Selection Test Menace in Nagaland

When the whole education department of Nagaland is actively involved in proposing suggestions for the proposed new education policy of Govt. of India, I would like to draw the attention of the readers to an unhealthy practice being followed by many schools in Nagaland. The Nagaland Board of School Education had introduced the practice of conducting Selection Test for the students of permitted schools (schools under observation before granting recognition) with a view to ensure proper transaction of curriculum to its students. But this evaluation tool of NBSE was misused my majority of the recognized schools in the state. The selection test was used as a tool to screen out the weak students in classes 10 and 12 so that the schools could boost of better results in the HSLC / HSSLC examinations.

Last year NBSE has abolished the practice of conducting selection test to screen out the weak students and introduced the concept of conducting Model Test compulsorily at the end of the academic year so as to update and improve the performance of students. But many schools still continue to screen out weak students with least concern for the rules laid down by the highest academic authority (School Education) of the state.The high dropout ratio(30%) in class X is definitely a matter of great concern for all of us. Interestingly, school authorities are taking shelter under a provision provided by the NBSE which states that registered schools (recognized or permitted) may debar a student from appearing at the final examination if there is no sign of academic improvement or if the student has a deteriorating performance in the weekly/monthly tests and terminal examination. But unfortunately this provision which has to be invoked very cautiously by the school authorities is being misused casually. If a student declared Qualified at class IX promotion examination shows no sign of academic improvement or has a deteriorating performance in class X, it may be due to some serious adverse situations at home or school. Therefore, concerned school authorities should analyze such cases and initiate appropriate remedial measures before resorting to the extreme step of debarring students from appearing final examinations. Moreover, we should also keep in mind the financial burdens that would be imposed on parents while debarring students from appearing final examinations.

I remember an incident happened nearly some 20 years ago in South India. A student who was not allowed to appear the HSLC examination by the school authorities approached the concerned state High Court seeking justice. The HC had asked the school authorities only 2 questions. Whether the student had passed the class 9 promotion examination and had secured the required attendance in class 10?  When the school authorities answered ‘Yes’, the High Court had ruled that the school has No authority to debar the student from appearing the board exam unless serious disciplinary issues are involved. Comparatively the people of Nagaland have more respects and regards for teachers and that is why such court cases are not common in our state.

When NBSE is marching ahead with the developed states by introducing many pupil friendly measures such as conduct of immediate HSLC Compartmental Examination, providing Photostat Copies of HSLC/ HSSLC Exam answers scripts etc, the school authorities should explore all possible means to help children to come out of their struggles and resorting to the extreme steps should be considered only when all possible efforts are exhausted.

Tribute To All Dedicated Teachers

Today our country celebrates Teachers’ Day which commemorates the birthday of great scholar, philosopher and former President of India Dr S Radhakrishnan. When few friends and students of Dr S Radhakrishnan requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday, he preferred the day to be observed as Teachers Day and thus every teacher of our country gets the privilege of being honoured on 5^th September since 1962. India has held teachers in high esteem from the ancient times and we could understand the importance of teachers from an Indian proverb that describes the hierarchy of respect to be accorded to different personalities in one’s life; Mother, Father, Teacher & God.

Teachers are the builders of nation and are entrusted with the task of shaping the future of our country. Every school is a miniature society comprising of pupils from different sections of the community. Today’s children will rule tomorrow’s world and the prosperity of our nation would ultimately depend on the quality of education being imparted to them in the schools. Today, our country is emerging as a major stakeholder in the world affairs and talents of Indian professionals are globally recognized in every field of development. This would not have been made possible without the support of dedicated teachers. Dr A P J Abdul Kalam who had won the hearts of millions of peoples always held his teachers in high esteem and this is more than enough to tell our young children that whoever respects their teachers would definitely excel in whatever field of study they undertake and will always be a treasure to the society. Let me also remind my teacher friends an important factor here; teachers who were revered most had always taught their children with love and dedication to their profession.   

Now a question may be raised; are teachers responsible for today’s chaos existing in our society? Even though teachers alone are not responsible for the anarchies, they are also accountable to some extend because they are the one who connect children and their education. Let me state an important drawback of our present education system here. We are caught between the fine heritage of our Indian education system and the deliberately imposed Western education system. The conflicts are made more complicated by the commercialization of education in the private sector and the deep rooted corruption afflicting the Govt. sector. Adding fuel to fire is the implementation of major educational policies without taking the ground realities and feasibility constraints in to consideration. Finally the poor teachers are at the receiving end. I hope we could gradually come out of the shortcomings through our dedication and love for the children.

