[Kannada Stf-13681] Pressure on teachers to improve rankings- Article by Gurumurthy Kasinathan IT for Change

[ITFC-Venkatesh]

 
that school leaders must not be co-opted for activities that have no 
connection with their primary responsibility - school development.


The education system requi-res schools to maintain a large number of 
registers and records without adequate administrative or technology 
support. A peek into a staff room is likely to reveal at least one 
teacher manually filling in registers or preparing reports.
It is time to seriously review these practices for their negative impact 
on student experiences and academic outcomes. Surely, we cannot repeat 
practices that cause failure and expect results to improve. Less is 
more, is a les-son for most government high schools in Karnataka, not 
only for those in Bengaluru South.


(The writer is Director, IT for Change, an NGO that works with 
government high schools in Karnataka, and a visiting faculty at Tata 
Institute of Social Sciences)


<http://www.ITforChange.net/>*ವೆಂಕಟೇಶ್ ಟಿ ಗೌಡ Venkatesh T Gowda *|
Programme Associate | IT for Change <http://www.itforchange.net/>
(/In special consultative status with the United Nations ECOSOC)/
91-80-26654134 | 9945147359 | Fax 91-80-41461055
Email: venkat...@itforchange.net/
Blog: http://geluvejeevana.blogspot.in//
ಕಲಿಸೋಣ, ಕಲಿಸುತಾ ಕಲಿಯೋಣ, ಕಲಿಯಲು ಕಲಿಸಲು ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನವ ಬಳಸೋಣ, ಹೊಸ ಹೊಸ ಜ್ಞಾನವ 
ಪಡೆಯೋಣ...
“Let children be children,” “The work of a child is to play,” and 
“Children learn best through play.”/


On Tuesday 21 June 2016 02:10 PM, ITFC-Venkatesh 
venkat...@itforchange.net [ctekarnataka] wrote:


ಆತ್ಮೀಯರೇ,
ಎಸ್.ಎಸ್.ಎಲ್.ಸಿ ಫಲಿತಾಂಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಗಳ ಸ್ಥಾನಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಏರಿಕೆಯಾಗಲು ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರ ಮೇಲಿರುವ ಒತ್ತಡ ಹಾಗು 
ಫಲಿತಾಂಶ ಏರಿಕೆಗಾಗಿ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರ ವಿಭಿನ್ನ ಚಟುವಟಿಕೆಗಳು, ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರ ಫಠ್ಯೇತರ ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳ ಬಗೆಗಿನ ಐಟಿ ಫಾರ್ 
ಚೇಂಜ್ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕರಾದ ಶ್ರೀ ಗುರುಮೂರ್ತಿಕಾಶಿನಾಥನ್ ರವರ ಲೇಖನ ದಿನಾಂಕ 17.05.2016 
ರಂದು ಆಂಗ್ಲ ದೈನಿಕ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಕಟಗೊಂಡಿದೆ. ಈ ಕೆಳಗಿನ ಲಿಂಕ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಲೇಖನ ಓದಬಹುದು.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/553435/pressure-teachers-improve-rankings.html


  Pressure on teachers to improve rankings

By Gurumurthy Kasinathan, 21 June 2o16, DHNS
The head masters (HMs) of government high schools in Bengaluru South 
were largely a disheartened lot when SSLC results were declared last 
month. The district had been ranked 30 out of 34 in the state, in 
terms of students’ pass percentages.


The enormous pressure year after year to “improve” rankings have made 
HMs and teachers war-weary. As the academic year begins, it is time to 
explore what could be different for teachers and students. What  they 
need to do, seems elusive to fix. Instead we could begin with 
something easier: what they should stop doing.


In our work with the government high schools across Karnataka, we 
found that teachers put in huge efforts towards high SSLC pass 
percentages. Class 10 students are required to be in school beyond 
school hours every day, and on Sundays and holidays, for “extra studies.”


There is no teaching, no interaction or peer learning here, students 
simply sit together with a book in their hands. Most staff rooms even 
display a chart assigning teachers for supervising such “extra studies”.


Every free period in class 10 is handed over to the mathematics or 
science teacher. As the academic year progresses, the HMs also hand 
over periods allocated to non-examination subjects like physical 
education, music, art, craft to enable ‘covering’ the syllabus in 
time. The drill gets to the next level in January, when teachers bring 
out ‘pass packages’ with questions likely to be asked in the 
examinations; focusing on students’ memorising ready-made answers. 
Names like ‘target 40’, ‘target 60’ of these packages suggest the 
percentage students can get, if they can mug their content.


