Stop Bashing Teachers

Enrollment drive campaigns in different villages and towns of Jammu and Kashmir are grabbing highlights in different media houses. Social media is abuzz with videos and pictures of teachers and officers of school education department, persuading parents to send their children to government schools. The move has proven quite instrumental, and thousands of children have been admitted in government schools across the length and breadth of Jammu and Kashmir, within a short span of time. Director school education, chief education officers, zonal education officers, resource persons and teachers are seen moving with banners and placards, displaying beautiful and catchy slogans to convince common masses to admit their children in government schools. But, the gesticulation of education department has come under severe and sharp criticism from some biased jurnos. Even some commoners have also castigated government teachers for the open campaigning. They are being accused of alleged double standards because their own children are enrolled in private schools. Almost a couple of days earlier, a respected newspaper of Kashmir valley, carried a column, in which the author had tried to highlight the causes of dismal academic show in government schools. But, alas! He has failed to sum up the reasons. I was shell shocked to see his narrow-mindedness and prejudice towards a particular working class of school education department. Certainly, there is a lot of scope for improvement and betterment in government schools. But, blaming teachers only is unfortunate and indigestible. Government machinery is busy in the meticulous planning and surgical execution of things to get the desired results in government schools. I won’t negate the fact that a handful of people among teaching community is unable to give their 100%, but targeting teachers alone for the chaos in the education sector, is totally unacceptable and disgusting. There is no doubt in the fact that government schools are not at par with private schools, in terms of academic achievements and excellence. But, a teacher alone is not responsible for the poor show. Let the journo know that the infrastructure of government schools is also not at par with the private sector. Why is he hell bent to tarnish the dignity of teachers by holding them responsible for the complete mess? A teacher is being bashed for sending his/her children to private education sector, but, no one dares to ask the same question to a lecturer, a college professor, a university professor, a ZEO, a CEO and other stakeholders of education sector. Teachers are being lambasted for receiving their salaries from government treasuries, yet sending their own children to private schools. According to the theory, proposed by the journo, government school teachers are paid for sending their children to government schools. Let me clear the fact that government school teachers are not being appointed and recruited to send their own children to the schools, where they do teach. They are not being paid for sending their own children to government schools. Nowhere is written in CSR rules that a government school teacher must admit his/her children in government schools, and other employees are exempted from it. Teachers are being made the scapegoats. Aren’t other employees receiving their salaries from the state exchequer? If a doctor, an engineer, a patwari, a professor, an officer of education department, a law maker and others are privileged enough to admit their children in private schools. Why a teacher is alone asked to bell the cat? Can we ask a doctor to treat his/her ailing ones necessarily in government hospitals? No, never, even it sans logic.
The doctor, whose dear ones are ailing, will surely look for better healthcare services. He/she won’t admit his/her ailing parents or children in the hospital where there are no facilities available. Same is the case with our school education system. Why are people stubbornly obstinate to see the children of government school teachers in government schools? Why don’t they dare to ask ministers, legislators, bureaucrats and other employees to own the government schools? The day will mark a new beginning in government schools when my lawmaker, my minister, my director, my deputy commissioner, my tehsildar will admit their children in government schools. Let you dare them to be the parents of government schools. I know you can’t. Bias and prejudice provokes our cowardice and timidity to bash the hapless. Let me now disect the ailing education system of our school education department. I won’t claim that government school teachers are angels; they are all competent and honest. There is undoubtedly a level of laxity and dishonesty among a particular section of teachers. But, weighing all in the same balance is equivalent to the mass murder of teaching fraternity and the principles of justice. Manish Sisodia and Arvind Kejrival of Delhi NCR have set an example and eye-opener for rest of the country. They have revolutionized the school education sector of Delhi. Arvind Kejriwals’s own son, Pulkit Kejriwal who is now an IITian, was reading in a government school. I bet, our leaders can’t even think about such courage. Most of the children in Delhi NCR are reading in government schools because the infrastructure of government schools is far better than private schools. Manish Sisodia and Arvind Kejriwal stopped to pay peanuts to teachers. The duo built confidence in government teachers, erected the desired and requisite infrastructure, trained resource teacher at Cambridge and Oxford to impart innovative teaching pedagogies and techniques to their teachers. And rest is history. Contrary to it, teachers working in primary and middle schools in our part of the globe are peons and sweepers as well. Our CPWs are still receiving rupees 100 a month as remuneration from school local funds. And in return, they hardly bother to broom our classrooms once or twice a month. After the reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, school local funds have ceased because there is no provision of fee in our government schools, now. Can you imagine the plight of our schools where teachers are forced to broom their classrooms? Will such miserable conditions motivate our commoners to send their children to government schools? Thick layers of dust in classrooms won’t prompt masses to see government schools as an alternate option for their children. Today, I won’t talk about syllabi disparity between the two sectors. Let me tell my respected readers that government schools lack proper kindergarten classes. No doubt, initiation of model kindergarten centres in some pilot schools has ignited a ray of hope, but solitary kindergarten centers won’t serve the purpose. Government should start kindergarten classes in all government schools at par with private schools. Proper and managed kindergarten system grooms a child in accordance with the modern challenges and demands of education system. When such grooming is missing in government schools, how can you expect a parent to take the risk of sending his/her children to government schools? If a mason, a labourer, an economically poor man can provide such proper and desired grooming to his child in private schools, why can’t a teacher provide such education to his/her children. Hope, implementation of NEP 2020 will pave way for a systematic kindergarten classes in our government schools. Now, the face of our government schools is changing. The day is not far away when our government schools will overshadow private schools, Insha-Allah. And people should stop shooting arrows in the air.
(The writer is a teacher by profession. Views are his own) [email protected]