Just on the eve of Teachers Day September 5, Manipur Education Minister Th Basantakumar Singh made a statement which employed that most of the government school teachers are time-servers. Voicing concerns about the performance of government teachers in the state, the minister said in a function that approximately 70 to 80 per cent of government teachers in Manipur are perceived to be working merely for their salaries, without a genuine commitment to educating students. It was indeed a sweeping statement. Yes, he did speak of the rot in the teacher recruitment system. He talked of introducing a competitive recruitment process for new teachers to be managed by a competitive board and which would include psychological evaluations during interviews to ensure that candidates possess the qualities of effective educators.
May we remind him that Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) was introduced sometime back with the same goals in mind. Now that a diploma or degree in education has been added as part of the essential qualification, it is yielding some results. An autonomous body was given the task of a written examination for the aspiring candidates and selection was made on the basis of qualifying marks obtained by candidates. It was at the selection stage where mischief creeps in. In a written examination, there are few areas of manipulation except for those really skilled in cheating the system. But at the viva-voce stage, there is always ample room for manipulation. So, a deeper study with the objective of creating a ‘foolproof’ recruitment is needed. But in the ultimate analysis, the sincerity of bureaucrats and ministers in charge of education is to be hoped for.
Next, the issue of teacher transfers and postings is very important in the scheme of things. The minister did express his misgivings on pressure from various groups including MLAs. Stressing the importance of making decisions based on merit and institutional needs rather than external pressures, the minister announced plans to recruit teachers in clusters and assign them to institutions based on merit and personal preferences, thereby aiming to create a more stable and dedicated teaching workforce. Here also, there are still some grey areas in the matter of institutional needs.
We know, there are still some government schools which have performed well with regard to preference by parents and students particularly in examination results and because of dedicated teacher groupings. It was from this aspect that the idea of model schools was conceived. However, there is a lack of a holistic approach for all-round development or for overhauling the school education system in the state which had all along been plagued with so many ailments and inconsistencies. The thought process of the policy planners and political bosses always seems to work on piecemeal basis and at the end, it always seems to boil down to development of physical infrastructure. Previous governments and ministers have tried to address the issue in their own way.
A few have introduced the idea of model schools in the different districts, equipping the so-called model districts with new infrastructure and facilities and posting good teachers. Yet, it failed to garner the desired performance of students from these model schools while on the other hand it enriched favoured contractors who were entrusted with repairing and refurbishing the schools, and supplying new furniture besides other items. We must say, good grades or position holders and school performance charts should not be the goal of education policy planners, but of imparting basic knowledge systems to the school going kids so as to enthral the growing mind and develop capabilities to surprise us with new ideas and imagination. Of course, reformation in teacher recruitment besides transfer and policy is certainly needed. In the meanwhile, let us celebrate our teachers and not deride them for the rot in the system caused by politicians and public preferences.
