Passing the historic order, Justice Sudhir Agarwal directed the UP chief secretary to ensure that all Government servants, elected representatives, members of judiciary and any other persons who get any benefit or salary from the State exchequer or public fund send their children to schools run by the State Education Board
Considering the pathetic condition of primary schools in Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad High Court has recently passed a historic judgement.
Hearing the writ petitions filed by Umesh Kumar Singh and several others with regard to appointment of assistant teachers in State’s primary schools, Justice Sudhir Agarwal directed the chief secretary to ensure that all Government servants, elected representatives, members of judiciary and any other persons who get any benefit or salary from the State exchequer or public fund send their children to schools run by the State Education Board.
The CS has been told to take steps within six months so as to make the aforesaid directions effective from the next academic session of primary schools.
The judge has ruled that “penal provisions” be laid down for those who violate the order, suggesting that persons not following the order “should be deprived of other benefits like increment, promotional avenues for a certain period, as the case may be”.
Moreover, instruction has been given that amount equal to the school fees should be deposited by officials and elected representatives to the State exchequer, for every child going to a private school not maintained by the State Government.
It is another story that many are not pleased by the judgment, terming it as encroachment on the right of the citizens by the court.
The question has always been in debates about how we should educate our children. Given the competitive attitude it is believed that private institutions are better than public ones. However, in The Public School Advantage: Why Public Schools Outperform Private Schools, A Christopher and Sarah Theule lubienski, both Professors in the Department of Education at University of Illinois, offer potent evidence to undercut this belief, showing that public schools in fact outperform private ones.
The authors explain how the outdated data showing students at private schools performing better than those in public schools is being used to promote the benefits of the private sector in education. They argue that private schools have higher scores not because they are better institutions but because their students largely come from more privileged backgrounds that offer greater educational support.
They conducted a comprehensive study on school type and the achievement of students in mathematics (study was focused on mathematics as mathematics is the best measure of in-school learning). Drawing on their study of three lakh elementary and middle school students in around 15,000 public and private schools in the USA they concluded that public school students are far better as compared to the private ones.
Their study shows how the very mechanism of autonomy, which the market-based policy makers promote, prevents private schools from performing better. The autonomy enjoyed by the private schools has been misused to give undue importance to teaching methods preferred by parents but which are not effective for educating students.
Citing an example they state, “Private school students are more likely than their public school counterparts to sit in rows, complete math worksheets and believe that mathematics is “mostly memorising facts” — a narrow view that captures neither the breadth of the discipline nor the reasoning that is central to it.
The private schools provide solution to students without letting them think about the problem. The students are spoon-fed to please the parents. Whereas public schools have moved beyond traditional, repetitive exercises, and more often ask students to solve complex, real-world problems and to learn geometry, data analysis, and early algebra ideas, in addition to basic arithmetic. Since teachers are not overindulgent the students of public schools are compelled to discuss their problem with each other, which helps them to understand the problem. Such discussions are not common in private schools.
Another important reason cited for the difference in the performance is related to the difference in the qualification of the teachers in public schools and private schools. They argue, “Public school teachers are more likely to be certified and to receive ongoing training in the field, keeping them current on research-based instructional standards and resources supported by professional entities such as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Science Foundation. Private school teachers are rarely impelled to receive such training.”
Similar views have been shared by researchers at the Educational Testing Service, Notre Dame and Stanford universities.
However, in India things have to be analysed from the local perspective. India’s Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER) released on January 15, 2014, presents an abysmal picture of the education system at the primary schools run by the State. Most children are in school, but very few are learning. less than half the children in Grade V can read a Grade III text, and only about a quarter can divide a three-digit number by a one-digit number. The data shows that the learning level is going down every year.Why the Government schools in India have failed miserablyIJ
The Right to Education Act (RTE) provides children the right to free and compulsory education till completion of elementary education. It also specifies pupil-teacher ratios (PTRs), buildings and infrastructure, school working days, teacher working hours, appointment of trained teachers. But generally these norms are violated.
The teacher-student ratio in Government schools is much higher as compared to private schools. According to a survey conducted by The Times of India, maximum number of primary schools has the teacher-student ratio of 50:1. Besides, the teachers play multiple roles. Many Government schools exist on paper only. Most of the Government schools in the rural areas are just confined to one room. These issues cause low attendance and high drop-out rates from Government schools.
On the implementation of the RTE, NDTV surveyed 780 Government schools in 13 States of India. The results are really appalling. The survey has disclosed that most of the Government schools in India lack basic amenities of toilets and drinking water. Sixty-three per cent of them have no playgrounds. More than a third of the schools has unserviceable toilets or are in extremely poor condition.
