8/13/2019 A Strong Education System is the Cornerstone of Any Country

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A strong education system is the cornerstone of any country's growth and prosperity. Over the lastdecade, India has made great strides in strengthening its primary education system. The DistrictInformation System for Education (DISE) reported in 2012 that 95% of India's rural populations arewithin one kilometer of primary schools. The 2011 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), whichtracks trends in rural education, indicated that enrollment rates among primary-school-aged children

were about 93%, with little difference by gender. Yet India's education system has not achieved stronglearning outcomes for reasons that are as diverse and nuanced as the country itself.

The West Bengal primary education system seemingly suffers from a perfect storm of maladiesincluding: gigantic rates of teacher absenteeism, a daunting lack of trained teachers, impossibly difficultassignments facing teachers, the evil necessity of private tuition, crippled and antiquated infrastructureof West Bengal primary schools, incentive schemes that that are woefully underfunded by the state

government, and rampant discrimination against children of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, andMuslim origin by school authorities. This amalgamation of calamities has created a situation in WestBengal where only 6.8% of the students who enter the primary education system later reach

universities.

The chief issues are explained in brief below:

1. Teacher absenteeism : Teacher absenteeism is a pervasive issue encumbering the West Bengalprimary education system. It is not just that an all too gargantuan number of teachers are notattending work, but teachers who are present are not actively involved in teaching their pupils.It is estimated that at any one time, twenty -five percent of teachers were absent from school,

and only about half were teaching. (Kremer et . al, 658) If so many teachers are simply notteaching, present or not, the implications for students are clear. Primary school students cannotbe expected to learn to read and write or do basic arithmetic if there is no one there to teachthem. It is not merely the performance of students that is affected but their motivation toattend school. Teacher absenteeism, has contributed to a high level of absenteeism among thechildren. We found attendance rates of only 54% in the primary schools. (Rafique, 2) Teacherabsenteeism in West Bengal vastly reduces the capabilities of Bengali students and all too oftenis partially responsible for their jettison from the primary education system.

2. Lack of teachers and training : The West Bengal Primary education system also suffers from alack of teachers and training . Teachers in public schools are spread so thin that, on an averagethere were three teachers per school. Each teacher had to mange 69 students, perhaps spreadover two classes. With the norm of 40 students per class the total number of teachers shouldhave been 2,002,088. Thus there is a shortage of 48,868 teachers. (Bandyopadhyay) Teacherssimply cannot offer students the attention they need to properly learn the essential material of

primary school if their focus is divided amongst so many students and classes. This problem isfurther compounded by the fact that the total number of primary school teachers in WestBengal is falling as concurrently more students attempt to enter primary school. (Ghosh, 17)Furthermore, there is not only a need for more teachers but much more extensive training forits existing ones. There has been little consideration of this factor from the state government. As

8/13/2019 A Strong Education System is the Cornerstone of Any Country

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