efforts in that system. This may be one of the many reasons for a low image of these schools as institutions of learning.
To be fair to government schools however, we need to take into account the constraints under which the administration and teachers of these institutions operate. For example, students enrolled in government schools are more often than not academically weak and belong primarily to economically poor families. In most cases, they are the first generation learners, which adversely affect their performance at school as there is no parental guidance in their studies at home. All these factors in combination affect a student’s zeal to perform better in academics, leading to poor results for the school. Poor infrastructure which is beyond the control of the school administration but affects the school image nevertheless as also the bureaucratic control of schools from outside are the other important drawbacks that kill initiative of even those who want to bring positive change in the system.
But let us look at the other side of the story .If the government schools function under certain constraints they have certain advantages too that the private schools do not have. For example, all government schools have highly qualified and trained teachers with better pay perks and ample opportunities for their career growth. Provision for a free education to the students and a steady flow of funds from government for their upkeep, are the other important advantages of these schools. All these mean that the government schools should be the first preference of the students as well as the parents. After all who would not like to be taught by the qualified and trained teachers without paying any fees?
In reality this is not the case, however. The government schools are now becoming the choice of economically poor students only as they have no other option to follow. Economically better off families including the government school teachers on the other hand send their children to private and other public schools only. And if the latter do not consider government schools worth their children’s education, there is something fundamentally wrong with the way the government schools are being managed.
Undoubtedly, the status of government schools in the state is very low as compared to the private and other schools as the school administrators have not been able to exploit the talent of the qualified and trained teachers to the advantage of students and the society at large that finances their salary bills. Herein lays the challenge and opportunity for school administrators as to how better utilize the human and physical resources of government schools for improving their image as places of quality learning. Hence, what an administrator should do to resurrect the image of government schools? Here is an eight point programme for recovery.
1 Think beyond academic calendar: School administrator must have imagination, dynamism and foresight. An administrator should run the school as a mission and not as a usual posting at higher grade in the seniority list. 2 Make schools student friendly: A school should be a place of attraction rather than a place for forced learning and punishment. The government schools unfortunately carry the latter image. This needs reversal. 3 Create and maintain better infrastructure: Better maintained school buildings, campus, class rooms and labs are sine qua non for a better learning experience for students. 4 Administrator as role model: An administrator has to be knowledgeable and punctual before they make the students and the faculty punctual and disciplined. Only such administrators can instill confidence among those they supervise for better results. 5 Get best out of faculty and resources: An administrator has to be a sound planner so that they can make judicious use of available faculty and physical and financial resources at their disposal. 6 Image change of schools: Image change of government schools from a poor student`s school to a school for the children of general public is badly needed. Cheap / free education that these schools provide does not have to be substandard. People should send their children to government schools not because education is free in them but because qualified faculty provides better teaching – learning experience to the child. 7 Compete with private schools: The ultimate yard stick of improvement in government schools should be that these schools are better able to compete with private schools. This is not an easy goal but a goal worth achieving. And the success or failure of a school administrator in running these institutions should be evaluated primarily from that point of view. 8 Leave a mark behind: Let every administrator leave an educational institution in a better shape than what they inherited from those preceding them. That apparently requires dedication and commitment on the part of the administrators in performing their duties.
Let us not forget that schools are the suppliers of students to the colleges. As most students in government colleges of Jammu and Kashmir are from government schools, a very high rate of failure of freshmen at the university exams reflects without doubt a very low level of their learning at the school level. The failure rate in Jammu region in any given year for instance, invariably revolves around 80%.This is an unpleasant truth and worry some reality that needs to be falsified. But for that to happen a radical shift in the administration of government schools is needed that only dynamic and committed school administrators can accomplish.
Considering that schools form the basic building blocks of the knowledge driven modern society, it is time the school administrators woke up from the illusion of arrogated contentment. For at stake is not only the image of government schools they run, but their own image as well. Both need redemption.
This is abridged version of the lecture delivered at the Workshop on Planning and Management for School Administrators held at the GBHSS Kathua, from 20-24 March, 2013.
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