When we summarize the education process in brief, we usually use this common definition-“Education is a triangular process” that includes a teacher, pupil,and parent. The progress of this vital process is further dependent upon its entire administrative system. If the system is properly placed and executed, it surely yields better results. See how the impact of the order that has been recently issued by the worthy Director of the School Education Department regarding Enrolment Drive. The teacher fraternity frequently acted upon the order. They have been on their toes, moving from door to door in the respective areas in identifying the out-of-school children and motivating them to restart their education. Besides this, they are offering fresh admissions for Kindergarten classes in the school. The impact of the order is such that it revitalizes the entire education system. Now, we are listening to admission announcements circulated via electronic, print, and social media. Posters and big banners are prepared by teachers on their own to give more boost to this enrollment drive. A series of Mega Enrollment Drives also took place in the entire Ganderbal district headed by the worthy C.E.O. Ganderbal. One of the Mega Enrollment cluster level drives was initiated by the Cluster Head/ Principal Boys Higher Secondary School Khalimula Ganderbal on 23rd of March 2023 that ended at BMS-Warphow. Students of this particular cluster accompanied by their respective school teachers and Zonal Coordinator Mohammad Ashraf Dar started the enrollment rally from Government Middle School Buserbug; marching in the interiors of this whole area, chanting slogans; motivating the people to enroll their wards in the Government schools for better and free education. Taking the advantage of the occasion, Principal Higher Secondary Khalimula Mr.Gh.Rasool Dar threw light on the relevance and importance of NPE-2020. He emphasized teachers to remain all the time ready to face future challenges, update their knowledge and equip themselves with the latest methodologies/pedagogy. He also briefed about the enhancement of new admissions in the cluster and expressed his satisfaction over the positive impact of enrollment drives. He praised the teachers for their tireless efforts to make this entire process successful. These collective efforts can yield the best results, if the administrators take a few more positive steps like
Provide Proper infrastructure: A good school infrastructure with good spaces makes it a good place for a child to study. The impact of educational spaces on the students set out to identify the empirical well-being of students in schools. It makes it interesting and gets the children motivated to come to school, this, in turn, improves the attendance and interest of students in learning. But,the prevailing situation in terms of the availability of infrastructure at the primary and middle levels is not satisfactory. There are schools which lack proper accommodation, and proper seating arrangement, Teachers have no option but to attend two or more classes in a single room. Therefore, there is an urgent need for more investment in the development of infrastructure.
Since the inception of various schemes launched by the education department from time to time like SSA, SAMAGRA, and Mid-Day Meal, the workload has been multiplied in school, especially at the Primary and Middle levelswherethere is no non-teaching staff/ clerical staff in place. Apart from teaching, the teacher who has been assigned the additional charge to look after the Mid-Day Meals is not able to do justice tohis/her profession. His/ her prime assignment is to teach students but it has been seen that the vital time especially the morning time goes unproductive because he/she has to procure food items on the daily basis from the market. There are numerous Primary/ Middle schools with insufficient teaching staff. In such schools, engaging a teacher for Mid-Day Meal work puts a heavy burden on other teachers to manage the classes which ultimately puts a negative impact on the academics of the students. Furthermore, calling I/ C teachers for frequent meetings, financial audits, and submitting related documents in the concerned office puts an extra burden on the concerned teacher. The department should either outsource the Mid-Day Meal scheme or allot a fixed amount in favor of the students or sanction a non-teaching staff/clerical staff in favor of the school so that the academic side will go smoothly.
Establishment of District or Zonal Level Book Banks: Based on past experiences, it has been observed that students enrolled in government schools also suffered academically due to the delayed distribution of textbooks. This reflects the lack of coordination between the Board of School Education (BOSE) and the department of education. To address this issue, it is good to have district or Zonal-level book banks so that a student can get textbooks in time.
Avoiding Deputation of Teachers for Other Assignments:- Engaging a teacher in conducting educations surveys is part of his/her duty but engaging them for other assignments like BLOs, Election Duties, Census duties, and other health or social surveys are distracting their attention from the actual assignment. i. e. “Teaching.” There is a need to minimize the burden of a teacher so that he/she can fully concentrate on his prime job, and give the best as per his/her capacity and knowledge.
(The author a is a teacher by profession.. The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
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