In the interest of quality education

The plea by the ministry of education (MoE) for an additional 15 per cent allocation under the medium-term budgetary framework (MTBF) has reportedly not received a patient hearing at the ministry of finance (MoF). On its part the MoE argued in favour of the extra allocation in order to enhance opportunities in educational institutions to match the annual increase in the number of students. Indeed, development of infrastructure alone leaves much to be desired, let alone creation of opportunities required for raising the overall standard of education.

So long the emphasis has evidently been more on quantity of those pursuing academic learning than on quality of education. Thus there has been an indirect attempt to delegate the responsibility of preparing students of primary, secondary and higher secondary levels for examinations to their parents or guardians. The grading system has acted as a temptation for this. With the introduction of the Primary School Certificate and Junior School Certificate examinations, this task of delegation has become easier. Today, school committees insist that parents spend on coaching for their children as part of preparation for the latter's public examinations. No wonder, free education at the primary and the junior levels has also become quite expensive.

The MoF's reluctance to allocate the extra fund will not help change this disquieting development. But surely, some of the educational institutions in villages could add some facilities to their existing ones under severe stress or even lacking in some of the bare minimum required for the purpose. In the past, however, infrastructure-related constraints were no bar to offering quality education in villages. Village schools competed with their urban counterparts largely because teachers of high calibre took the teaching profession not as a commercial venture but as a vocation close to their heart. Overcommercialisation of education is to blame for the rot set in education. Today schooling is meant for only processing the various formalities and coaching is what prepares students for examinations up to the HSC level.

This is a legacy that finds its origin in the indiscriminate recruitment of teachers -- at times deliberate choice for very low quality of them in exchange for bribe money — at the primary, junior and secondary levels. Admittedly, there is a huge backlog of such teaching staff. Still teaching at these lower levels is a territory exclusively reserved mostly for those who have tried their luck unsuccessfully elsewhere. Only a small proportion of teachers can do justice to their calling. It is because of this coaching has become mandatory for students at these levels.

Infrastructural facilities are essential for all-round physical and mental development of students. But under the present system, students have to rush from one coaching centre to another or take lessons from several house tutors. Their life has been made miserable by a defective, cruel and joyless education system. Students do not learn with love and passion. They just follow instructions of their tutors mechanically. Here lies the malaise of the system. There is no point spending on schools that fail to impart education good enough for preparation of examinations. It is time the system were overhauled under a long-term plan. It cannot be done overnight. But then the first step has to be made now in the interest of quality education — the kind that can compete with the international standard.