Lalit Anjum
“If you want a good education, go to private schools. If you can’t afford it, tough luck. You can go to the public school”- Paul LePage.
Above quote by an American politician rightly highlights the pathetic condition of our education system in J&K. But this wasn’t the case always. In the recent past, our educational institutes had carved a niche in providing noble service to the society. Even people from neighbouring states used to get enrolled in our state’s colleges especially for B.Ed course. There were a large number of students from Himachal Pradesh, Punjab etc. making beeline for admission in different courses in our educational institutes. But today with the falling education standard with worsening of teaching quality and creeping of commercialisation in the education sector has set a wrong example for coming generations of educators and students in our state.
More emphasis on coaching and tuition classes than on school education is loosening cultural and traditional links of school teachers with the young generation. It has given rise to the weakening of moral values among pupils. However the good school education can play its crucial role in building student’s moral character and transform him into a better citizen of the country. Education given during school years has an ever lasting impact on the mind of a child. Soft minds of children in school going age can be moulded to make him/her a best quality person. This is the moral responsible of school teachers and for education department to frame the right policies. Keeping this divine mandate in mind, they must impart their duties with their best endeavour. But with the advent of commercialisation in the school education, moral responsibilities are shunned away with and teacher community is indulging in money minting business. Round the clock advertisement of coaching businesses has set a bad precedent on the Gen-Y. Though we are witnessing the increasing overall enrolment in our schools, but sinking education standard and decreasing knowledge base of our school going children is the reality of the day.
In Vedic philosophy it is believed that “Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Saraswati do not go hand in hand” which implies that material wealth and divine knowledge can’t blend with each other very well. Education as a service to society and imparted with a sole aim of nation building is divine phenomenon but same done for commercial interests and material desires, ruins the only sacred aim of providing education; particularly to the young Gen-Y. Commercialisation and materialism has crept in this noble profession which is to be checked tooth and nail. There are numerous instances now-a-days gaining limelight which reflect upon the fact that education sector in J&K has been gradually eroding in quality of its services. Crackdown of the J&K Government over the unregulated private coaching centres at the behest of J&K High Court directions was a necessary move in the interest of aam aadmi.
In the latest case, J&K High Court ordered FIR against the Rehbar-e-Taleem teacher for faking the documents in his appointment. He wasn’t even able to write “essay on cow” and solve IV-Standard math question. HC took serious offence in this case and Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar remarked, “In this situation, what would be the fate of the state, has to be only visualised. The school going children would pass out as blockheads”.
In another glaring misdeed, 819 private schools are reportedly running without prior registration or approval from State Government. This aptly tells us about the state of affairs for these years in the State Education Department and in the directorate of school education. Unapparent motives and selfish interests of the shareholders in this unholy nexus between school education department and privately managed schools talk itself of the harsh situation our state has been rendered in by these capital minded cronies. The future of our youngsters is at stake. We have to realise this once for all that if this alarming situation is not dealt with heavy hand then that day is not far away when our children won’t have common sense and will be churned in large number from these privately managed factories as loggerheads.
Taking note of the present enrolment scenario in the Government schools throughout the state, the school education department has ordered the closure of several primary schools in the Jammu city which were marked with zero enrolment for the past few years. Being located in city, unfair preferential treatment was met to few favourite teachers who were posted in these schools with no pupil to teach. Those teachers being parasites on the state exchequer all these years are now moved to the other staff starved schools in the state. In the unprecedented turn of events hundreds of students are also going to leave the Govt. schools for private schools in the Jammu city. The reason forwarded is the shortage of adequate infrastructure in these schools to accommodate the pupils. Lack of drinking water facilities and proper sitting arrangement made number of students to leave these schools for good. Now the J&K govt. has woken from its deep slumber, ordered an enquiry into the matter and funds for renovation are being arranged under so called “Rationalisation of Resources” scheme.
Present times are witnessing the education traded as a commodity like any other, which is afforded by small percentage of population.
Private schools are in demand whereas Govt. public schools are fighting for enrolment. To meet the aspirations of the nation, central govt. enacted Right to Education [RTE] Act via 86th Constitutional Amendment in 2009 to make basic education a fundamental right.
However, in All India Conference on Abolishing Commercialisation of Education & Building a Common School System in July 2012, it was stressed that the RTE further motivated the commercialisation of education and justified the mushrooming of private schools by providing the 25% reservation for children from weaker section of the society in them. Closing down of govt. schools due to lack of enrolment further made the govt. to shun away from its responsibility of imparting free and compulsory basic education to one and all, augmenting more penetration of private schools in the system (which is unwanted and undesirable). Education being the state subject must be taken care by state itself. With the new PDP-BJP political dispensation at the helm of affairs, it becomes its bounden duty to fulfil its popular mandate especially in Jammu province to safeguard the interests of the young generation. The today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders. Strong morals we imbibe in our children, the best character they develop. Therefore, there is a dire need to revamp our present schooling system and do away with the past mistakes and malpractices for our collective glorious future.
Follow our WhatsApp channel