Mapu Jamir I.A.S. (Retd.)
Dimapur, Nagaland
Recent events in the state educational field and the teachers’ agitation demanding regular monthly salary speaks of serious unhealthy growth in the system. Who is responsible? Teachers have no right to break law. State government too has no right to deny legally payable salary to working teachers. It has been taught in the physics class that every action has equaled and opposite reaction. Teachers and children being welcomed by water cannon and the state police in full riot gear is not an ideal picture for the young student. Children are keen observers. They look upon their teachers as epitome of all that is good. Teachers are their heroes. If they do not see their teachers in good light, they will lose faith in schooling. A starving teacher cannot impart quality education, nor can attract quality teachers. Teachers guide students through their most formative years. The purpose of education is to produce productive citizens. Schools produce future politicians, missionaries, scientists, engineers, doctors, lawyers, army generals, corporate leaders, judges, administrators and journalists. Hence, the school has tremendous societal responsibilities. Education is about learning to learn. Change requires learning. Education is therefore, the main instrument for a state to achieve progress.
The standard of teaching is fast going down-hill. Nagaland has large percentage of poorly literate population. Almost all the schools in the state do not have access to safe drinking water, sanitation and basic medical care. Most of the local government school children are under-nourished and most of the government schools are run by proxy teachers or one teacher for every two classes. Most of the village schools do not have proper roof, doors and windows and often used as night shelters for cows. Development has slowed down. Nagaland has the highest reservation percentage in jobs in India and has become the only state where merit is of secondary importance. Chauvinism based on tribes, religion, region and language has become the norm rather than the exception. We have created an electoral politics to keep people poor, helpless and illiterate. The chasm between the haves and the have not’s has been increased. Educated Nagas are deserting Nagaland in search of livelihood elsewhere. Misguided and misunderstood notions of capitalism and empty slogans have been the stable food of our political masters. If you have the benefit of a quality education, you are among the few blessed ones in such a Nagaland.
Our leaders have brought the state to a deplorable stage in the fifty plus years of statehood. Are the state run schools producing good enough students who can face the competitive world outside? We are depriving younger generations their freedom from hunger, disease and illiteracy. We must create a civilized society where every child has health care and education, a society where duties come before rights and where each generation makes sacrifices to make life better for the next generation. Of course, there are exceptions amongst our politicians, but those are rare indeed. Unfortunately in Nagaland, we discuss and debate and thereby resolve for betterment but consequently do not act at all. Over the years, the stifling bureaucracies along with their political masters and their excessive control over school education have impeded their progress.
Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of wiping the tears of every poor man and woman in this country was tearfully treasured in the mind of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India. Nehru’s pet theme was to create a pool of knowledge so essential for any modern nation-state. He laid the foundation for the knowledge industry in India. He believed that knowledge and scholarship would play a big role in the emancipation of the people of India. First he introduced compulsory primary education all over the country and directed that no child should walk more than one kilometer to attend his or her school. He, next created several institutes of higher learning of international standard – the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institute of Management (IIMs), the BHABHA Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS). Today, the backbone of engineering and managerial talent in India comes from these pools. The entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley, contribution to leading academic institutions across the world and to the pool of corporate talent in the USA comes from IIT, IIM and AIIMS. The dream of making India a significant player in the global software industry could not have been possible without Nehru’s vision.
Nagaland is home to the largest percentage of below average educated persons. Think of a non Naga labourer or a poor rickshaw puller earning livelihood in Nagaland. He knows how to operate ATM and use electronic money transfer options to send money to his family back home. ATM does not discriminate him like the cash clerk at the Bank counter. Technology is a great leveler. This speaks volumes on academic quality in Nagaland. Think of how many young boys and girls are making it to IITs, IIMs, AIIMS and the All India Civil Services. Thousands of young people with degrees in the arts and humanities and engineering graduates are unemployed, pointing to the serious failure of the state higher education system. They are not competitive outside the state.
The quality of knowledge imparted in the Primary and Secondary schools needs urgent review, since the secondary education is the input channel for higher education. The low quality of education across the state schools has significantly affected a large number of students. It is seen that most of the students from the government primary schools cannot read a simple paragraph properly and even student in the 1V grade cannot handle the first level of arithmetic.
Weak education system in the government schools have resulted in the growth of private schools across the state. But how many poor families can afford to send their children to such costly schools. However, private schools run better than the state run schools. They are efficiently run with lower unit cost per student as compared to state schools. The students from private schools score higher on verbal and mathematics examinations than their peers in the state schools. Will the scores help them to crack any competition away from the home state?
Let us look at the job oriented schools in the state. We have several Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). How many successful trainees from these institutes are earning their livelihood in the service sector? They are suppose to run the service sector like Mobile and TV repairing, Fan and Washing machine servicing, Motor and Two-wheeler mechanics, Furniture making, Black smithy, Plumber, Electrician etc. These essential services are highly in demand today.
State government has a time bound responsibility. Schools and academic institutions should be given certain amount of freedom – freedom to recruit teachers on merit and quality, school to decide intake of students against faculty, syllabi and freedom to interact with scholars with an aim for growth and plan to adopt according to changing environment. Government must ensure timely payment of teachers’ salary, scholarships to students and ensure that all text books are available before the school session starts. Banking facilities within the campus of schools and colleges can be introduced to facilitate easy transaction of fees by the parents and scholarships by the students. We must let competitions drive progress in schools through greater transparency and accountability.
State government must have the courage to face the truth; no matter how bitter it is, if we want to help the future of our young students. We have to take tough measures which will benefit the whole society but which maybe unpleasant for some of us. Honest, sincere, hard working and meritorious teachers must be rewarded. “You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain and the labourers deserve his wages,” say the Bible.
.JPG)
