With Govt. Schools available still Child Education Allowance @ Rs 2250 & Child HSA @ Rs 6750 is paid to Government Employees
DAYA SAGAR
Even after 75 years of independence a very big segment of the Indian people is living under crushing economic backwardness which well reflects from the official disclosures that India have about 81 Cr ( 81,00,000,00) Indian citizens who still need to be provided / are being provided / will be needing atleast for another 4 to 5 years just 5 kg of food grains free of cost per month for their survival. and surely a very large population in that consists of SC/ST/OBC for whom India has already kept reservation in legislature/ services/ professional institution but they have not been able to avail that due to continued poor economic status and poor quality of education which the government institutions even in cities like Jammu / Srinagar are not providing to them inspite of the government paying much higher salaries to teachers there in comparison to private schools. Even the teachers working in government schools are found sending their children to private academies.
Not only that one would hardly find a senior officer of school education department / Director education/ Secretary School Education Department/ Deputy Commissioner sending his / her children to government schools even where they are posted in Cities like Jammu or Srinagar or Kanpur. This sends a wrong message to common people about the quality of education imparted in Government Schools to the extent that these days even a labour earning just Rs.500 a day through his/ her hard labour is seen rushing to a local private school / academy where he/ she pays a tuition fee of Rs 300 to Rs.1000 per month per child and also spends similar amount for private tuition after school even when Government pays atleast Rs. 50000 plus other special allowances to a lowest level undergraduate school teacher where as the teachers in private academies are mostly being paid not more than Rs. 10000 to Rs.15000 per month with almost no job security . The teachers teaching higher classes in government schools are paid much higher. Hence the socially and most of the economically poor parents are not able to afford to provide competitive education to their children and where ever they manage some college education they cannot afford to improve the competitive quality of the education of their wards through further coaching / private tutoring in comparison to economically equipped parents and hence where ever any special assistance is provided through reservations etc to even SC/ST/OBC majority cannot be made use of quality higher education or / and superior positions in government services what to talk of economically poor parents / wards from general categories.
Most of the under privileged parents do not demand well furnished schools / air conditioned class rooms / busses and like for their children but they surely want that the teacher in government schools should seriously and regularly teach the students on day basis and that should surely be possible when the teachers in government schools are comparatively given much higher salary / job security ( See Table – A ) and at many places teachers in government schools could be found much better qualified than those in most of the academies where the general masses from social and economically weaker sections could be found sending their children in government schools.
Responsibility for government schools not attracting the children of even economically / socially weaker sections rests no less on the supervisory / senior officers like Directors/ Secretaries/ Administrators. It is not out of place to mention here that a government employee is too an ‘economically’ poor ‘servant’ otherwise why a government employee with basic salary of even Rs 60000 per month is being additionally dearness allowance w.e.f 1st July 2023 additionally Rs.27600 (46 percent) dearness allowance, child education allowance @Rs.2250 per child for two and Child hostel subsidy allowance @ Rs 6750 per child for two ( even those in school education too are entitled when government schools are available ) ?
Why do not they send their children to government schools.? With the present norms for recruitment and promotion of civil servants like IAS/JKAS/PCS an officer in age group of 30 to 35 yrs ( even earlier ) of age could be easily found posted as Director School Education/ Deputy Commissioner / Secretary School Education who would have children needing primary school education and in case such officers send children to government schools surely the feedback they would receive would ensure that they ‘medicate’ the suffering school education sector worth becoming capable of delivery due services to the community , particularly to the under privileged and SC/ ST/ OBC ./EOBC who include over 60 percent of India’s population which is economically down so down the ladder that the population there cannot even take one step ahead without educational empowerment worth laying hands on ranking socio administrative positions/seats/ jobs in society and in social democratic republic of India only State owned schools can provide such competitive education without any economic liability on parents. Hence where ever any special assistance is provided through reservations etc to even SC/ST/OBC majority has not been able to make use of quality higher education seats or / and superior positions in government services what to talk of economically poor parents , otherwise whatever social support is there in terms reservations for SC/ ST/OBC/EOBC/ EWS would make the subjects under reference only to be amongst the class IV junior jobs accept for a few amongst them who may be mostly from economically better subjects from amongst the “reserved categories”.
(The writer is Sr Journalist, social activist and analyst J&K affairs).