The State Education Commission with educationists of experience as members is now in place. This Commission should have been set up years ago when the SSLC results were showing an appalling downslide with several schools in rural Meghalaya having zero pass percentage. The MDA deserves credit for taking this important leap although it came after dismal survey studies by external agencies. Meghalaya is perhaps the only state with several types of school administrative models that are mind boggling. They are the result of political expediency and were not based on a realistic study of the situation. Several schools were started due to political pressure and before the financial implications were rationally worked out. While it is understood that there is a dearth of schools in rural Meghalaya even today, the mere act of starting a school without considering the larger picture, defeats the very purpose.
One of the many problems of education in Meghalaya is the lack of qualified teachers in Science and Mathematics. Not every person holding a graduate or Master’s degree in Science or Mathematics can in turn teach the subjects. Teaching is a special skill that not everyone possesses. Some teachers lack communication skills because of which students cannot understand them. But the eco-system in our schools is such that a student asking questions is considered impudent. Hence many students go home without having understood what was taught and ultimately growing to hate the subject and the teacher both. There are many schools where such teachers exist. Considering that teachers once appointed are never evaluated, it is also not surprising that an incompetent teacher remains in his/her position for at least 25-30 years and churns out half-baked students. So much actually depends on teachers. And those who don’t understand child psychology are least qualified to teach.
It is therefore important to reform the teacher’s appointment process and to put each teacher under probation during which time feedback can be sought from students. It does not matter how personal the views are but some data can be gathered about a teacher’s performance from such feedback. Teachers should not resist the idea of students giving feedback on their teaching skills and overall behaviour and responses in the classroom.
What has also queered the pitch for education in Meghalaya is that most teachers are appointed based on their political leanings. Their capability was untested; only their political loyalties were. Hence there are several schools in rural Meghalaya where teachers remained absent or sub-contracted their jobs to nondescript individuals. Here the role of the Managing Committees (MC) also comes into question. The MCs have a supervisory role and need to question the administrative head when the school does not perform well. They also have to be committed to the growth and development of the school/college. Perhaps all MC members need an orientation as to what is expected from them. Merely attending meetings once in a while is not good enough.
Now that the Commission is in place its members need to listen to the parents, teachers and students as well to understand what ails education in Meghalaya.