------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Documented by Goa Desc Resource Centre Ph:2252660 Website: www.goadesc.org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Press Clippings on the web: http://www.goadesc.org/mem/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ The Tuition Bazaar ------------------------------ The more the governments claim of curbing private tuition, the more it spreads its net. First of all, our education system � the syllabi, the examinations, the teaching pattern � is such that there is no need to make deep investigation into why private tuition is flourishing.
The system of the private tuition has come to stay as this is what the students find better than what they receive in the classrooms. With the job of teaching acquiring the character of a business, the private tutors, old and young alike, have started coming together and in one such rare development that has taken place in Kolkata, they have formed a Self-Employed Teachers Association to seek legal rights for themselves. They want licence to teach.
The SETA members also intend to seek registration with the education department. Their argument is that if private practice is allowed to licensed doctors and lawyers, why not to licensed teachers who can be held accountable? They want the rights of a business.
The situation has not been entirely different in Goa. Of course, unlike the tutors in Kolkata and other states they are yet to stake their claim for recognition. In fact the mushrooming of private tuition forced the government of Goa to declare it as illegal. Sometime back the government had informed the heads of university teaching departments and the principals of the affiliated colleges that it would enact a comprehensive law to curb private coaching classes in the affiliated colleges and university teaching departments. However before the enactment could come, the government, by fixing the ceiling on the fees for the tutors of the private tuition classes, has legalised the system of private tuition, so far treated as an illegal profession. The government has come out with the proposal that the tutors, excluding those in government and private services, will have to get themselves registered with the directorate of education and they will also have to maintain a register of the students.
The manner in which the government is handling the issue of private tuition would give a clear indication that the system is being accorded a commercial status. But at the same time it raises questions about the purpose and direction of the teaching system in the schools, on the quality of the education, the education policy of the government and its monitoring. This has been happening at the time when the government is committed to provide free education in the schools.
What has been strange is that while the government and the people are peeved with tuition fees charged by the private teachers, they are least concerned of the declining teaching standards in the schools and growth of the private tuition section.
The Government as well the people are aware that the teachers are not delivering their best in school. However instead of taking corrective measures, the students are being forced to take tuitions. There is no denying the fact that the teachers do not pay proper attention to the students in the classes and often the courses are finished unsatisfactorily.
In this exercise, the students who cannot afford to pay huge amounts as tuition fees get victimised. It is not that the teachers are not aware that giving private tuitions is completely against a teacher�s professional ethics. When a teacher is paid by the government or trust, he is not supposed to charge students again.
One cannot stop private tuitions but can always stop teachers from doing it. There is the provision for remedial classes, but these have proved to be utter failure to impart better education. It would not be an exaggeration to say that teachers have been exploiting the concerns of the parents and students for a better future in this time of competitiveness. They do not adhere to professional ethics.
The increase in the number of tutors who are not teachers adds to the concern. There is no running away from tackling the problem at the source: that is, making education in classrooms interesting, clear and focussed enough for the students. The government must introduce a variety of programmes to enhance the professional skills of the teachers.
The government must take the responsibility of giving the students excellent teaching before it decides to shut down the tuition shops. Excellent teaching skills can be maintained by reorientation programmes and courses and a strict monitoring and evaluation system of how the teachers are performing. The best way would be to involve the students in the evaluation of the teachers� skills. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Editorial in The Navhind Times 13/5/04 page 10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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