On this Teachers Day, I salute all the teachers who contribute their best to the children in spite of the hardships they face and pray to the almighty to bless them with the strength and wisdom to serve the needy children more efficiently in the coming days.

Weapons of Destruction or Tools of Development?

Few months back I had visited one of my friends from my native village after a gap of 5 years along with my son. It was a festival day and I had fixed an appointment with my friend before few days of the proposed visit. We reached his home at the fixed time and he and his family members warmly welcomed us. His old parents and wife fondly enquired about my family, job etc and were very happy with our visit. His wife offered us delicious sweets and went to the kitchen to make tea. My friend and I started sharing about developments of our lives and there started the continuous interruption of mobile calls from his friends and colleagues. All were conveying festival greetings and somehow I got nearly 10 minutes to talk to him out of my one hour presence in his home. While returning, with a disappointed face I said to my son, “Now I realize the other side of conveying festival greetings over mobile” .To this my son said, “You are not much different from your friend; It’s good you have realized it now.”            

Mobiles phone have revolutionized the life style in the 21^st century and plays a crucial role in bringing developments in the life of people in many ways. But at the same time, the recent trend in using smart phones by the common man and the so called educated persons is a matter of grave concern for the society. Gradually, most of the members of the society are becoming too much self- centered and characters of togetherness and humankind is disappearing from many people. With the excessive use of the device of communication, the communication within the family members at home has been decreasing drastically. Even family lunch and dinner hours witness members engaged to mobile phones at one hand and food at the other hand. The concepts of family tours and vacation trips have also changed. Instead of having interaction and good time with the group members; everyone gets engaged with their smart phones. Whenever persons visit a new place, the first thing they do is clicking of their ‘selfies’ and uploading them immediately in the social media. Enjoying the beauty of the places and learning about the people, cultures etc of the place are completely forgotten concepts now.

The inappropriate use of smart phones also affects the work culture in offices. Many employees are getting addicted to the use of online games and social networks such as WhatsApp, Facebook etc during office hours and their attention gets distracted away from the works. Even many officers keep snooping on their smart phones during public interviews & official discussions. Situations in schools where values are inculcated on children are no different. Students found using mobile phones inside the school campus are punished but many teachers continue to use their mobiles even inside the class rooms without any guilty.

The adverse effects of the excess and unsystematic use of smart phones and the social media would bring great harm to the society as it would gradually change the attitude of people towards life and the fellow human beings. We may not realize the impacts of it immediately but within a decade we may be living in a virtual world which is far away from reality. I am not saying that one should completely keep away from the use of smart phones and the social media. All we need to do is use them with proper schedule without affecting our commitments to family, employers and the society. 

History of Higher Secondary Education: A Flashback

The present system of Higher Secondary Education is the outcome of intensive researches made by numerous Education Commissions and Eminent Educationists, brainstorming deliberations and discussions by different Committees and Conferences during the last 100 years. Prior to the introduction of the Higher Secondary Education, the duration of the school course was 11 years and the 2 years Intermediate Education was exclusively a part of collegiate education that offered 2 years degree course. Thus the dividing line between the School and University courses was drawn at Matriculation. The journey of the Higher Secondary Education started way back in 1917 with the appointment of the Calcutta University Commission popularly known as the Saddler Commission. It was the first Commission that suggested to make the duration of school education to 12 years and to put forward the idea of restructuring of education in the shape of 10 + 2+ 3.

The University Education Commission (1948-49) also known as the Radhakrishnan Commission under the Chairmanship of Dr S Radhakrishnan also recommended for adoption of a uniform pattern of 10 + 2 + 3 for the entire country. The Secondary Education Commission (1952-53) popularly known as the Mudaliar Commission recommended adding the first year of the Intermediate course to the Schools and the second year to the 2 year under graduate degree course so as to create the 3 year degree course.

