No Teachers, No Learning

At a time when we have all been wondering why the standard of education (especially in our villages) has taken a nosedive, the Dainik Janambhumi has rendered yeoman service to Assam by carrying out a survey of what exactly happens in the name of education in our villages. It has been a habit with most of our educated people to put the blame for the poor state of education in the rural areas on the lack of infrastructure and poor physical facilities alone. But real reason for our miserable level of education is absentee teachers.

The Janambhumi survey carried out on Monday has revealed that even in the rural middle schools, teachers are seldom present. For instance, in Raha, the teachers’ attendance register for November 16 was signed on November 14; in some schools, teachers come for a few days in the month, but sign the attendance registers for the entire month; in most schools, teachers invariably come late; in many schools, teachers are absent without leave; in some schools, teachers do not teach, guardians or members of voluntary service organizations do; in one school, the headmaster did not even know the school timings; a school in Neamati is regularly closed after 11 am; in many schools, headmasters are generally absent from schools; in many others, teachers come according to their whims. Now we know who is responsible for the almost total lack of teaching and learning in our village schools: the teachers. If they do not work, why should they not be removed from service? Must they be allowed to go on ruining the future of village children? THE SENTINEL