I am a person who loves proverbs and wise sayings and over the years I have been touched and even inspired by many proverbs and this includes both biblical as well as secular proverbs. As such, whenever I ponder about the crisis and dilemmas that frequently crop up in the school education department, the proverb that always comes to my mind is “Too Many Hands Spoil the Curry”. I not only fully concur to this proverb but also believe that this is a universal truth. In the context of the school education department, the curry is the education system and the hands are the too many employees (officers, ministerial staffs and the teachers) with never-ending conflicting interests and egoes who frequently come to loggerheads simply because the school education department has become too over-crowded with no clear-cut definition and demarcation of functions, powers, responsibilities and lines for career advancement (promotions) amongst its many employees spread over the length and breadth of the state.
All will agree that the school education department is one of our biggest and most vital departments. It was one of the first departments to be set up after Nagaland became a full-fledged state in the 1960s. And it is vital because it deals with imparting education (academic as well as cognitive) to our children so that they become responsible citizens and contribute towards our society in the future. As such the frequent conflicts and controversies that we get to see in this most vital department is certainly not a good phenomenon. These issues are going to have a disastrous effect upon the lives of our school-going students unless immediate reasonable adjustments are made to address the root-causes of these crisis and dilemmas.
At present the school education department oversees the functioning of the very important stages of academic education namely Primary, Elementary, Secondary and Higher Secondary. The needs and requirements of all these stages of education are different and each stage needs special handling. However, each stage is equally important and no stage can be deemed as less significant or more important than the others. These stages of academic education are complementary to one another but they certainly need differential handling and nurturing.
As per the present scenario in the school education department, the Post Graduate Teachers (PGTs) who teach the higher secondary section are comparatively placed in a very advantageous position when compared with the other teachers. Firstly, they join teaching profession as Class II Gazzetted officers and since their number is comparatively lesser than the Graduate and Primary Teachers, they have much greater chances of promotion and career advancement. And once they reach the level of VP or Principal, they are given administrative power over the whole higher secondary school thereby reducing the school headmaster to a mere figurehead and also completely demoralizing senior GTs who have much longer and greater teaching experiences. Of course, there is no denying the fact that the PGTs might have spent more years and resources in their academics pursuits than a mere graduate or a mere P.U. Passed. But let us also recall that most of the graduate and primary teachers are also holders of post-graduate degrees from reputed universities. So the question of the higher secondary teachers being more qualified than the graduate and primary teachers does not hold much water. The only irony was that time and tide did not favour some people and they ended up getting appointed as graduate and primary teachers even though they were more than qualified to teach even at university levels. Therefore, there is no reason for the higher secondary teachers (PGTs) to look down on the GTs and Primary teachers. They got appointed as PGTs simply because they turned out to be luckier than the others with similar qualifications. Thus, all teachers (whether PGTs, GTs or PTs) should be treated as equally important and given equal opportunities for career advancement, job satisfaction and the needed space to work independently in their own sections.
Yes, it is really not fair when the elementary and primary teachers despite their qualification, seniority and experiences are made to serve under the shadow and ego of the higher secondary teachers all through out their teaching career even though they also play equally important parts (if not more important parts) in moulding the future and career of the students.
The Graduate Teachers (GTs) teach the secondary (class 9-10) and elementary classes (5-8). Under the present system, a graduate teacher’s post is a class III non-gazzetted post and it would take a GT usually more than 25 years to get promoted to a Class II level officer. Thus, when a person is made to do the same old thing over and over again for many years without any chances for career advancements, naturally the potency and patience of the person is put to the ultimate test. It is like walking in a long dark tunnel without seeing the light for many years. In such situations, naturally the ego, patience and potency of the person are adversely affected.
The plight of the Primary Teachers (PTs) is even more pathetic and unfortunate. A person who enters teaching profession as a primary teacher is almost sure to retire as a primary teacher. A primary teacher has no avenues at all for any sort of career advancement apart from the yearly shoestring increment added to their salary. The word ‘Primary’ by the way means ‘of chief importance’. Thus it is the primary teachers who are entrusted with the responsibility to impart education to the pupils in the most important stage. But unfortunately, under the present system, these teachers who introduce the most basic cryptograms of academic education to the children are treated in such a dismal and step-motherly manner. I have even heard that in some foreign countries, the primary teachers are the ones with the best salary and the best opportunities for career advancements amongst the teaching fraternity. But here in Nagaland their lot remains miserable from one end to the other despite the fact that they are the ones who deal with the most indispensable and foundational elements of academic education in the initial stage.
In the elementary stage, it is the elementary teachers (the GTs in our case) who introduce the basic nature and fundamentals of the different disciplines to the pupils thereby enabling them to have a general idea of all the disciplines of academic studies. (The word ‘Elementary’ by the way means ‘relating to the most basic aspects of a subject’). Thus if we go by these parameters, we can safely conclude that each stage of academic education is equally vital and important with its own unique and dynamic roles to influence and inspire the lives of the pupils. Thus the question ultimately arises, “Is it really fair to treat some teachers as more important than the others by providing them with not only higher salaries, better job opportunities and better chances of career advancements but also making them rule over the other teachers in administration despite the fact that all the teachers make equally important contributions?”
I believe these are the reasons which have compelled the sidelined teachers to demand for bifurcation of the school education department. Wherever mammoth people with conflicting interests and divergent natures of work are made to work under the same roof, conflicts and clashes of egoes are bound to arise sooner or later unless fair and reasonable adjustments are made to accommodate the needs, interests, requirements, desires and the career-advancing opportunities of the different sections of the employees. And the school education department is no stranger to these issues. Moreover, with the passage of time, the school education department has grown into gigantic size both in terms of the number of its employees as well as in terms of its functions, powers and responsibilities. To effectively deal with these new realities, we certainly require newer strategies and policies to meet the emergent challenges. The system or the arrangement which used to work well in the past might have already become outdated.
These are some of the reasons why I also feel that the demand of some teachers for bifurcation of the school education department is quite genuine and very reasonable. If the government can bring about total bifurcation of the secondary section from the higher secondary section, I believe that it can help in mitigating the present mess in the department to a great extent. Of course, the primary objective of academic education remains the same i.e., to bring about the overall personality, intellectual, cognitive and academic development of the pupils and thereby making them not only socially responsible citizens but also socially aware citizens who will be able to make contributions to the society and fellow human beings.
However, the specific aims and objectives of the different stages of academic education can be met more productively if the teachers manning the different stages are given more free hands to deal with their respective stages without any unnecessary intervention from the other sections. I also believe that positive results will be there for all to see if the primary and elementary teachers are treated as equal contributors in the education system and not as some under-qualified or under-achiever teachers who are manning some lesser important responsibilities than the higher secondary teachers. Desirable outcome will dawn on us all the day we realize and treat all PGTs, GTs and Primary teachers as equal contributors in imparting education to our future upcoming generation. All these teachers have their unique, special and equally important roles to play and they can certainly perform better if unnecessary overlapping of duties, functions, responsibilities and powers is avoided and a clear cut definition and demarcation of these is brought about. When even the GTs and primary teachers are provided with equal opportunities for career advancements and promotions like the higher secondary teachers, their interest and enthusiasm will be kept alive and they will certainly perform better with greater vigour, dedication and commitment. So why just bifurcation, if possible the govt. can even think about bringing trifurcation of the school education department with separate directorates for primary education, elementary education and secondary education. Lastly, since I began the article with a proverb, allow me to conclude with another proverb “I rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself rather than sitting on a crowded cushion”………..
