Madan Mohan Sharma
It is quite heartening that efforts are being made to streamline the department of Education and to improve the education standard by the Govt of Jammu & Kashmir. The present Minister for Education is trying his best to make reforms in present system of education. In this connection some suggestions are being given as follows :-
Re-organisation of Education Department at Zone Level :
To streamline the education system at school level, it is necessary to re-organise the department at Zone level. At present there are two types of educational zones, one situated at NES Block Headquarter and the other outside NES Block Hq. having same functions and with same work load but number of staff members differs.
In zones situated at NES Block Headquarter, there is sufficient staff in each zone having (1) one post of ZEO (Zonal Education officer (2) One post of ZEPO (Zonal Education Planning Officer) (3) One post of Head Asstt (4) One post of Senior Asstt (5) One post of Junior Asstt (6) One post of Accountant or Accounts Clerk (or both in some cases) (7) Four posts of Class IV employees. Thus there are atleast ten staff members in each such zone with sanctioned posts. If some posts are lying vacant, that is another problem.
But in zones located outside Block Headquarter, there is only (1) one post of ZEO (2) One post of Sr Asstt and (3) one post of Class IV totalling the number of staff members to three only. So there is shortage of staff in such zones. It is necessary to provide equal staff for both the zones as work load is the same. New posts should be created for such zones including that of ZEPO otherwise ZEO shall be forced to engage teachers for official work and the schools will suffer badly. This re-organisation will help ZEOs to check the Academic side properly.
Rationalisation of posts : The new Minister for Education has hinted at the rationalisation of staff in schools keeping in view the strength of the school. It is a good step. But should be a continuous process. Rationalisation of staff should be done after every three years as the strength of students in school goes on increasing or decreasing.I also suggest that rationalisation of ministerial and mental staff should also be affected keeping in view the work load in offices/institutions of Education Deptt.
Delinking of classes from Hr Sec Schools :-
At present there is provision to delink classes upto Middle standard (Elementary Level) from upgraded Hr Sec Schools. But delinking has not been done for the last so many years as it involves a long process. There should be a continuous process. Rationalisation of staff should be automatic delinking and the CEOs concerned may be authorised to do so.
It is suggested that the delinking should be done upto High classes instead of middle classes and the post of Headmaster should not be abolished. The Principal of a Hr Sec School is overburdened and is more worried over Hr Sec classes keeping 9th and 10th classes at the disposal of a senior most master of the school. This master performs the duties of a Headmaster without powers.
Moreover no Lecturer of the Hr Sec School teaches 9th or 10th class as they have to teach 11th and 12th classes.
Present delinking also has a negative effect. High shcools showing very good results in 10th class before upgradation begin to show low pass percentage after upgradation as Hr Sec Schools. In case of any doubt, data can be collected from such schools regarding results before and after upgradation and can be analysed to reveal the truth. If the delinked school works under a Headmaster, the results can be maintained. So it is suggested that classes from Ist to 10th instead of classes 1st to 8th.
Inspection of schools :-
To improve the education standard, inspections of schools is very essential. The inspecting authorities should check the academic side efficiently instead of limiting the inspection upto school records only. Short comings should be noted and be discussed with respective teachers after arranging staff meetings. Follow up action in this regard is very essential. The inspection should be done only by the education officers. No officer from other departments should be involved in this process at it irritates the teachers community and has ill effect on education system. I have seen officers of other departments inspecting the schools inspite of fact that their own offices are defunct.
DSEs, Joint DSEs, CEOs, Dy.CEOs, ZEOs, ZEPOs are sufficient to inspect the schools. As already mentioned above, all the education zones should have posts of ZEPOs. Only good planning and management is needed. Inspection notes of Inspecting authorities should be given due consideration by the higher authorities and action be taken accordingly.
Pre-Primary classes :-
No doubt there is provision for Pre-Primary class in Govt schools but a very few schools have this class. This is necessary to prepare the base of the children. The students are being admitted directly in class Ist as there is no restriction to admit the child in Pre-Primary class before his/her admission in Ist class.
Govt schools cannot compete with Private Schools without Pre-Primary class because a private school has three Pre-primary classes viz Nursery, LKG, UKG before admitting the child in class Ist. The students of private schools have good base because of this fact.
This is also one of the reasons for lower standard in Govt schools as comapred to private schools. So Pre-Primary class should be made compulsory in Govt schools and this class should also be brought under Mid- Day Meal scheme.
Provision of Infrastructure:-
The infrastructure in Govt schools has considerably improved with the implementation of SSA and RMSA. But still these schools lag behind as compared to private schools. In private schools, the students are even being provided chairs too sit on while in Govt schools the students are forced to sit on the ground. Barring some schools which utilized in grants under SSA/RMSA judiciously, there is dearth of infrastructural items. The schools are upgraded with internal arrangement without providing infrastructure. It takes a long time to provide it according to the need of school. So the parents are reluctant to send their children to these schools and prefer private schools.
Generally economically backward parents send their children to these schools. So there is an urgent need to provide infrastructure well before the establishment or upgradation of the schools so that the students are attracted towards Govt. schools.
Transfer Policy
A specific transfer policy for the teachers is the need of the hour. At present there is no transfer policy or norms. It exists any, it is not implemented properly. Only pick and choose policy is being adopted. A teacher working at odd station continues there for years together while those working in the locality maintain there posting in locality breaking their stay from one school to another. The stay at odd stations should be got fixed two years at the maximum and the teacher working there should be got fixed two years at the maximum and the teacher working there should automatically be posted in his/her locality after the completion of the period.
Moreover transfers should be affected at the beginning of the session. At the most it should be completed in vacation period. The transfers of teachers should not disturb the studies of the students. At present the transfers are affected throughout the year unless and untill a Govt order is issued to ban these transfers. Political interference is maximum which should be reduced to the minimum level.
There should be a clear cut policy for the transfers of RET regularised teachers. They should be considered for transfer after completing three years service as regularised teachers. Ban on these transfer has positive as well as negative effect. No doubt the schools in remote areas are benefitted by getting the staff but on the other hand some local RET regularised teachers feel that no body can transfer them even on complaints and stop effective teaching. They become careless and unaccountable. So their transfer is must and they can be replaced by any other regularised RET.
Moreover married female teachers (RET) are the sufferers. Their residence changes after the marriage and have to stay with in-laws. They cannot do justice with their profession while working at a far of place , so regularised RET teachers may be brought under specific transfer policy fixing norms. However, such teachers, who opt to work at original places, can be retained keeping in view their performances.
Board exam of 3rd and 5th Primary
At present there is board at zone level to examine the students of 3rd and 5th Primary. In the present scenario of advancement, the examination board for 3rd and 5th standard seem to be meaningless. There is no logic to examine the students of 3rd Primary at the exam centres away from their schools under a board. Their age (7+) is too less for Board Exam. So it should be abolished. So far as 5th class is concerned, the students can be examined at complex centres under the guidance of ZEOs Headmasters of nearest High Schools. Board for such tiny students affect them psychologically.
(The author is former Zonal Education Officer)
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