Patricia Mukhim
At the outset we have to salute our Education Minister, Lahkmen Rymbui for making public the much hidden aspects of education in Meghalaya. For the first time ever we have an Education Minister who dares to admit the systemic flaws in his Department and in very notion of education in Meghalaya. Mr Rymbui pointed to the stark reality that about 56 schools in the state are without school children although teachers and school buildings are there. Also that there are 222 schools with only 3-5 students! What a drain on scarce resources. Imagine spending Rs 20 crore annually with no educational outcomes. This means that the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) which mandated governments to set up schools actually has not worked in Meghalaya. Also that schools set up under the Right to Education (RTE) programme of the Government of India have not succeeded in bringing all children to school. RTE has not worked here and perhaps does not work elsewhere too.
It is timely that the NITI Aayog has come up with a measurement tool the – School Education Quality Index (SEQI) which looks at learning outcomes, accessibility and institutional governance in our educational institutions because these are important criteria. I will not join the bandwagon of those who say that closing down schools with less than 10 students in them will encourage private players to come in. What sort of private players are we talking about? In rural Meghalaya, most schools are run by missionaries. The standard of education is fairly high and the schools are inclusive because the fees are not as exorbitant as those charged by privately run institutions. Besides, these schools do have a silent way of ensuring that those who cannot pay are also included in the classroom. The administration demands outcomes from teachers – whereas in government run institutions there is no such grading. Once a teacher is recruited he/she is there for at least 25 years irrespective of whether they deliver or not.
Now coming to the point of education it is important to raise a few questions so that we can get back to the basics. Let’s begin with the preliminary questions. Why do we send our children to school? What are they learning there? What are teachers actually “teaching” that the kids of today don’t already know from Google, Khan Academy and BYJUS etc? What is the purpose of schooling? Are children enjoying school? Does homework actually help kids? Why do students need private tuition, especially for mathematics and science? Why is self learning not encouraged? Above all, are our youth passing out of high school, future ready? What skills have they acquired in 12 years of schooling? Have they learnt to express their ideas with clarity and confidence? Why are large numbers of students unable to express themselves even at the college and university level? Are students allowed to have their points of view? Will those be respected by teachers? Or will such kids be called problem kids and impudent and be told to shut up?
Having been a school teacher for close to a quarter century, one realises how difficult it is to teach a class of 40-50 dynamic young people each one of whom has a different view of a lesson in the History or Science text book. There is hardly any time for personal interface between teacher and student. Yet the situation is such that schools are bursting at the seams and some schools have to keep opening up more and more sections for each class. So India’s burgeoning population is telling on the quality of education imparted. Indeed the biggest concern of educators not just in India but across the world as well is to make the present generation of learners future-ready. India as a young nation has around 28 million youth population being added every year. That’s a humungous number. More than 50 per cent of India’s population is below the age of 25 and more than 65 per cent are aged below 35. In 2020, the average age of an Indian is expected to be 29 years, while it will be 37 for China and 48 for Japan. However, India’s high youth population won’t be of help to the economy if the country cannot achieve the goal of universal education all over India. In fact the demographic dividend might turn out to be a huge liability.
India’s second problem is the rural-urban divide. Go to rural Meghalaya and you will find that most schools are struggling to find Mathematics and Science teachers. If there are teachers they are not competent to teach the subjects because teaching is an art which requires excellent communication skills. Hence while all the pedagogical innovations and trainings are provided to improve the quality of urban education, our young ones in the villages are largely neglected. Hence after passing their high school they come to the city to join college and find themselves complete misfits, barring a few. English is a big handicap and students struggle to juggle with English. And yet with 65 per cent of the population residing in rural India, education there truly deserves much more attention, especially when it is plagued with so many problems such as dearth of teachers, teacher absenteeism and poor quality of teachers.
School governance and even the method of appointment of teachers is being graded by NITI Aayog. Meghalaya fares badly insofar as transparency in teachers’ recruitment is concerned. This is no surprise when we consider the teachers’ appointment scam some years ago and which is still hanging fire. We know that politicians push their acolytes as teachers in government schools. No wonder the quality of teaching is not even worth discussing.
Meghalaya still has a glut of untrained teachers. Schools don’t test their teachers to see if they make the grade and if students actually understand what they are teaching. A pre-appointment test practical teaching test is hardly adequate to grade a teacher. If students have exams it is only fair that teachers too are graded depending on students’ feedback. Meghalaya does not have adequate teachers’ training institutes. That’s one major problem. Also the number of refreshers’ courses are too few and far between.
There are other remedies such as surprise school inspections such as the kind that we had while schooling. That kept the schools on tenterhooks. And those ghost schools would not have been allowed to exist had there been regular inspections. There is also no denying the fact that education in rural areas is in shambles. Digital classrooms or smart classrooms are the privilege of only the urban schools. Actually digital aids help to battle the challenges plaguing our education system. Alas this has not made much progress in Meghalaya.
One outcome of the dearth of Science and Mathematics teachers in rural Meghalaya also means that students just opt for the arts. As a result there are thousands of college pass-outs year after year without skills and without having imbibed the ethos of education. Science and Mathematics are helpful in developing analytical skills and enquiry training. The few who do well in the Sciences opt for Medicine, Engineering, Veterinary Science etc. Few join the teaching profession. Hence the acute shortage of quality Science and Mathematics teachers.
So far all the measurement tools have shown that urban learners always secure better grades than their rural counterparts. It is not calibre that affects their performance, but the resources and opportunities available to them. Often we have heard people speak of poor remuneration for teachers. It is time that Meghalaya starts paying school teachers better salaries. Let the best then join the teaching profession. Then we shall perhaps see highly motivated teachers taking education to new heights. There are truly passionate teachers out there to make a difference. It is the poor remuneration and inadequate training that have disadvantaged them.
To conclude one wishes the Education minister God speed and we hope to see a rejuvenated education system with a blueprint that we can all invest in.