mid-day editorial: Improve the quality of teachers first

The state seems to have finally woken up to the need for harsh measures to repair our ailing education system. Borrowing a leaf from the corporate world, it has decided to link teachers' appraisals to the students' learning levels across 65,000 government and government-aided schools in the state.

Not that the Maharashtra government had not taken noteworthy steps earlier to fix the system. Back in 2012, it had moved to increase enrolment of girls in schools, offering incentives, in a bid to raise the ratio to 1:1. The state had shut down 2,500 bogus schools that were draining the exchequer of Rs 1,000 crore a year. But, yes, its focus on actual learning process is brand new.

Whether this move will improve the situation on the ground is anyone's guess. Predictably, teachers have reacted in horror at the new resolution. Resistance seems to be the natural response, where compliance means work. They are livid that the rules demand an 80% success rate of students in Std IX and X. Where 100% should be the benchmark, 80% has got their hackles up.

Now, the premise of the resolution seems to be that the quality of education is at par with the best. If this was the case, why would tuition classes still thrive? Private schools rate their teachers on academics as well as character building of students. Shouldn't the government then focus on improving the quality of its teachers? One can easily say that 90% of the teachers at government and government aided schools lack empathy for students. Finishing the syllabus rates far higher than ensuring that the students have understood and learned the subject.

It remains to be seen just how effective this new decree is. Here's hoping the next generation passes out of school having actually learnt something.