Working To Change Public Perception About Govt Schools : Singh

Working To Change Public Perception About Govt Schools : Singh

Working To Change Public Perception About Govt Schools : Singh

" Now we are working on it and this time we have decided to go for remodeling of 40 schools wherein we have decided that the schools which have high enrollment will be given laboratory blocks, science blocks so that these schools get good infrastructure for students."

Bishwajit Kumar Singh joined as Principal Secretary School Education Department (SED) J&K in October 2020. In his over one year experience as the Principal Secretary, he believes that better days are in the offing for the government school students as well as the department. 

The government, he says, is making all efforts to change public perception about government schools. He shares his thoughts in an exclusive interview with special correspondent Greater Kashmir Syed Rizwan Geelani. Here are the excerpts : GK 

J&K just saw the declaration of two major Board results. How do you see the overall performance of schools?

B K Singh : It was overall good because this time the big difference in exams as compared to previous years was that the pattern of question paper was different. Earlier students were asked simple traditional questions. This year we took it to the applied mode wherein the students had to apply their mind while answering the questions.

GK : But some government schools have fared poorly. It has been a persistent problem. Isn't anything tangible being done to address this issue to make government schools perform better?

B K Singh : Yes. It is true that some schools produced poor results. It is indeed a concern for us. For this, we are going for a multi-level evaluation in all government high and higher secondary schools across J&K. During this evaluation, we will first see the availability of the teaching staff. Then we will ascertain the subject-wise pass percentage of students in these schools. 

In any subject where we find that the teachers have produced poor results, we will start the short-term training for them for one or two weeks so that their skills get enhanced and they will improve their result eventually. But if they still did not improve their result, then will think of some long-term measures for it.

GK : Infrastructural deficiencies in schools are getting largely unaddressed. Isn't it a cause of concern for the government?

B K Singh: The basic reason for infrastructural gaps is that we do not get regular funding. Second is the selection of projects at district level. For example, if we have 50 schools in a district and we know that 35 schools are in good condition, 15 schools have infrastructural gaps. For this we should fix a five-year target to improve the infrastructural standards in these schools. 

But what I have observed is that we distribute the available funds in all the schools irrespective of the requirement and needs. Instead of focusing on needy schools we distribute small amounts to all schools which don't serve any purpose and no major changes take place in schools in this manner. 

With all this, the public perception about government schools never changes. If we will go for proper selection of projects, the perception about the schools will change in public. 

Now we are working on it and this time we have decided to go for remodeling of 40 schools wherein we have decided that the schools which have high enrollment will be given laboratory blocks, science blocks so that these schools get good infrastructure for students.