The 2022-23 academic year is likely to be a turbulent one for school education in Andhra Pradesh. The YSR Congress Party government is keen on rolling out radical reforms at an accelerated pace. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has been saying that a child who walks into a government school should walk out as a global citizen and face the competitive world with confidence. To give shape to his vision, the School Education Department is focused on conceptual learning instead of rote learning. Emphasis is being laid not on evaluating the students on a three-hour examination but on their classroom participation, projects, communication skills, leadership skills and extra-curricular activities. The Department has been tasked with implementing a slew of government initiatives in sync with the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, this academic year, starting July 5.
Besides the annual exercise of printing and supplying textbooks, officials are burning the midnight oil to complete training teachers in English; expedite the process of mapping Classes 3-5 in primary schools in the government sector to high schools located nearby; re-apportion teaching staff; implement Section 12(1)(C) of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which mandates private, unaided schools to reserve 25% of seats in entry-level classes for children belonging to weaker sections; and bring select schools under the CBSE syllabus.
Educationists say there is too much to do and too little time. They have raised serious concerns about the “incoherence” of the initiatives. They worry that no homework was done before these initiatives were introduced and that the reforms lack sound footing.
The Chief Minister’s English medium project was set aside by the High Court and the matter is sub-judice in the Supreme Court. Undeterred, the State has embarked on training teachers in English and has started printing textbooks with lessons in both English and Telugu to facilitate the smooth transition of children to English as a medium of instruction. It also has plans to shift from the State Board to the CBSE in phases.
There is also confusion about the school restructuring programme. The proposal is to categorise educational institutions into satellite foundational schools comprising pre-primary 1 and pre-primary 2, foundation schools comprising Classes 1 and 2, foundation plus schools with Classes 1 to 5, pre-high schools with Classes 1 to 8, high schools with Classes 3 to 10, and high school plus with Classes 3 to 12. Sceptics argue that merging primary classes with high schools would violate the ‘neighbourhood school system’ endorsed by the RTE Act and result in a higher school dropout rate, especially of girls in remote tribal areas.
The earlier deadline of June 30 for completing the school-mapping exercise has been pushed to July 31. People worry that there will be confusion if the merger exercise is carried out even as students attend classes in their old schools. Clarity also eludes the proposed re-apportionment of the teaching staff, the long-pending transfers, and promotions of teachers.
Two Government Orders which were issued recently, to reapportion teaching staff and to transfer the municipal schools to the administrative and supervisory control of the Department of School Education, have fuelled protests across the State. Teachers are demanding the repeal of these orders saying they will be overburdened and the quality of education will suffer. Given the formidable challenges, it may take a few years at least for the government to achieve its lofty educational goals. Its race against time is ill-advised; instead, it would serve everyone well if the process was gradual with all these concerns addressed.
pothuri.varma@thehindu.co.in
