Benjamin Maikho
The famous mind boggling Pink Floyd song ‘Another brick in the wall’ goes ‘hey teachers leave the kids alone, we don’t need no education’. Today our kids need education. Education is so important because it empower people to take better decision to improve their quality of life. The World Bank had declared illiteracy to be the biggest enemy to underdevelopment and link it to poverty and crime. In our society today, esp. in hill districts of Manipur there is large number of children not going to school, and drop out before high school.
This is attributed to ; poor governance by the state Govt, large family size, low per capita income, poor access to good school & lack of accountability of some teachers. Education we should not forget is a state subject and therefore there are Govt primary schools even in the remotest villages. Govt is pouring money in midday meal scheme/Sarva Sikhsha Abhiyan with success in some states like Tamil Nadu, Himachal, AP and Chandigarh.
Unfortunately the success of this scheme is measured through utilization of funds which is not the correct method, rather it should be, smoke billowing in the school kitchen & declining of school drop out. In the current year Rs.11000 crore is allocated for Sarv Shiksya Abhiyan. In the half yearly assessment Mizoram is the highest spender already spent 90% of the allocated fund followed by UP, Uttaranchal, J&K & Tamil Nadu. This scheme is best suited for our socio economic condition with large family size because one arrow can shot two birds, get education for free and free lunch at school.
But taking advantage of poor governance, it seems some teachers are out in the street forgetting that they have been appointed in the noble profession of teaching which is basically shaping our children today who are going to be our tomorrow leaders. The teachers get paid for their work and they are accountable for educating the children. They stay away from school but send their children to private schools forgetting that poor farmers cannot send all their children to private school. Like a seed which is not nurtured, we cannot expect our generation tomorrow to be doing well because today we are not doing our job.
Dr APJ Kalam got inspired by their school teachers and strongly suggest that parents and school teachers should serve as first role models for children. But in our society we need to review whether that is happening. Parents often themselves are illiterate and have no choice but to add their children to bread earning for many believe that, it is often not worth sending their children to Govt schools. They cannot afford to send all of them to private Schools either. But it is also a matter of concern that due to poor functioning of Govt schools, many private schools have mushroomed, the quality of many are doubtful? It is so sad to see that a lot of children are dropping out of school; many are accompanying their parents in subsistence cultivation. There is very high drop out even after 10+2.
Today in the knowledge era of competition 10+ 2 is not good enough to enter neither competition nor a qualification which gives good employability. All said very easily about this state of education but it is not fair to observe the problem without offering any suggestion.
Given this situation, I suppose, serious minded people should be worried about the state our ordinary man children education. Some remedial measures are suggested: Govt should be transparent in appointing competent teachers, because teachers are in the noble profession of teaching, nurturing, and shaping the growth of children today their tomorrow. Many civil society groups / organizations and student bodies have been very vocal & influential with State Govts in many socio- economic issues. But they have yet to raise any voice on this very basic foundation of human development that is the quality of education. I hope they begin to notice that all is not well in education esp. in rural areas.
Making the Govt appoint teachers is half job done because the real problem is not less teachers but dysfunctional state of schools esp. in hill areas of Manipur. The quality of education needs improvement especially in Govt run schools after all it is financed ultimately through digging holes in the pocket of many honest and hard working tax paying citizens. Even extra education cess is imposed apart from income tax by Central Govt for education of the poor through Govt schools. The Parents also should form associations and pressure groups to urge the education dept to ensure high accountability of their dept by regular inspections and take actions against teachers who are absenting & derelicting duty.
And finally I wish the church also invite absenting Govt school teachers who their members back to classroom for Govt work is also God work.
Hi! Teachers don’t leave the kids alone, they want education, and we want better educated generations tomorrow. Please comeback to classroom. The author is a HR Professional working with a Fortune 500 Company in New Delhi. The views expressed are personal.
