The Nagaland Board of Secondary Education (NBSE) has declared the results of the High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) and Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate (HSSLC) in good time. This will enable students, especially those who are seeking admission outside the State to prepare accordingly with enough time on their hands. Undertaking such a massive exercise right from the initial planning stage to conducting the exams across the length and breadth of the State and to be able to declare the results on time is no mean achievement. The NBSE under the Chairman and her entire staff needs to be congratulated for the efforts put in on this front over the years.
As far as the HSLC results goes, on the positive side, of the total of 19,484 students who appeared, a sizable number of 12,116 students have come out triumphant. Compared to last year’s total students of 9297 successfully passing their exams, there has been an increase by 2822 students for this academic year. However on the downside, the dismal performance of government run schools is a continuing matter of serious concern. Among the 392 schools all over Nagaland, only 32 schools were able to secure 100% pass status while 13 schools had 0% pass status. Of these 13 schools 12 of them are government schools.
Putting together all the factors that help distinguish the superior performance of private run schools as compared to government schools may not be a plausible exercise at this juncture. However, to generalize, the role of management may in the ultimate analysis, turn out to be the most crucial aspect in improving school performance or otherwise. Government schools obviously cannot churn out good performances from students because of the poor level of management and the failure to motivate the school system into applying the best management practices there is to running a school.
Besides the want of a professional management set-up, the other concern revolves on the random transfer orders being issued, sometimes unauthorized, which is largely the result of external interference in teachers’ recruitment and transfers by the politicians. A complete overhauling of recruitment policy must be undertaken so that the system is able to attract capable teachers who are qualified and committed to their profession. Unless such a policy is put into place, politicians may continue the practice of bogus appointments and thereby only producing truant teachers. It is strongly suggested that as far as possible teachers should be recruited through competitive examinations and that monitoring and evaluation of schools should be carried out vigorously.
Those running the affairs of the education system in the State will have to study closely the latest results and undertake an honest appraisal before acting on the areas that needs to be corrected. While it is true that government schools have a social mandate to fulfill and as such may be compelled to give emphasis on quantity and not quality education, this should not, however, be used as an excuse to under-perform. With the amount of funds and resource made available, there is no reason why government schools cannot do better.
The School Education Minister must not remain silent over the matter. As the political head of the concerned department he should take responsibility and do the right thing by calling for a thorough report on the performance of government schools. The poor result churned out by government schools is itself the reflection of an equally appalling system that encourages everything mediocre. The dismal report card of students from government run schools is as much an indicator on the performance of the School Education Department.
