Changes visible in school education system

Bhopal : School education paves the way to the future of children. Therefore, it is important that there should be quality in education, schools must have good environment and teachers must be rich in knowledge so that children are always eager to attend school and study. The state government has taken many landmark decisions in the last one year to set up quality school education system in the state. Now children have started attending school, teachers have also become more dedicated towards providing good education to children. The change is becoming visible.

Exposure Visit

“Learn for the best” scheme has been implemented to improve the quality of school education. Under the scheme, departmental officers, principals and teachers visited local private schools, schools in Delhi, Mahamaya School in Noida and Korea Development Institute of South Korea. This has changed the thinking and teaching style of principals and teachers. They are beginning to realize their responsibility towards children’s education and are coming to schools regularly.

Daily checking of children’s copies

System of daily checking of children’s copies of basic subjects has been implemented in schools. District and state level officials are visiting schools to ensure that the teachers check the copies of students daily and correct mistakes. A special copy checking campaign has been launched in 2742 schools in the state. Disciplinary action is being taken against teachers who do not check copies and do not mark corrections. Recently, increments of 139 teachers were withheld, deductions were made in the salaries of 425 teachers, 665 teachers were issued warning and 751 teachers were issued show cause notices.

Analysis of test results

A system for the analysis of exam results in schools has been made. In order to assess the efficiency of teachers of schools with less than thirty percent exam results, 6215 teachers appeared in the examination held on June 12 and 15, 2019. Efficiency improvement training was also imparted to the teachers. After this, a re-test was taken. Disciplinary action was taken against teachers whose results were not found satisfactory in this examination. Compulsory retirement was given to 16 teachers who failed in the open book exam after being imparted two months of training.

Parents-teachers Interaction

A system of regular parents-teachers meetings has been implemented in schools. Now parents-teacher meetings are being held simultaneously in every government school every three months. In these meetings, issues of student profiling, skill upgradation workbook, Partibha Parv results, bridge course, half-yearly examination, school attendance etc. are being discussed. About 40 lakh parents attended these meetings for the first time. On Children’s Day, the Education Minister sent a letter to all parents urging them to cooperate in improving the quality and efficiency of students.

Annual Examination on Board Pattern for Class V and VIII

From the current academic session 2019-20, it has been decided to make annual assessment of children of fifth and eighth grade on board pattern in the sequence of amendments made in the Right to Free and Compulsory Child Education Act-2009. In order to pass the annual examinations of Class V and VIII, students will have to get minimum 33 percent marks. Failing to do so, they will have to re-appear for the exam after 2 months. If they are still not able to pass, then they will not be upgraded from fifth and eighth grade to the next class.

“Wall of Fame” Honour Scheme for Teachers

The “Wall of Fame” Samman Yojana has been launched to encourage teachers in the state from the academic session 2018-19. Under the scheme, efforts are being encouraged by the teachers and the school to play an excellent role in upgrading the basic skills in students from Class 3 to 8. Bronze, Silver and Gold Champion certificates will be given in the scheme. This year 851 teachers have been awarded Gold Champion certificates, 2187 teachers with Silver Champion and 4566 teachers with Bronze Champion Certificate and 7600 schools have been awarded.

Online transfer system

The “online transfer” system has been implemented. Teachers have been given priority in the posting in places of their choice. The teachers’ long pending demand for merger in the Education Department has been met. Now teachers are getting the benefits of salary, allowances and other facilities given to government servants in the Education Department.

Formation of Vigyan Mitra Club and Eco Club

Vigyan Mitra Club has been formed in all government secondary schools in the state and Youth and Eco Club in all primary schools and all secondary schools. Through these clubs, efforts are being made to generate scientific interest and awareness about health and environment protection in school students. Arrangements have also been made to give students an opportunity to develop their skills and interest in the fields of cultural, intellectual, sports, arts and handicrafts etc. Also, they are being diverted to meaningful and productive activities after school time.

Teachers’ Learning

Under the PEER Learning Scheme, educational interaction is being held in government schools at the cluster level one day in the last week of every month. In this, all teachers discuss their subjects, classroom achievements, problems and find solutions and implement them.

NCERT Syllabus

NCERT syllabus and textbooks have been acquired to make the students of the state fit to perform better in national level competitive examinations. In this academic session, the NCERT syllabus of the Faculty of Social Sciences from Class VI to Xth and Arts in Class XI has been implemented. By the year 2021-22, this course will be implemented in all subjects from IXth to XIIth in all government schools of the state in successive stages.

Life Skills Education Programme “Umang”

Efforts are being made to develop students’ skills in decision making, analysis skills, life skills to find solutions to problems and to keep pace with situations. For this, “Umang” programme has been implemented. This year, all the high schools and higher secondary schools in the state have been scaled up.

STEAM Conclave

Efforts are being made to introduce STEAM based education system in schools to develop creativity, critical analysis, collaborative learning, communication skills etc. among the students as per the 21st century. STEAM Conclave was held on October 30–31 last in which national and international level subject matter experts, representatives of NID, CRISP, IISIR, Science Center, CBSC / ICSC schools, School Education Department and other departments related to education held a brainstorming session on the experiments and innovations in the direction of STEAM education. With this system, students will be prepared for future jobs and national and international assessment tests (NAS and PISA) and the quality of education will be ensured. Also, like economically and academically developed countries, our students will also be able to move forward by integrating science, technology, engineering and mathematics with arts.

App based supervision and real time evaluation

A system of data and evidence based policy formulation has been implemented in the field of school education. Now the classes are being monitored by the app to ensure the work. Also, real-time evaluation of children is being done through the “Class Partner” app. Initially it has been implemented as a pilot project in 13 schools in Bhopal and Raisen districts.

The eligibility test of Higher Secondary teachers and Secondary teacher class has been conducted for recruitment of teachers for the vacant posts in schools. Now about 20 thousand teachers will be appointed soon. Schools will be strengthened and developed into high quality institutions. Focus will be on elementary education. A pilot project for pre-primary education has been started in 15 schools in Chhindwara, Bhopal, Sagar, Shahdol and Sehore districts. In future it will be implemented on a larger scale.