The Planning Commission Panel (1960), the third conference of the Vice-Chancellors of Indian Universities (1961), The Central Advisory Board of Education Meeting (1962), The Conference of the State Education Ministers, Vice – Chancellors and Eminent Educationists (1963) had all recommended the same 12 years of school education up to the Higher Secondary level and 3 years of first degree course. The Education Commission or the Kothari Commission (1964-66) also recommended the present structure of 10+2+3 pattern of education.

After long years of deliberations and recommendations of different Education Commissions, the Government of India had notified the National Policy on Education 1968 and the National Structure of Education (10 + 2 + 3) came in to existence. Thus the process of upgrading of High Schools into Higher Secondary schools began from the implementation of NPE 1968. But, the two year Higher Secondary course at the beginning was conducted both at the schools and the colleges.  Later, the objectives of the school education covering the +2 stage of last two years were redrafted under the National Policy on Education 1986. The new policy of 1986 clearly recommended the +2 stage or the senior secondary education to be properly belongs to the school education and the colleges offering +2 stage of education were asked to transfer those classes to the schools.

The history of Higher Secondary Education described above makes it crystal clear that the higher secondary classes 11 & 12 are integral part of the school education and I need not explain why the finest brains of our country had brought this system into existence. The higher secondary stage of education is a crucial stage in the academic career of children as diversion of professional selection takes place during this stage. The educational administrators and teachers should remember one thing at this juncture. Even though the diversification of course of studies starts after passing of class 10, children should be helped to identify their natural aptitude and inclination towards the different courses when they are in classes 9 and 10.

New Staffing Pattern in Nagaland Govt. Higher Secondary Schools

A debate has been initiated in the media about the proposed implementation of the new staffing pattern in the Govt. Higher Secondary Schools of Nagaland. A section of the employees of the education department opposes the new pattern and threaten with agitations while another section appreciates the department for the initiation. I would like to share my views about the new staffing pattern here in the interest of thousands of rural Govt. school students who suffer due to acute shortage of teachers. I would confidently say that the proposed new staffing pattern of education department would stand as a milestone in the history of the department and is really a bold step taken by the policy makers towards correcting the mistakes committed for more than few decades.

Of course the new staffing pattern is not free from lapses; but one should understand that occurrence of few lapses is quite common with implementation of any innovative idea. The drawbacks of the system could be brought to the notice of the Government and I am sure that the concerned authorities would definitely look in to the genuine concerns of the employees. But opposing a novel initiation of the Govt. with utter selfishness is nothing but committing a sin against the poor people of Nagaland.

People may cite many reasons for opposing the new staffing pattern. But the real fact hidden behind the opposition is very simple. A section of the influential officers who ‘managed’ to get posted in the district headquarters doesn't like to move away from their comfortable posting places. We all know that most of the Govt. Higher Secondary Schools are situated in district and subdivision headquarters. If the HMs, AHMs and few Graduate Teachers from the GHSSs are redeployed to other High schools, they will have to give away few comforts and this is the major reason for their opposition. Here an important fact has been conveniently hidden by the associations which oppose the new pattern. They propagate that the Govt. has ordered redeployment of all the Graduate Teachers from the GHSSs. But this is not true. Few Graduate and Under Graduate teachers would be retained in the GHSSs and we could always demand more teachers depending on the strength of students.

Let me present a factual figure about a particular GHSS in Nagaland as a sample for your understanding of  the financial implications of the new pattern. A GHSS having 35 teaching staff now would have 24 teaching staff under the new staffing pattern and the affairs of the school could still be managed comfortably within the prescribed workload of the teachers. With the implementation of the new pattern, approximately Rs.5,20,000/-(Rupees five lakh twenty thousand) per month would be saved from this single school. Please take the trouble of calculating the amount spent unnecessarily for a period of 10 years in one school itself where as hundreds of schools are suffering without teachers in the rural areas.

The opposing associations has stated that the ‘Junior Post Graduate Teachers’ will not be able to manage the disciplinary issues arising in the secondary section of the schools without the Senior Graduate Teachers. Dear friends, where you all got posted initially as Senior Graduate Teachers? Let us not forget that most of the Post Graduate Teachers are trained (Possesses B.Ed degree) and been selected through tough competitive exams conducted by NPSC. Instead of opposing the novel initiative of the department for the convenient of few individuals, why don’t we have a healthy competition in improving the quality of education in the Govt. High Schools managed by the Headmasters and the Govt. Higher Secondary Schools managed by the Principals?