‘Too many divisions in education dept’

Our Correspondent KOHIMA, JUNE 25 Commissioner & secretary Higher & Technical Education and School Education, FP Solo on Thursday asserted that the poor image of the education department in the state is wrought from within and thus, solution should be sought within the system and not outside. With so many associations, forums and groups sprouting from different sections within the department, he remarked there are just too many divisions. He also expressed concern that there is a tendency for these groups to take their problems to the streets and the newspapers instead of discussing and resolving the issues amongst themselves. “We need to re-introspect and ask ourselves as to why there is slow enrolment and poor performance in government schools, why there are so many bogus and proxy teachers, why teachers go on agitation due to non-release of salary, why there is so many conflicts and divisions amongst different groups and associations within the department,” he told department officials and government school heads. The official was addressing the gathering at the interaction programme on ‘Factors Responsible for the Poor Performance of Government Schools in the HSLC examination and its Remedial Measures’, jointly organized by the Directorate of School Education (DoSE) and All Nagaland School Teachers’ Association (ANSTA) at the Zonal Council Hall, Kohima. Solo said the performance of schools and students reflect on the performance of teachers and authorities of the schools and the department. He said there will be no simple answers and solutions but they must accept the “simple fact” that all the questions and the problems they are facing today are their own creations. “No one has superimposed any of the problems on us. We are all responsible for the mess that we are in, so the solution must be found within ourselves through our own initiatives and efforts,” he stated. The official also reminded that school education used to be one of the cleanest departments and government schools and teachers used to command “a very high image and respect” from the people at one point of time but that image has eroded over the years. He urged upon all the department officials and staff, and the heads and teachers of government schools that it is their collective responsibility to endeavour to restore the image and credibility of the department. Emphasizing the need to strengthen mentoring and monitoring mechanism, Solo said frequent periodic inspections of various establishments under the department will be an effective tool of management in the department. He expressed hope today’s meeting will not spawn more “blame game” but rather come produce constructive and concrete action plan for improving the performance and enrolment of government schools. He said the suggestions for practical solutions shared at the meeting should be implemented and further called upon all the authorities under the department to put in extra efforts and bring about changes and improvement in the performances of government schools (GMS, GPS and GHS). The ANSTA has highlighted on the occasion that the number of government schools in the state producing poor results in HSLC examination is showing an increasing trend with just 11 schools in 2010 to 38 schools in 2015. While presenting its observations, the association listed out seven main causative factors responsible for poor/nil result of government schools in the HSLC examination. These include, shortage of requisite number of subject teachers, insincerity of teachers, irregularity of the heads, weakness of school administration, poor quality/background of the students, failure of higher-ups to take action against erring teachers/heads, and wrong formulation of government policy. Nagaland Board of School Education chairperson, Asano Sekhose who also shared her observations said the challenges of imparting quality education is huge and for a school to produce good and quality results depends on heads of institutions and school leaders. She stated that every level of education is equally important and so the primary and elementary levels have to be strengthened so that the secondary and higher secondary levels could produce better results. The NBSE chair also highlighted some factors that could be responsible for poor performance of government schools and put forward some remedial suggestions. She said that with RTE being implemented, the concept of Continuous & Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) must be understood by the teachers, students and parents. She also stated that that it is imperative for teachers to realize that they are dealing with human resource, and also pointed out that they need to keep updating their skills. She called upon the elementary and secondary teachers to attend orientation programmes conducted by the SCERT and the NBSE respectively. Director School Education, Zaveyi Nyekha also shared his concerns and views on the occasion. He said 38 government schools producing nil results in the last HSLC examination (2015) is a “shocking revelation to all”. He said the teachers and the administration are equally responsible for the result and it indicated lack of sincerity in giving their efforts. He called for a joint venture and effort of every DEO/SDEO/headmaster/principal/teacher/parent/student and the society as a whole to bring about positive changes.