All Students Fail In Eight Schools, 30 Percent Pass In 75
Srinagar- The class 10th results announced by the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (BOSE) have once again displayed the dismal performance of government schools which saw a pass percentage of 67.25 as compared to 91.18 percent by the private schools in the Valley.
Data available with the Kashmir Observer suggested that the government schools failed for the fourth time in a row to perform better than the private schools.
As per the official figures, in year 2021, a total of 38,721 students appeared in the Class 10th examination and 26,040 qualified. On the other hand, the pass percentage of the private schools was 91.18 percent. Out of 33,963 students who appeared in the examination, 30,967 passed the exam.
Similarly in 2020, the pass percentage of the government schools was recorded at 62.76 percent. Out of 41026 students who appeared in exams, only 25749 qualified. The pass percentage of private schools was 89.82, as out of 34106 students who wrote the exams, 30635 qualified.
During the year 2019, the pass percentage of the government schools was recorded at 62.96 percent while that of private schools was 86.26.
In 2018, the pass percentage of the government schools was recorded at 63.71 and private schools 85.85.
The data clearly indicates the poor performance of government schools in the Kashmir Valley.
Sources in BOSE told Kashmir Observer that around 75 government high schools (GHS) recorded less than 30 percent results in class 10th examination, eight among them with zero percentage.
On 19 February, the government suspended around 17 teachers in three government schools in Anantnag zone after all their 30 students failed in the matric exams.
Reports said for the 2nd consecutive year, a government school in Mattan area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag District registered zero pass percentage in 10th standard results.
The government had announced 30 percent relaxation in the syllabus for classes 10th to 12th in their annual regular 2021 examination. The relaxation was given because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Academics and the parents allege that the lack of accountability and manpower is the main reason for the poor performance of government schools.
“Most of the time these government teachers don’t attend schools due to shutdown calls, pandemic etc. If government provides them huge salaries, why is their performance poor?” Mohammad Arif, a parent from Baramulla questioned.
According to reports, as many as 23,000 government schools are functional in Jammu and Kashmir. Over 1.2 lakh teachers work in the department across the Union Territory, out of which nearly 65 thousand teachers were posted in Kashmir region only.
An official from BOSE told Kashmir Observer that due to the pandemic many students could attend online class because of no connectivity, while many couldn’t use the smart phones.
“You can’t always blame the teacher. You need to understand that the majority of the students from the government schools belong to poor or middle class families, who couldn’t afford tuition at home amid pandemic,” he said.
The official further said there are a good number of students who belong to far flung areas and where there is no internet connectivity.
“Having said that, our schools still performed better this year despite no physical interaction with the students,” he added.
Arsalan Habib, General Secretary of Jammu Kashmir Teachers’ Forum (JKTF) agrees that the government schools are performing poorly in the annual examinations.
“Let’s keep the 10 class results aside, the government schools don’t perform well in lower classes. The government must look into the issues and address the same,” Habib, who is himself a government teacher, told Kashmir Observer.
He said there is a lack of infrastructures and many institutions are headless across Kashmir.
He said many regions are without Zonal Education Officer’s (ZEO) while a number of schools are without headmasters and Principals.
“This is the situation which results in poor performance in higher standards,” he added.
GN Var, president, Private School Association of Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK) told Kashmir Observer the government sees the educational institutions as administrative issues rather than an academic thing.
“This sector is less administrative and more academic. The Government needs to understand it,” Var said.
He said the sector needs educationist heads rather than bureaucrats.
“These bureaucrats are unable to do academic audits and lack a clear vision viz-a-viz education,” he added.
He further added that the government needs to make the teacher accountable for the work.
According to reports, over 16,000 teachers working in government-run-schools in Jammu and Kashmir are “undergraduate”.
Dr. Tasaduq Hussain Mir, Director School Education Kashmir and Principal Secretary School Education Department (SED) Bishwajit Kumar Singh didn’t respond to repeated phone calls by this newspaper.
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