It is matter of shame that despite having better teachers in Government schools the students are heading towards the private ones in the State, said the Chief Secretary (CS) of Uttarakhand Shatrughna Singh while launching DEEKSHA (Dedication to Enhance Education, through Knowledge, Skill and Habit Assessment) programme at State Secretariat on Wednesday.
Addressing the education officers present in the conference hall and all District Magistrates (DM) of the State via Video Conferencing, he said it is very important that the quality of education in the government schools is enhanced. He directed the officials to take personal interest in this campaign. Expressing happiness on the fact that the number of enrollments in the model schools are increasing, the CS said these schools are set up to increase quality of education and better infrastructure is provided in these schools. He said that he would personally visit these model schools and monitor their progress. Singh directed all DMs to ensure that the AADHAAR cards of the all the students are made and their seeding with their bank accounts should be done. On the issue of schools with dilapidated buildings he directed the district officials to get them repaired on a priority basis with the budget available in the district plan.
Informing about DEEKSHA programme the Secretary School education, D Senthil Pandian said that the aim of this project is to ensure regular assessment of the students’ performance and remedial measures to improve their knowledge. He said that the programme would be taken up like a campaign in all the schools of the state and all the education officers would participate in it ensuring proper monitoring and regular inspections. Pandian said that the programme consists of two parts, Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) and learning level Assessment (llA). He said that the CCE would be employed in the primary classes while the llA would be implemented for the students of IX and above. Pandian accepted that the quality of students has deteriorated in wake of Right to Education (RTE) enforcing a ‘no fail’ concept in the primary classes.
A booklet containing the guidelines for the implementation of the DEEKSHA programme was also released by the Chief Secretary on the occasion. The booklet is developed by the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT).
The programme was also attended by the Additional Secretary Ranjana, Director Secondary education R K Kunwar, Director Primary education Seema Jaunsari, Additional Project Director Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Mukul Kumar Sati, Additional Directors B S Rawat, MS Bisht, B S Negi and others.