Dr Hemanta Rajbanshi
(drhemantarajbanshi@gmail.com)
Gunotsav was first introduced in Gujarat in 2009 aiming to make a difference in education by making it more personalized. In order to ensure quality education, following Gujarat tracks, the Assam Government also started Gunotsav in 2017, involving the State Government, SSA, SCERT and the Directorate of Elementary Education.
Like the yesteryears, this time also Government of Assam has started Gunotsav'23 and the first phase of it has already been over. Since 2017, it is the third time that the Government of Assam has practised Gunotsav by spending a lot of money, time and manpower. One of the major goals of Gunotsav is to ensure quality elementary education with the improved learning outcome. After experiencing three Gunotsavs, cannot we expect that our schools are now up to the level or simply they are providing quality education? Have our students acquired the skills of reading and writing properly? Unfortunately, the answer is not something positive. There is a vast difference between expectation and reality.
Only a few days ago, Pratham Education Foundation released its Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). Pratham is an NGO which has been conducting the ASER in all rural districts of India since 2005. The report, based on a field survey that covered seven lakh children, was trying to capture the impact of the pandemic on the learning abilities of children. ASER surveys the enrolment status of children aged 3 to 16 and the basic reading and arithmetic levels of children aged 5 to 16 at the national, state and district levels. A recent survey shows high enrolment of children in government schools. The same survey unveils a decline in the basic reading and arithmetic skills of children in class three and class five. Only 20.5% of children of standard three are able to read while 25.9% are able to do subtraction. Again, only 25.6% of children in standard five can solve division. The survey also shows that only 76% of schools have the availability of drinking water.
There is a good relation between the Pratham report and the present condition of many of the government schools of Assam. It is seen that there is no profound and significant positive impact of Gunotsav on the schools of Assam. Still, there are many schools with very poor infrastructure, where there is no proper drinking water facility or toilets with running water. A boundary wall is a far cry. Only to escape the red-tapism of the Gunotsav, schools are trying to give more importance to documentation rather than action. To befool the so-called Gunotsav, many schools hire students from other private institutions to show cent per cent attendance of students and to make a better scholastic performance. Reading skill also shows a poor picture. A few students are only able to read English paragraphs fluently. In numerical ability too, students' performance is not satisfactory.
Gunotsav is not a goal. It is only one of the ways to achieve the goal. Therefore, in the name of Gunotsav, the government or the authority concerned should not make it a haste practice or an evaluation of documentation or scholastic performance to be completed within a day.
Before celebrating such festivals of quality education, it is the duty of the department to solve those problems which were indicated and recommended by the external evaluators in the previous Gunotsavs. How can a school with only one teacher against 150 or more students prepare itself for Gunotsav? Many LP schools in Assam are still facing teacher problems. Only one or two teachers cannot concentrate on everything from infrastructure development, register maintenance, and mid-day meal management to teaching in five classes. It is quite absurd to expect quality education in such a situation. After the proper survey, the government should make the appointment of sufficient teachers in the schools of Assam. Teaching professionals should also be freed from extra burdens other than imparting education. The teachers do not get enough time to make them busy with pupils. Most of the teachers are often engaged in non-academic works like preparing census reports, NRC updates, distributing flood relief, Covid-19 vaccination drive and many more. A teacher under such pressure can never impart quality education.
Following the order of the Supreme Court, since 2002, the Mid-day meal scheme has been implemented in schools throughout India. In 2021, the term Mid-day Meal has been changed to PM-POSHAN (Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman) Scheme, by the MoE (Ministry of Education). Though there are proven benefits and positive impacts, PM Poshan or simply a mid-day meal scheme does not always work well. For many headmasters or principals of the schools of Assam, it becomes a source of earning extra money by showing student inflation. It is an open secret that many schools in Assam maintain such fake registers to get more mid-day meal grants. It is surprising, how the head teachers or principals practising such illegal activities left unnoticed by the authority. Mere documentation or registration is not sufficient enough to check the matter whether it works properly or not. All such loopholes should be cured before making it a point of celebration.