SHIV DEV SINGH
The new type of initiative taken by District Development Commission Udhampur in collaboration with Chief Education Officer regarding the conduct of Secondary and higher Secondary School Examination was a praise worthy step. Before finalizing the process, several series of meeting held under the chairmanship of DC Udhampur for the fair conduct of Board Examination. The officials concerned as well as officer of other Depts. were strictly asked to follow the instruction issued by the commissioner with letter and spirit.
No doubt, the heads of Institutions where there were examination centres constituted played a supporting role to make the process successful. Each and everyone who was deployed for the purpose remained sincere and active throughout the whole process to avoid any type of malpractice. Mostly, the supervisory staffs was from middle and primary schools falling under the jurisdiction of ZEOs who rendered their duties honestly thereby showing least interest of favouritism and maintained sanctity of Examination.
Though it is a matter of great concern that the present system of education is losing its main strength because instead of quality education, quantity education is more preferred. The atmosphere of mass copying under the conspiracy of some self-vested elements.
Yet, in order to make the system of education more effective and successful, some of the suggestive measures are as under:-
1/ If the pressure of result binding on the part of teaching community is totally abolished as a trial basis for a few of years, then the illegal and undesirable practice of mass complying which is carried out by some vested elements in connivance with the concerned exam staff can be avoided because such a practice on one hand is posing a grievous threat to streamline the paralyzed system of education and on the other eating our society like a white ant. During trial period, consequently, a refined, transparent and purely clean stuff of students will be expected to bloom in every corner of school. Moreover with the implementation of this measure, the self vested elements who indulge in malpractice with unscrupulous students and staff will be discouraged and the bad practice of mass copying will die its own death. With the neglection of this practice both by the teachers and taught, the students will show a keen interest in their studies and then the whole problem of result percentage for teaching faculty will automatically be solved.
2/ Menial staff engaged within the examination centres randomly from other schools on rotational basis in order to put a check on mass copy.
3/ The Continuous Comprehensive Scheme (CCE) is also misinterpreted by majority of teaching community. Under this misconception, they give the candidates mass promotion violating all rules of examination. The present CCE scheme indicates that weak students are required to improve their performance by taking unit test examination again and again till they attain pass level. But instead of re-testing such students again and again, teachers probably find-out a short cut method to prove the eligibility of students by raising such students to the margin pass level even in the first or second attempt by a single stroke of Pen and cannot indulge in further botheration.
Here a clear cut policy of pass/fail should be framed out at the helm of affairs and weaker students be declared as repeater under CCE.
4/ Another problem that is hurting most is the weak foundation of students at Pry level. For example, if the basic foundation of the building is weak, we cannot erect a solid structure over it. In the same manner, weak products coming out from the Pry schools further aggravate the situation at higher level. Majority of the students coming from these schools cannot even know the basic writing skill and right pronunciation of reading which ought to be learnt at Pry level, creates great hurdle in further stages of education. As in earlier classes, they are not handled carefully by their teachers in improving their basic skill. Such candidates are given mass promotion one after the other class without any check or criteria.
To eradicate this problem, the heads of the complex schools and ZEOs should physically visit the various schools falling under them and ensure the adequate response from the teachers. Definite record of the drawbacks of the teachers and taught should be written in the Log Books, so that the students may not carry basic problems of writing and reading with them to the higher level and can be minimized at initial stage i.e. Pry schooling.
5/ The criteria of passing any standard of examination should not be less then qualifying all the subjects. Students who qualifies a examination Bi-annually should be allowed to seek admission in the next6 class only at the beginning of the academic years especially in case of 11th and 12th classes. Admission of students in the middle session create lot of problems both for the teachers and the taught because half of the syllabus has been covered till that time. So such students cannot go through the whole syllabus and ultimately show poor result in the exam.
6/ There should be the constitution of exam boards both at 3rd and 5th Pry level under the management of ZEO concerned; so that weak stuff of students may not get undue promotion and be scrutinized properly.
7/ Mid Day Meal scheme is another problem to deteriorate the further standard of education. So for this scheme is concerned, it has caused a widespread damage. Because due to the inception of scheme, no special preference can be given to the study work. Much of the school hours are wasted in carrying out this scheme by a teacher. Mostly, one teacher remains engaged in the preparation and decoration of MDM scheme and cannot pay due attention towards study work.
It is suggested that such an assignment should be given to any other Pvt. Agency so that optimum utilization of the officials engaged in preparing MDM may be utilized for imparting education to the students.
8/ Instead of due preference to quantity education quality education must be encouraged. Such a scheme should be continued for a few of years as a trial. The fruitful results start coming out. Nobody would pay special heed towards copying. Result per cent either of Pvt. Or Govt. run schools will automatically improve.
9/ Another problem which was confronting to the superintendents was the collection of question papers from the adjoining police stations. It was the mere wastage of time and a futile exercise. The question papers should remain either in custody of concerned Supdt. Of Exam or the Police personal should be made fully responsible to provide question papers to the Supdt. At the examination centre by themselves. Then for the submission of parcels of Answer books, the nearby Post Office branches should be made fully functional for further submission of parcel to Board Office Jammu. Such a initiative will prove beneficial both for Supdt. And to the Security Staff. There are only selective centres of Post Office to submit the same parcels, rather more Post Offices should be authorized to deposit the same, otherwise Supdt. And security staff have sometimes required to travel hundreds of Kms. Journey for depositing the parcel causing great inconvenience.
The concerned authorities at helm of affairs are required to give due attention to these ground level problems faced by the teaching faculty and make necessary reforms for
achieving excellent results.
