Government schools or private schools : An old tale
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: July 25 2011 -

It has been reported that Education Minister DD Thaissi speaking in the 2nd Prize distribution function to meritorious students of Mekola Private Centre had remarked that the Education Department will stop giving recognition to new private schools and nor will issue No Objection Certificate for affiliation to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

The minister's reasoning is that the proliferation of private schools has had a debilitating effect on the performance of government schools. One can share his concern for government schools and their poor results in exams. But perhaps he has missed a stride here.

Perhaps we should start with the premise that the mushrooming of private schools ensued with the continuous sluggish performances of the government schools. It is not the other way round, that is, private schools had effected the working of government schools, and that this is why government schools have become lackluster.

Another point the Minister made most private schools as a way of earning huge incomes. Again this cannot be disclaimed, but then to look at it from the proper perspective; it is the government schools who are to be blamed. Let them make a soul searching query as to how a fertile ground for opening up of private schools came about in the first place.

And as far as making money is concerned, who does not want to rich?

But to go back to DD Thaissi's concern for government schools. Should the present state of affairs be allowed to drift?

The answer is definitely not. For a start, education in private schools is expensive and beyond the reach of many parents.

And then with the tremendous effort of the central government to realize universal literacy in the country and the staggering of money it has invested in this mission it has been providing numerous subsidies and special packages, it would be ideal for school students to enroll themselves in government schools.

Then how is such a situation to be arrived at? Through the medium of this news daily we have been making our humble suggestion in the past.

To begin with, the quality of teaching has to undergo a sea change. This will necessitate introducing, on a rigorous scale, the means to improve the capacity to disseminate knowledge by the teachers to their students.

All perfunctory refresher courses should give way in order to impart to the teachers the art of teaching, which at present is being sidelined.

Perhaps, as a pilot project, a few select schools could be chosen to see whether such a move could reap benefits.

The only problem we see is that since there are various lobbies in the Education Department, many people would not like to see any meaningful changes.