Edu dept issues notice to 207 schools over poor SSLC results
Koppal: The education department of Koppal district has issued notices to 207 school principals, including 132 from govt schools, whose performance fell below the district average in this year's SSLC examination.
"We wish to identify the teachers' duties and the impediments to better results," said DDPI Srishail Biradar.
The district achieved a 56.6% pass rate, with 92 schools scoring below 40%. Koppal district, which ranked 16th in the state three years ago, dropped to 32nd position with 66.2% two years ago. The recent results show a further decline to 56.6%.
Koppal district contains 342 high schools: 107 in Gangavathi, 85 in Koppal and Yalburga and 65 in Kushtagi educational taluk.
The distribution includes 219 govt, 32 aided and 91 unaided schools, with govt schools showing a significant decline. Schools scoring below 40% include 25 in Gangavathi, 29 in Koppal taluk, 17 in Kushtagi taluk and 21 in Yalburga educational taluk.
There are concerns regarding the quality of children's reading, the teaching capabilities of teachers, the state of the school environment and the consistency of student attendance.
The notice aims to gather information for improving results in the next academic year. The education department will analyse the headmasters' responses to create a comprehensive report.
Govt school headmasters have voiced their opposition. One headteacher, speaking anonymously, notes, "According to govt rules, schools should run for 220 days a year. However, this is only possible on paper. A lot of time is being wasted on works for govt departments and local administration programmes."
The headteachers said the department failed to implement measures to uphold the quality of education at the primary level. "It does not hold primary school teachers accountable for the academic shortcomings of students," they said.
They said, "Most crucially, children who do not achieve even a basic level of learning are not permitted to fail. As a result, these underperforming students are advancing to SSLC, leading to a decline in overall results. How can only high school teachers be blamed for this?"
Teachers have expressed worries about local political meddling, SDMC (School Development and Monitoring Committee) involvement, their deployment for non-teaching duties and harassment from education officials under the guise of inspections, all of which negatively impact teaching standards. Teachers are also deliberating on what would constitute an appropriate response to the notice without risking consequences.
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