AERIAL VIEW
There is no doubting CM’s commitment to Education and his efforts to improve the sector. However, one has to say there is much left to be desired.
First and foremost, the schools have begun around two weeks ago, but still, there are no textbooks. Sir, before computers and robotics, the students need to learn languages, science, history, geography and mathematics; for that, we need books. A student will only learn coding and robotics after learning the basics from textbooks.
The delayed textbooks have become an annual story, and no minister or chief minister has paid attention to this issue. Why does this happen year after year? Why is there no responsibility fixed on one officer to get the books in time?
Secondly, the CM also spoke of the Cyberage scheme. Mr CM, we appreciate you for stopping this scheme. In fact it was not a scheme but a Cyberage Scam where only a few people benefitted from these sub-standard laptops and tablets.
The Chief Minister, Dr Pramod Sawant, focusing on new reforms in the education system, announced that the Government intends to start Virtual Classrooms for School children, and Vidya Samiksha Kendra would assist in monitoring the teaching and learning process of students from Class first till Tenth. CM said all the schools would be provided with a Competitive Device System, which is required to impart Coding and Robotics Education to students, involving an investment of Rs.15 Crores by the Government.
He also said the Government is seriously working towards further improving education standards.
There is no doubting CM’s commitment to Education and his efforts to improve the sector. However, one has to say there is much left to be desired.
First and foremost, the schools have begun around two weeks ago, but still, there are no textbooks. Sir, before computers and robotics, the students need to learn languages, science, history, geography and mathematics; for that, we need books. A student will only learn coding and robotics after learning the basics from textbooks.
The delayed textbooks have become an annual story, and no minister or chief minister has paid attention to this issue. Why does this happen year after year? Why is there no responsibility fixed on one officer to get the books in time?
Secondly, the CM also spoke of the Cyberage scheme. Mr CM, we appreciate you for stopping this scheme. In fact it was not a scheme but a Cyberage Scam where only a few people benefitted from these sub-standard laptops and tablets.
But the question remains if the CM is aware there were illegalities in the scheme, why no inquiry has been initiated wherein crores of rupees of exchequer gone down the drains.
The laptops were unusable only a few months after they were distributed. Who is responsible for this scam? The CM, if he wishes to, can easily unearth this by filing an FIR?
The third issue in the education sector is the infrastructure and teachers’ training.
Even in this age, when we talk of robotics and coding, there are schools in rural Goa wherein teachers and students have to sit with umbrellas in monsoons. Is it not a matter of shame? We call ourselves the best-performing state but such is the reality of Goa.
This again is one of the reasons why the student number is decreasing in government-run schools.
Now another issue is teachers’ training. The standard of teachers in government schools is going from bad to worse. There is no accountability, the Education department does not carry out any training programmes for the primary and high school teachers, and as such, they teach what they know. So how can we expect the standard of government schools to improve?
You can love or hate Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, but what he has done for the education sector cannot be ignored. The infrastructure in the government schools he has developed is 100 times better than what we have in private schools, forget government schools. The Delhi school infrastructure and the teacher’s training methods are at par with European standards.
So now, the statement of making Goa the first State to impart training in Coding and robotics may sound reasonable for newspaper headlines, but the reality is students needs books first, a class and then the coding and robotics.