By Albert Thyrniang
The latest Performance Grading Index (PGI) report has ranked Meghalaya the worst performer in school education. The state, whose capital was dubbed as the ‘educational hub’ of the North East has performed worse than the other ‘six sisters’. Social media users reposted and shared the report mocking ourselves. The Shillong MP, Vincent Pala smelled a rat and rubbished the report alleging conspiracy against Christian education in the state. Letters to the editor denounced the LS Member. The editor of this paper on June 11 appealed to individuals like Pala to ‘stop giving a political colour to education.’ Pala not only painted the report with political colours but also added a religious hue to it.
The centre does have an agenda to impose a certain ideology to overreach every sphere, including education and to downgrade Christian contribution to education but to brand the PGI report motivated is perhaps immature. Pala has played to the gallery to please his ‘voters’. Christian bodies and organisations who were initially stunned were later comforted by Pala’s statement. Pala’s position is a reference point to believe that our schools are still the best. We will continue to live in the bliss that we provide the best education and therefore won’t move to keep track with the fast changing concept of education. We will stay in our comfort zones though things are not that rosy.
It is a fact that missionary schools contribute significantly to education in the state. But should the credit be given more than its due? The MP, who claims education here is superior than in many states in the country, points to Meghalaya’s higher literacy rate as compared to the national figure. The dissenter observes, “Government schools account for around 30-40 per cent of all schools in Meghalaya and the rest (60-70 per cent) are run by different Churches and organisations. This report may be for government schools only”. This writer has no alternative information to question the data but if the figures are correct then the report is also a hard rap on the ‘Christian’ education in the state. It simply states that ‘Christian’ education has failed. We certify ourselves to be doing a great job but we may have failed in our duties.
My assessment is that the different Christian denominations focus mainly on secondary and to some extent on higher secondary and college education. The maximum emphasis is on secondary education. In this sector the 30-40/60-70 share could be spot on. The Churches’ schools are present across the state in towns and villages as well. The Churches administer them well. Sufficient personnel are placed in these institutions to ensure good education.
But what about Lower Primary (LP) education? On paper 30-40/60-70 distribution may also hold water in this sector. But LP schools are completely neglected. Let me elaborate from familiar circles. In a particular Parish (a Catholic Church administrative territory) there are 34 villages. In every village there is a Roman Catholic Lower Primary (RCLP) school funded by the government. The school building, number of teachers and the mode of function are practically the same as government LP schools. The Parish priest (pastor) is the secretary of all these schools. He only signs the salary related papers. There is almost zero monitoring of classes, regularity and punctuality of teachers. The example in question could be a sample for the whole state, meaning there are hundreds of such poorly run RCLP schools particularly in Khasi-Jaintia Hills. At least four pastors, three in West/South West Khasi Hills and one in Ri Bhoi district admit to this writer that education in RCLP schools is no different than in government LP schools. They have privately proposed surrendering these schools. The reason for the neglect is that the Church gains nothing from these LP schools. But should the Church merely look for financial gain? Does the Church have no resource to improve their LP school in rural areas? Will the Church transform LP schools to contribute towards positively impacting the next PGI rating?
We can also be critical of Christian Secondary Schools. Are they still the best? Can we compare them with private schools, say the Delhi Public Schools in terms of infrastructure, personnel, subjects offered, information technology education, etc.? In these schools, there are teachers for arts, dance, music, theatricals and sports of different disciplines.
Are Christian missionaries basking in the past glory for being the pioneers of education? Have we moved with the times? Have the classrooms changed? Are we stuck with the blackboard and chalk method? Have we progressed beyond memorising text books and notes? Do we embrace arts, dance, music, theatricals and sports as part of the curriculum? How many teachers are proficient and skilful in any of the above activities?
Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma has identified poor infrastructure as the main reason for the dismal show. Therefore, he pats his government’s back for the investment to improve the infrastructure of 200 schools. The Chief Minister has the ambitious plan to build another 500 new schools. Given that Meghalaya (87) recorded just above Bihar (81) – the lowest scores in infrastructure – the emphasis is justified. A proper school building with adequate facilities is a must to improve the overall quality of school education. But emphasis on this area without doing much on other domains will count for nothing in bringing about quality education.
The PGI accords the highest importance to the domain termed as ‘governance processes.’ With 24 States/ Union Territories (UTs) scoring less than 288 of 1000 the report states that the main focus of states and (UTs is on improving the processes. This domain includes parameters like ‘teacher availability, teachers training and regular inspection.’
On teachers’ availability there is a severe shortage of Mathematics and Science teachers in the state right from the LP level. The problem is more pronounced in villages. It is a nightmare for private schools, especially for classes IX to XII levels, to get Mathematics and Science teachers. Even if candidates are available low pay deters them. They prefer to engage themselves in private tuitions. This has taken a toll on the health of education. The massive failure in Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination is attributed to the acute lack of mathematical skills among students. What can be done in this regard? Easy solutions are hard to come by.
Regarding teachers training, comments are limited to secondary and higher secondary level. The state has only five B. Ed colleges, of which three are functional. With the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE)’s strict rule of 50 enrolments per year the demand for admission far exceeds availability of seats. How can the three colleges absorb all the teacher aspirants? Graduates who wish to do B. Ed colleges fail to get admission. From where will the youths of the state train themselves to be professional teachers?
It is learnt that two institutions, namely Teachers Training institute, Jowai and Don Bosco College for Teacher Education (DBCTE), Tura have opted to launch the four-year integrated B. Ed Course and are awaiting permission from NCTE since 2019. As per information NCTE has cancelled its 2019 notification for the four- year integrated course. No one knows when the new notification will be issued and the fresh course commence, in keeping with the New Education Policy. Meanwhile the above institutions have been left in the lurch. Permission for the two-year course has been denied and the green signal for the four-year course is unduly delayed. The state government and responsible ministers have been knocking at the doors of NCTE but to no avail. Hence education suffers!
It baffles me as to why permission for opening of B. Ed colleges has to come from a national body. Education is a state subject. A state can set up state universities. States can establish state institutes. Why can’t the state set up state B. Ed colleges? Why can’t universities like NEHU approve the creation of B. Ed colleges? If NCTE exists it must performs its duties expeditiously otherwise it is a stumbling block for the progress of education.
Regular inspection is one of the parameters in the PGI. In our state, inspectors of schools and their subordinates (now District School Education Office or DSEOs) have stopped inspection of schools completely. If the government wants to improve the status of education, it should order the inspecting officers to pay regular surprise visits to schools. This is the easiest trick involving little cost.
The last point is, “compliance with the indicators (governance processes) will lead to critical structural reforms in areas ranging from monitoring the attendance of teachers to ensuring a transparent recruitment of teachers and principals.” Will the government introduce a transparent mechanism like ‘on camera’ interview to recruit teachers on merit? Unless this is done the ‘white ink’ saga will continue to be applied. Candidates are selected even before the interview. Clearly infrastructure is an important component but without drastic internal reforms, school buildings will turn out to be monuments.
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