Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who also holds the education portfolio, squarely blamed the aided schools in the State for bringing down the standard of education. The CM appears to be upset after the NAS report released in 2021 showed Goa’s maths average dip below the national score. NAS reflects the overall health of the education system at the national, state and district level and could help in assessing learning outcomes and grade-level competencies. Sawant directed his ire at teachers broadly throwing hints that teaching has become a part-time vocation for some, vaguely referring to some teachers engaging in private activities.
However, a cursory look at the NAS report shows that the CM’s views are ill-founded and baseless and in no way reflect a declining standard of education in Goa. According to the report, the Std X survey shows Goa’s average in social science at 44 against the national average of 37. In English, the State average is much higher at 64 in comparison with the national average of 43. So also is the case of science where the State got 40 against the national score of 35. In Maths the State is marginally lower with a score of 30 against the national average of 32. The trend has been similar in the 2017 NAS report where Goa scored 33 in Maths against the national average of 34.
So what is the CM complaining about? And from where does this sudden bitterness come about? Lest we forget, it was Sawant who had lauded students and teachers over the SSC results in 2019 where 98 schools had achieved a 100 per cent result. Nothing much has changed between then and now, in fact, students and teachers had to endure tough Covid challenges in imparting education for the past two years, relying mostly on the online format, and in some cases giving personal attention.
The CM has to realise that providing financial aid alone is not enough to get results. There has to be a conscious effort to train and upgrade the resource to keep pace with modern-day teaching. There has to be an engagement of stakeholders, and a roadmap drawn with a clear action plan. Educationists and experts must be involved while taking policy decisions. Concept-based education has to be inculcated from the early schooling level and students have to be trained for competitive exams.
What we have seen till now is sheer chaos and indecisiveness. Take for example the decision on abolishing the vocational stream at the higher secondary level announced by the chief minister in October 2021. The plan then was to introduce a three-year diploma course after Std X. The objective, according to the CM, was to have more skilled manpower in Goa. Come June 7, 2022, and the CM speaks in a different tone. The plan now is to start Std XI admissions in line with arts, commerce and science with additional subjects of the National Skill Qualification Framework. An education minister cannot make random statements on policy changes that leave parents and students guessing. Finally, while the talk is about implementing NEP, all aided schools are yet to be on-boarded, and that tells another story.
Instead of looking back and moving in circles, we need to take a holistic view of education and move forward keeping the future in mind.
