Education is one of the main sectors that have been in the center stage of all the social, political and media discussions over the years, inexorably providing a space for all of them to play their politics with. The state of education sector at present in J&K is abysmally harrowing not because it couldn’t get streamlined to become palatable to the ideal education sector where quality education could be imparted rather because it became the hub of the political vote bank, the nuances of corruption at all fronts became a daily affair in the sector and hence, the chances of its improvement became scant. Furthermore, the policy decisions that attract the media hype often proved to be nothing more than the documents used for references in the official discussions. The problem further aggravates for not recognizing the small lot of workers who pump-in their sweat and blood into the sector and get nothing in return except the discouragement and blame. It is a sin to be a maverick worker at a time when all are singing a single tone. The present status of the school education department does not paint an optimistic picture.
The traditional attempts made by the government to pique the interest of common people towards the Government Education Sector seem to have failed keeping in view the sharp declining enrollment of government schools and the poor results. The department of school education has broken with the traditional approach and initiated many innovations from the last few years, but the present traditional system has left little room for these maneuvers to succeed. The initiative to open the winter camps and winter tutorials in the valley have been considered a good move for the improvement of the learning levels of the students who have been suffering for their education during summer unrests and turmoil. These centers catered to the need of the students of a disadvantaged section of the society who can’t afford private tuitions or private schools. In each educational zone, more than ten winter camps and winter tutorials each were opened for both government and private sector students and the best of the faculty was provided to them with a promise to the faculty that proper incentives as per the service rules shall be provided to them. The identification of the schools, where the winter initiative was to be carried out, was done with utmost care to adjust the optimum catchment area of students for easy access. The selection of the competent faculty was facilitated by the Academic Monitors of each zone with due diligence besides the identification of schools suitable for winter camps. It was the Academic Monitors who not only monitored these centers by visiting each of the winter camps and tutorials on a daily basis, but also provided on the spot academic support and necessary inputs for the accomplishment of the desired learning objectives. It is pertinent to mention that Academic Monitors were deployed by the Directorate of school education for monitoring and academic support of the schools in year 2017 which they did with all enthusiasm and interest. They imparted Simple Education Foundation (SEF) training module for about three and a half months to all the teachers of the school education department in the last winters. In fact, all the training modules designed by PRATHAM too were imparted by Academic Monitors for which they were not given any remuneration. The PRATHAM was supposed to intervene in the winter camps for the accomplishment of the learning outcomes and helping the students with minimum levels of learning which they didn’t do directly by visiting any of the winter camps rather by utilizing the services of Academic Monitors in each educational zone. The PRATHAM had also developed some learning material for the winter camps which too was distributed and administered by the Academic Monitors alone. These selfless champions were so eager to run the camps and tutorials that they didn’t bother to sacrifice their sweat, salary, and families for the benefit of the students at a time when cupidity is in vogue everywhere. They had to travel to all these centers, located in far-flung areas, on a daily basis for monitoring and academic support and for that, they were not given any allowances for carrying out the work despite the fact that resources are abundantly available for the purpose and even spent on profligate functions. Even the incentives as promised to the teaching faculty have not been promised to the Academic Monitors despite being the backbone of the winter initiative carried out by the department. The Academic Monitors were not only admonished, but also maltreated for making the teachers accountable as one of the Academic monitors of Anantnag namely Mr. Abdul Qayoom Wani was physically beaten for asking a teacher to join the winter camp. In the last week of winter break, a Model Exhibition was organized by the Academic Monitors in each of their educational zones in which all the winter camps participated and from there the top seven models in seven different categories were selected for the district-level exhibition. The seven best models of seven specified areas were selected at the District Level Exhibition, which too was organized by the Academic Monitors single-handedly. Where does the role of PRATHAM come when they were not seen in the picture during any of the stages of the winter initiative except by organizing the Divisional Level Model Exhibition with their own expenses and inviting all the dignitaries of the government for taking the credit of the winter initiative? The tragic part of the story is that the immense contribution of Academic monitors during this whole process couldn’t find a single reference anywhere in the speeches of any of the dignitaries from the government rather great applauds where unnecessarily showered upon PRATHAM for making the winter camps a success! I can’t fathom why the Academic Monitors fall by the wayside despite working tirelessly probably because money, interests, and influence matter a lot in the present time and hence the success is prerogative of those who possess any of the three. You need not to stand pat on my opinion about the Academic Monitors or the teachers who worked in these centers rather the same can be ascertained independently, but the distortionary attribution of the success of winter initiative to Pratham was disheartening. It was the impregnable coordination of teachers with Academic Monitors that made this success a possibility. The success of the winter initiative, indeed, can be attributed to the cumulative hard work of the diligent faculty, the Academic Monitors, the Zonal Officers and the district officers.
The department of education has often neglected the selfless contribution of its dedicated workers and their motivation plummeted with each passing day leading to the present mess of the sector. The teachers who contributed in the winter camps and tutorials need to be appreciated for their work and incentives as per rules should be given to them in order to keep them motivated for further assignments. It was they who left their comforts and spent chilly days in classrooms helping kids to overcome their learning barriers. The Academic monitors, without whose services the winter initiative wouldn’t have functioned smoothly, should be encouraged by recognizing their work and proper incentives should be provided to them for their contribution to the winter initiatives. The government of J&K needs to stop sweeping their problems under the carpet as most of the teachers who worked in the winter camps and tutorials were Rets who haven’t seen their salaries for months now. The SSA teachers are inured to penury because of the negligence of the government. Their salaries should be streamlined as soon as possible so that they may be able to work with zeal and zest in their schools. They are being embroiled in an agitation against their will. The department of education must go back to the drawing board and review the issues of teachers amicably.
(The author is a freelancer. His views are personal)
