Recently, the Board of Secondary Education, Manipur (BOSE, M) announced the HSLC result 2020. The pass percentage from the private schools was 74%, with 51% for aided schools and only 40% for government schools.
The results show poor performance, with 35% of students failing in Manipur, a dip from last year. These results have triggered the fundamental question; what is wrong with the Education system in Manipur?
There is a need to Re-imagine, Re-structure and Transformed the Education system.
But remember-just like fire can be used to heal or burn; while it is important to come up with powerful strategies, it is more important to employ these strategies in a relevant manner so that they are advantageous and do not instead become catastrophic.
So, having said that, let us first look at this in a balanced way before rushing ahead to take action, as transforming education is a complex and slow process. While the HSLC results of the Ukhrul district have raised many concerns and regrets, what is more worrying is the fallout from these results. The naming, blaming and shaming of schools has begun, with the tag of 'good' and 'bad' even extending up to the level of the teachers. These schools and teachers are being rated and ranked as 'good' and 'bad' solely on the basis of the results of the students.
While it is understandable that results are certainly one parameter to measure the efficiency of schools, this cannot and should not be the only parameter. For one thing, the results are a standardized assessment of the students of Manipur, where educational resources are unequally distributed across the state.
For many years, we have allowed these results to be the way we measure school efficiency. This benefits only the affordable private schools, where ratings are used as symbolic attributes called "logic of confidence" by educators to attract student enrollment.
We should try to end this culture, as it has many negative outcomes. These include a high rate of student drop outs, low rate of enrollment in schools, migration of students, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), loss of motivation in teachers, poor infrastructure-the list goes on and on.
Concentrating only on results has also encouraged students to cheat in their exams and for schools to "game the system", a process where they use the rules meant to protect the system to their advantage.
Nevertheless, after deliberating over the many areas that need improvement, I have zeroed down two areas to focus upon. One is Teacher Professional Development (TPD) and two is community capacity building through various awareness programs in different avenues. These will benefit the many sections of society to get on the right path.
This is no time to point fingers and play a blame game, but time to accept the truth-that it is not the students who have failed, but we who have failed them collectively. However, with the conviction of teachers, the commitment of students, the desire of the community and strong political will of the state, we can definitely transform education.
- By K. Mayopam, Implementation Manager - Manipur and Meghalaya
Meghshala