Criminal injustice

Not a single student from over fifty schools who had taken the HSLC examination under SEBA in 2019 could pass. This is what our Staff Reporter has discovered while analysing the results of the crucial examination in which over 1,40,000 candidates had failed. What is most disturbing is that all these 50 schools which could not ensure the success of any of their students, are either directly or indirectly run by the state government. This means, that the teachers who are paid salaries from the state exchequer have failed in their primary responsibility of teaching. It is also disgusting to find the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) – a wing of the state government – admitting that altogether 289 schools have scored between zero to nine per cent when percentage of students coming out successful in the HSLC examination 2019 was calculated. A section of officials and teachers have tried to justify this poor performance by passing the buck to the state government itself. If the Principal of Cotton Collegiate HS School, the oldest school in the entire Northeastern region, blames holding of Class XI and XII examinations for reducing academic days of his school, then the Principal of Sonaram HS School has mentioned the deployment of some teachers on NRC duty as one reason behind such poor performance. The Principal of TC Government Girls HS&MP School, on the other hand, has accused the parents and guardians of the students of being unaware of what their children are studying. These are definitely poor, unacceptable explanations, and headmasters and principals of the schools should stop looking for such excuses to cover up their failure in discharging their primary duty. Teachers must remember that students spend most of their active time in school and not at home, and that most students take their teachers more seriously than their parents. The state government also owes an explanation, and so does the state education minister who was the other day seen claiming credit for the overall pass percentage (60-plus) that he thinks was reached because of his efficiency. The state government must also shoulder the responsibility for the 100 per cent failure of these 50 odd schools. The Inspectors of Schools and other officers of the education department in the respective districts should also be held responsible and drastic steps should be taken against them for the sorry state of affairs in these schools that have ultimately caused irreparable loss to several hundred students. More than that, the state government should engage a team of experts to find out why as many as 50 schools had achieved zero success and why nearly 250 schools could not achieve even 10 per cent success in the HSLC examination.