Tribune News Service
Amritsar, September 1
Over the last few days, members of the Joint Teachers’ Front have been holding multiple protests against the Education Department and Education Secretary, per say, calling out the latter for his dictatorial attitude towards teachers and disrupting classroom learning through the National Achievement Survey (NAS) preparations.
On Wednesday, teachers of government schools, on the call of Joint Teachers’ Front, burnt the effigy of Education Secretary in front of the office of the District Education Officer (DEO).
The Education Department in the district has been running training workshops with a teams of mentors to prepare students for NAS, which will be conducted in November.
Recently, the Education Department had also constituted various committees at district, block, cluster and school level to ensure smooth preparation for NAS. Meanwhile, teachers are raising concerns over the hype being given to NAS over classroom learning. “For the last few days, the only word being uttered by the authorities is NAS. The National Achievement Survey, which estimates the level of education in states, through evaluating learning outcome of students, is being used as a tool to sideline classroom learning. Education Secretary is weaving a net of false statistics through an unconstitutional framework, taking into account the essence of real school education and the curriculum. However, the education of the children for one-and-a-half years has already lagged far behind due to the lockdown and schools remaining shut. To prepare for this survey, teachers are being harassed and overburdened, while students, too, are feeling the pressure,” said Vikram Dev Singh, state president, Democratic Teachers’ Front.
Several teachers, who were part of different teachers’ unions, have openly spoken against the lapses in online education throughout the pandemic. “There were huge shortcomings in accessing all students through online classes. Despite the state government distributing smartphones to students of Class XII, many students from junior classes and middle classes failed to have access to uninterrupted education. We are not against NAS, but it should not be made the only parameter to judge the performance of a student,” said Ashwini Awasthi, a teacher and district convenor, Joint Teachers’ Front.
The protesters said teachers were being pressured to perform academic and non-academic duties as well. “Online education cannot be a compulsory alternative to real school education. Online papers of children are being sent despite the opening of schools and pressure is being exerted to ensure 100 per cent participation in projects to advance in the race of statistics,” said Ashwini.
Meanwhile, DEO Satinderbir Singh said the NAS is conducted every three years and doesn’t require a separate syllabus.
“It is an MCQ-based test that requires knowledge of regular classroom learning. Teachers have been constituted under committees for training students, by preparing mock test papers and sharing these with students. We have been trying to change the methodology of classroom teaching to enhance learning outcome. Whether it’s the issue of being overworked or pay upgrade, the matter is between the state government and teachers.”
Slam Edu Dept policies
Tarn Taran: Government schoolteachers under the banner of Sanjha Adhyapak Morcha organised a protest in Tarn Taran on Wednesday against the policies of the Education Department. The protesting teachers burnt an effigy of the department and sought the removal of the Education Secretary. The protesters said the teachers would hold parallel functions on Teacher’s Day (September 5) to expose the department. The leaders said the officials were forcing teachers to present report based on lies. They also condemned the anti-teacher recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission report. OC
Teachers ‘overworked’ due to National Achievement Survey
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