Dehradun : There is a lot of talk of improving the standard of educations in schools all over the country. There is even talk that the allotment of the state budget towards education should be improved, so that better quality of education can be imparted.
But in Uttarakhand, right in state capital, right under the nose of the state government, there are schools, in which, two, three and five different classes are being taken in one room. One can but imagine the sad state of the education being imparted when children of different classes are being taught by different teachers within the four walls of one room.
In the Govt Girls Middle School at Raipur there are three rooms in the building. In one room children of classes VI and VII are taught. The children of class VIII are taught in the room meant for computer classes, while the children of all the other classes sit in the remaining one room.
Then there is the case of the Govt Pre Middle School also at Raipur. The children of classes VI and VII are in one room and they are taught by separate teachers in the same class room. The black board is also shared by the teachers. Children of class VII sit in the school verandah and when it rains heavily they also shift to the room to avoid getting wet. How the classes work then, is anybody’s guess.
The Primary Schhol at Raipur breaks all records. Here children from class I to class V are taught in the same room. The school building has two rooms and a verandah, one room is for all classes and in the other room the anganwadi centre is operating.
When contacted a senior official of the state government agreed that it was not possible for different classes to be taught by different teachers in the same room, as the children would hardly be able to concentrate on the subject being taught to them as different levels of subjects are taught to the different classes.
However, he took the plea that the present situation had risen because of the incessant rains that had lashed the city for almost a month now.
“Normally in the winters, the children sit out in the open sun where classes are taken and in the summers under shades of tree or in the verandah, but because of the heavy rains it is not possible for them to sit even in the verandahs”, even in the verandahs he pointed out.
But one shudders to think if this is the condition of government education in the state capital, where the education minister and the high officials of the education department are sitting, what must be state of education in the interior regions of this small mountain state.
A journalist with over 40 years of experience, Jagdish Bhatt was Editor, Hill Post (Uttarakhand).
Jagdish had worked with India’s leading English dailies, which include Times of India, Indian Express, Pioneer and several other reputed publications. A highly acclaimed journalist, he was a recipient of many awards
Jagdish Bhatt, aged 72, breathed his last on 28th August 2021 at his Dehradun residence.