The drill progresses with preparatory examinations. While I remember 
writing one preparatory examination, before my SSLC exam decades ago, 
today three such preparatory examinations are commonplace. Even if 
teachers are skeptical, they are forced by HMs and the department to 
drill. The lower your district is on the rankings, the greater the 
pressure to drill.


The result of this intense and prolonged effort is visible in the 
tired, dull and blank faces of students. Even earlier, learning may 
not have been a joy for many, Class 10 is positively a torture. With 
no time to unwind, or play, or reflect on their learning, students 
switch off. The fear of failure takes over, alienating students 
further; attested to, by the suicide stories we hear around 
examination failure.


Educational wisdom, discussed in policy documents as the National 
Curricular Framework, 2005, emphasises that learning requires a stress 
free environment, where students can engage actively with the 
cla-ssroom processes and connect these to real life, going beyond 
merely acquiring bookish facts.


Karnataka has formally adopted this Curricular Framework as state 
policy, yet practices on the ground described earlier, have not 
changed. For this policy to become effective, teachers must have 
autono

[Kannada Stf-13680] Pressure on teachers to improve rankings- Article by Gurumurthy Kasinathan IT for Change

[ITFC-Venkatesh]

ಆತ್ಮೀಯರೇ,
ಎಸ್.ಎಸ್.ಎಲ್.ಸಿ ಫಲಿತಾಂಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಗಳ ಸ್ಥಾನಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ  ಏರಿಕೆಯಾಗಲು ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರ ಮೇಲಿರುವ ಒತ್ತಡ ಹಾಗು 
ಫಲಿತಾಂಶ ಏರಿಕೆಗಾಗಿ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರ ವಿಭಿನ್ನ ಚಟುವಟಿಕೆಗಳು, ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರ ಫಠ್ಯೇತರ ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳ ಬಗೆಗಿನ ಐಟಿ ಫಾರ್ ಚೇಂಜ್ 
ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕರಾದ ಶ್ರೀ ಗುರುಮೂರ್ತಿಕಾಶಿನಾಥನ್ ರವರ ಲೇಖನ ದಿನಾಂಕ 17.05.2016 ರಂದು ಆಂಗ್ಲ 
ದೈನಿಕ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಕಟಗೊಂಡಿದೆ. ಈ ಕೆಳಗಿನ ಲಿಂಕ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಲೇಖನ ಓದಬಹುದು.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/553435/pressure-teachers-improve-rankings.html


 Pressure on teachers to improve rankings

By Gurumurthy Kasinathan, 21 June 2o16, DHNS
The head masters (HMs) of government high schools in Bengaluru South 
were largely a disheartened lot when SSLC results were declared last 
month. The district had been ranked 30 out of 34 in the state, in terms 
of students’ pass percentages.


The enormous pressure year after year to “improve” rankings have made 
HMs and teachers war-weary. As the academic year begins, it is time to 
explore what could be different for teachers and students. What  they 
need to do, seems elusive to fix. Instead we could begin with something 
easier: what they should stop doing.


In our work with the government high schools across Karnataka, we found 
that teachers put in huge efforts towards high SSLC pass percentages. 
Class 10 students are required to be in school beyond school hours every 
day, and on Sundays and holidays, for “extra studies.”


There is no teaching, no interaction or peer learning here, students 
simply sit together with a book in their hands. Most staff rooms even 
display a chart assigning teachers for supervising such “extra studies”.


Every free period in class 10 is handed over to the mathematics or 
science teacher. As the academic year progresses, the HMs also hand over 
periods allocated to non-examination subjects like physical education, 
music, art, craft to enable ‘covering’ the syllabus in time. The drill 
gets to the next level in January, when teachers bring out ‘pass 
packages’ with questions likely to be asked in the examinations; 
focusing on students’ memorising ready-made answers. Names like ‘target 
40’, ‘target 60’ of these packages suggest the percentage students can 
get, if they can mug their content.


The drill progresses with preparatory examinations. While I remember 
writing one preparatory examination, before my SSLC exam decades ago, 
today three such preparatory examinations are commonplace. Even if 
teachers are skeptical, they are forced by HMs and the department to 
drill. The lower your district is on the rankings, the greater the 
pressure to drill.