In case a student needs to use the washroom s/he has to go back home. This is one of the biggest reasons why girl students are dropping out. The study further shows that in more than 80 per cent of the schools admission is not taken according to age. Majority of Government schools have not been renovated for a long time. Students are often made to sit on floor outside the classroom given the pathetic condition of the classrooms.
The quality of teachers at Government schools is another major concern. Despite being better qualified than private school teachers, most of the Government school teachers take their job for granted. Even the district administration takes Government schools for granted. Government schools are made election offices and the teachers are given election duties on and off. Every time there is election, be it municipality, panchayat, zila parishad, legislative assembly, parliamentary, classes are hampered.
Teachers are not only made to perform election duties, but are also sent to survey census. However, private school teachers are completely exempted from all these non-academic duties. The question is whether Government schools were always in this deplorable stateIJ Or has the situation worsened in recent timesIJWhat went wrong to the Government schools that in their glorious past produced brilliant scholars, scientists, professionals and leadersIJ
The privatisation of education, corruption, manipulation of power, the faulty and corrupted recruitment process, and lack of collective responsibility have completely ruined the elementary education system in Government schools.
Interestingly the Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and the Army schools, despite being Government institutions not only have proper infrastructure but also perform academically better than most of the reputed private schools. Is it because these schools remain under constant surveillance as most of the Army officers and other Central Government employees send their children thereIJ Does it create pressure on them to keep the performance high and impart quality teachingIJ
The High Court has thus rightly observed that the pathetic condition of Government school is mainly due to the withdrawal of the rich and the middle class, which in fact comprises the influential section of society, and works as check on the Government schools.
But the situation can only improve when children of all Government officials are compelled to go to Government-run schools. Then only the current indifferent Indian bureaucracy would be forced to take serious measures to develop these schools to save their children’s future.
This is how the injustice meted out to the poor and backward classes of society in the name of education can be curbed.
Can we imagine a school attended by the children of a District Collector suspending classes for a month due to Assembly electionsIJ Can we think of a school that has child of the education secretary of a State being run by just one teacherIJ Can we imagine a school where children of the MPs, MlAs, PWD officials study being without proper infrastructureIJ
The problem is not just limited to Government schools; other institutions suffer as well due to withdrawal of educated and influential section of society. For instance, since hardly any Government officials avail public transport the attitude of the DTC staff towards general public remains apathetic.
Government buses instead of stopping at the stoppage just slow down and passengers getting down from the running buses are a common sight.
However, the services provided by the Government institutions which are availed by the elites remain surprisingly unparalleled. In the institutions of higher education, the scenario is starkly different. No private institution of India in spite of having better physical infrastructure can surpass the standard set by IIT, AIIMS, DU, and JNU. Similarly, the services provided by Rajdhani trains, Delhi metro cannot be compared with any private transport.
Ironically in India when everyone wants to join Government sector due to job security and its non-exploitative nature, anyone who is financially well-off hardly wants to access services provided by Government schools, hospitals or transport system. If any Government institution has failed to perform as expected it’s not because of dearth of qualified employees but due to their withdrawal from the services provided by them. This is what the justice of the Allahabad High Court has observed.
When the Government of India can make it mandatory for the Government employees, claiming lTC and medical facilities, to travel by Air India and avail treatment at Government hospitals, respectively, then why can’t it make mandatory for the Government employees, claiming reimbursement of fees, to send their children to Government schoolIJ
The employees not following the court order are liable to be fined as suggested by the High Court. This penalty can be termed as a fine for being indifferent towards the worsening condition of our primary education system which in turn acts as a hindrance in the growth of the nation as a whole.
If free and quality education is made accessible to all irrespective of class and caste, then a lot of other related problems would be solved.
India is the fastest growing economy in the world but our education system is still crawling. It becomes our collective responsibility to strengthen the basic education system of our country which forms the base of the students. The Allahabad High Court’s decision is thus a welcome step towards this achievement.
One may question: Are the authors (Government employees) of this write-up sending their siblings/kids to Government schoolsIJ The answer is “no”. The condition of the Government schools has become so pathetic that one cannot imagine sending their children there. But if the decision is implemented on all Government officials we are certain that the condition of Government-run institutions will improve within a month, and we will be happy to send our siblings/ children to study there.
(Anish Gupta and Aaleya Giri teach Economics and English respectively at Delhi University. They can be reached at pioneer.article@gmail.com)