At the outset let me make one
thing clear here; that I am not writing this article to please the boss of my
department. I sincerely believe that I am expressing the thoughts of lakhs and
lakhs of poor people who do not get the opportunity to put their words of
appreciation in the print media. Shri Yitachu, Hon’ble Parliamentary Secretary for School
Education, Nagaland has acknowledged that poor attendance and insincerity of staff is a
major problem towards development and appealed to all to re-dedicate and work
hard to reach out to every section of the society. He has also said, “It is
high time the DSE takes corrective measures where it has gone wrong; improve
where it has done well and re-strengthen wherever there are good achievements”.
I would have considered his speech as one among those of VIPs that many do not
take into heart. But his declaration of introducing biometric system of
attendance in Govt. Schools and offices of the Education Department from the year
2015 made me to believe that history will definitely remember him if he makes
his words into reality.
Even though many honest and
upright officers wish to perform duties sincerely, they become handicapped in
the corrupt system that is being influenced by muscle/gun power. In today’s
world technology is the most powerful weapon that could help us to clean the
system and we must make best use of it. Our Parliamentary Secretary’s plan would
definitely bring drastic changes in the way of functioning of Govt. Schools in
our state and would ultimately change the society within short time. I have
been stressing that school is the best place to begin actions for social change
and nothing could be achieved without practically eliminating the evil
practices being followed in schools.
Let me take this opportunity
to describe few incidents to show how we have been teaching corrupt practices
to our children from their childhood and later blame them for all the unwise
things in life. Most of the children knew well that the date of birth entered
in their school record is not the actual one and the birth certificate was
purchased for few hundred rupees. So, corruption begins at the very first day
of one’s schooling life. Some people may say students of Govt. School are dull
and dump. But they would surely know who their real teachers are and who the
proxies are. When teachers arrive late and classes are not occupied they may
play happily inside the class rooms. They may not ask us now as to why their
Govt. schools starts at 9:00 a.m and get over at 12:30 p.m where as the nearby
private schools starts at 8:00 a.m and get over at 2:00 p.m. But they may
direct their anger towards the society or become a burden to the society when
they realize that they get defeated in employment opportunities because they
are ill equipped.
The officers and teachers of the Education
Department know well about the limitations of the Govt. schools and that is why
most of our children are studying in the nearby private schools. I do not put the entire blame on
the Govt. school teachers and authorities but personally feel that we are
responsible for the lapses to a great extend. I am confident that the
initiative of our Hon’ble Parliamentary Secretary would be a mile stone in the
functioning of the Govt. schools and pray that the almighty bless him with the
strength to implement the noble scheme
