Kerala government’s modern-day reforms in education have now earned them the ire of a large group of higher secondary school instructors. In June, a cupboard meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan showed that the authorities could implement bold and sweeping adjustments in public education, cautioned by using the state-appointed Khader Committee. Among its many suggestions, which have now been carried out, what turned into a protest downright with the aid of teacher unions turned into the proposal to club the Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI), Higher Secondary Directorate (DHS), and Vocational Higher Secondary Directorate (DVHSS) underneath an unmarried entity. Essentially, the vintage training departments could be dissolved, and a new entity termed the Directorate of General Education would manipulate all classes from grades 1 to twelve. Not only this, but the Khader committee has also cautioned a slew of administrative reforms that have not long gone down well with the higher secondary teachers in the nation. Over the past few months, numerous teacher corporations have taken to the streets to protest in opposition to implementing these recommendations.
Quality of curriculum
Kerala appointed MA Khader, an educationist, to check out administrative and educational reforms at the college stage. This is how the Khader committee came to be. The committee offered guidelines for college training, which the authorities decided to put in force. Among dissenting teachers and trainer institutions, a key difficulty is the effect on the satisfaction of education in Higher Secondary Schools with the structural reforms that have been proposed. The higher secondary faculty schooling followed a CBSE curriculum, unlike the country syllabus taught from lessons 1-10. Every year, several students from CBSE schools join government higher secondary colleges as there may be no trade in the syllabus for them.
“50,000 students from private schools join us every 12 months. This is reflective of the best schooling we offer. We follow NCERT books here and have been supplying nice training for the past 28 years as an impartial body,” Arun Kumar, President of the Aided Higher Secondary Teachers’ Association (AHSTA), advised TNM. The integration of all lessons will subsequently cause the kingdom syllabus to be taught for higher secondary colleges. This could prevent the large variety of CBSE students from being admitted to those colleges. “Students discover it easy to attempt and clear National degree competitive checks, thanks to the syllabus and system we follow. With the pointers getting into force, this can alternate. CBSE college students could choose personal colleges over authority schools if the syllabus is changed,” Arun says.
Speaking to TNM, Rajan Gurukkal, Vice President of the Kerala State Higher Education Council, argued that unifying the forums into one turned into a try to standardize the faculty schooling machine and create a clean transition in the unique degrees of training. “Making administrative adjustments is not going to affect the best of schooling. The government’s move to unify the faculty training into an unmarried board is the first attempt to bring all lessons under one authority, standardizing the exceptional of satisfactory training and cognitive improvement of college students. The clean transition from one grade to the other has to be ensured,” he stated.
Regarding the CBSE vs. State curriculum debate, Professor Rajan Gurukkal stated that bringing higher secondary into the equal board would imply a change in the syllabus from CBSE to country. “This will cause inconvenience to higher secondary college students as the syllabus will change. Presently, the kingdom syllabus isn’t as complete as CBSE – that’s favored in instructions eleven and 12. The authorities aim to convey the state syllabus on a par with the Central one,” Professor Rajan introduced.
Eligibility requirements of instructors
The committee also suggested a slew of reforms, from instructor eligibility standards to dissolving key posts, including Assistant Education (AEO) and District Education Officers (DEO). This has also not gone down well with numerous teachers, who took to the streets to protest when they were given wind of the decision.
The eligibility standards for an HSS instructor are PG and B.Ed, aside from clearing the UGC SET or NET (State Eligibility Test or National Eligibility Test). A Ph.D., M.Phil, or M.Ed is also considered if the candidate has no longer cleared their SET or NET. With the Khader panel recommendations, the eligibility criteria have been comfortable. If implemented, teachers with just B.Ed and PG qualifications will become eligible to educate higher secondary instructions in government faculties.
“The circulate tries to inspire middle school teachers by selling them based totally on seniority. But in the manner, the quality of education can be impacted as instructors now do not want to have the extra qualification,” Arun provides. The commission also recommends that every faculty member from lessons 1-12 have a Principal and a Vice Principal from the higher secondary classes (std eleven and 12) and high school lessons (std 8vely).
“The important cause for a protest through higher secondary instructors is a perceived change of their status in the machine. Training 11 and 12 are handled one after the other, and HSS teachers simplest educate those instructions. Those instructors may even educate training nine and ten if the committee pointers are applied. They probably understand that this will reduce their reputation to mere college teachers,” Rajan introduced. The committee has demanded better-certified teachers at the excessive faculty level. Rajan Gurukkal says this will ensure that there’s much less discrepancy in excellent education when college students flow to higher secondary classes.
Exams
The record has additionally recommended that the Directorate of Public Instruction, which currently oversees Class 10 assessments, be responsible for all board examination evaluations of training 10 and 12.
Shifting class 12 checks to the department will further burden the body, affecting its functioning in keeping with protesting instructors. “Imagine doing behavior checks for 40 lakh students and then comparing their answer sheets and freeing marks. Dumping all of it on one frame will affect its functioning, leading to delays in outcomes, paper assessment, and many others. It simply disrupts the complete machine,” Arun says.
‘Politicisation of training’
The committee also recommended shifting college administration to nearby bodies like gram panchayats by appointing a Panchayat Education Officer and dissolving Assistant Education and District Education Officers (AEO and DEO). “Leaving faculty administration to the control of gram panchayats will inevitably result in politicization of school administrations. The events may intrude in the admission process and other faculty affairs, impeding its clean functioning,” Arun says.
