Govt schools catch up with private institutions

Bengaluru: After years of criticism against the way government schools are run in the state, some of those campaigns are gradually seeing the light of day as government school students are catching up with their counterparts in private schools.

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) indicates that while 70.1% of children in Class VIII can read Class II level text in government schools, the same in private schools in rural Karnataka is just 71.5%. But mathematics is still a hurdle for many in government schools as only 36.1% of students in Class VIII could do division, while it was 47.4% for private school students.

It was observed that students from upper primary classes in government schools are better than their peers in private schools in rural parts of the state. With a 0.4% advantage over private schools, 19.4% of Class III students from government schools can read a Class II text, indicating better reading levels for them. The advantage widens for upper primary students. ASER pointed out that while 47.6% of students in Class V of government schools can read a class II level text, in private schools this percentage was just 41.8. This advantage, however, diminishes as students reach high school. Class VIII students who can read the same text (Class II) are 70.1% and 71.5% in government and private schools respectively.

Mr Anil Shetty, lead campaigner of #SaveGovtSchools, told Deccan Chronicle that the report is still “alarming”. He said that the present education system is not yet equipped to prepare children for the future. “The government must invest on world class teacher training and also focus more towards increasing learning ability among children using modern technology. There are many portable mathematics labs available to make learning easier for children and it is high time our policymakers invested in such infrastructure,” he said.

He said that reimagining the entire education system is essential. “While the world has moved towards creative education, we are still stuck with clerical education,” he said.

An official from the Department of Public Instruction said, “While teachers are trained and equipped better than those in private schools, the problem arises for subjects like maths as not all teachers might have it as their core subject.”

A headmaster from a government school in Bengaluru North division blamed the department for sending teachers on non-academic duties, also said to have impacted students’ learning. “Teachers hired should be given freedom, time and opportunity to sink in to their subjects not be forced to do clerical work. The results might differ if that is done,” he said on condition of anonymity.