Of private schools

It is very significant to note that the Assam State School Education Board (ASSEB) has recently appealed to parents and guardians across the state to keep their eyes open and verify the credentials of private schools before enrolling their wards in them. The appeal has come at a time when most parents and guardians of students across Assam have begun to prefer putting their wards in private schools over government schools. The simple reason behind this is that, though private schools charge exorbitant fees from the students, there is a general feeling that education and the overall environment in government schools are poor. While it is a fact that the performance of some private schools has been better than their government-run counterparts, it is also true that some government schools too are exceptionally good. What the ASSEB appeal has apparently failed to take note of, however, is that all is not well with the state’s education departments, be it the one responsible for primary or elementary education or for secondary and higher secondary education. The education department has not been able to counter or reverse the popular perception that the management of government schools is poor. This perception has taken shape over several decades, with officers in the education department—particularly in the directorates—always remaining under suspicion of the common people. It was only recently that this newspaper had reported very prominently how the state Directorate of Secondary Education has miserably failed to take action as directed by the Gauhati High Court, leading to the accumulation of over 125 contempt cases in the past few years. This newspaper had recently also reported how the Directorate of Secondary Education, which is solely responsible for the education of several lakh secondary-level students of the state, has been facing a serious crisis concerning its credibility. That the education department has landed in a mess is also evident from the fact that it has not been able to bring about uniformity in pay scales for teachers at various levels. The most deplorable aspect is that inspectors have stopped inspecting schools—their most important function—while the majority of schools have been running without permanent headmasters and principals, as well as without proper management committees.