The result of this intense and prolonged effort is visible in the tired, 
dull and blank faces of students. Even earlier, learning may not have 
been a joy for many, Class 10 is positively a torture. With no time to 
unwind, or play, or reflect on their learning, students switch off. The 
fear of failure takes over, alienating students further; attested to, by 
the suicide stories we hear around examination failure.


Educational wisdom, discussed in policy documents as the National 
Curricular Framework, 2005, emphasises that learning requires a stress 
free environment, where students can engage actively with the cla-ssroom 
processes and connect these to real life, going beyond merely acquiring 
bookish facts.


Karnataka has formally adopted this Curricular Framework as state 
policy, yet practices on the ground described earlier, have not changed. 
For this policy to become effective, teachers must have autonomy to 
decide on the content and method of transaction, to make it useful and 
accessible to learners. As a teacher educator suggested pithily, “let 
teachers discover the syllabus, not cover it”.


*Building foundational skills*
It is also useful to understand what SSLC passing means. In Bengaluru, 
half the passing students, barely get through with a C or C+ grade. The 
HMs report that many who pass are unable to even write a letter 
requesting for their transfer certificate, required for college 
admission. SSLC has failed in its objective of building foundational 
skills of learning and communication in students.


The HMs are treated by the department as extension staff, and enrolled 
for activities and meetings, most of which take them out of school. 
Every month, HMs attend many meetings called by district and block 
education offices. Sometimes it is to share information, which could 
simply have been emailed. In many cases, a short interaction of an hour 
or two can waste their entire day.


During 2014-15, the Bengaluru South HMs reported that they were 
involuntarily out of school for 30% of working days, performing 
activities such as unaided schools inspections, assessments, visits etc.


The impact of this on school academic performance is beyond imagination. 
The HMs need support and resources to develop as school leaders, and 
stop being ‘department personnel.’ Perhaps the RTE Act, which limits 
non-teaching activities of teachers, needs to be amended to stipulate 
that 

[Kannada Stf-12175] AIR live telecast of interview with Gurumurthy

[ITFC-Venkatesh]

ಆತ್ಮೀಯರೆ,
ಈ ದಿನ  ಮಾರ್ಚ್ 24 ರಂದು, ಸಂಜೆ 5 ರಿಂದ 6 ಘಂಟೆಯವರೆಗೆ ಆಕಾಶವಾಣಿ (AIR)ಯಲ್ಲಿ ಐಟಿ ಫಾರ್ ಚೇಂಜ್ 
ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ (ಎಸ್.ಟಿ.ಎಫ್ ಸಂಪನ್ಮೂಲ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆ) ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕರಾದ ಶ್ರೀಯುತ ಗುರುಮೂರ್ತಿ  ರವರ ಸಂದರ್ಶನವಿದೆ. 
ಇದು ನೇರಪ್ರಸಾರವಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಆಕಾಶವಾಣಿಯವರು ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತಪಡಿಸುವ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದಲ್ಲಿನ ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಸಂಘ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳ 
ಬಗಗೆಗಿನ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮವಾಗಿದೆ.ತಪ್ಪದೇ ಕೇಳಿ.


AIR live telecast of interview with Gurumurthy, Director IT for Change 
tomorrow 5 - 6 pm

this is part of AIR series on NGOs (social work organisations)  in Karnataka

ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳೊಂದಿಗೆ
ವೆಂಕಟೇಶ್
ಐಟಿ ಫಾರ್ ಚೇಂಜ್
ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು


--

*ವೆಂಕಟೇಶ್ ಟಿ ಗೌಡ Venkatesh T Gowda *|
Programme Associate | IT for Change 
(/In special consultative status with the United Nations ECOSOC)/
91-80-26654134 | 9945147359 | Fax 91-80-41461055
Email: venkat...@itforchange.net/
Blog: http://geluvejeevana.blogspot.in//
ಕಲಿಸೋಣ, ಕಲಿಸುತಾ ಕಲಿಯೋಣ, ಕಲಿಯಲು ಕಲಿಸಲು ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನವ ಬಳಸೋಣ, ಹೊಸ ಹೊಸ ಜ್ಞಾನವ 
ಪಡೆಯೋಣ.../


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[Kannada Stf-12138] ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಸರ್ಕಾರಿ ಶಾಲೆಗಳ ಪರೀಕ್ಷಾ ಸಿದ್ದತೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹಿಂದೂ ಅಂಗ್ಲ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಯ ಲೇಖನ

[ITFC-Venkatesh]

ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರ ಕಲಿಕಾ ಸಮುದಾಯ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಪಟ್ಟಿರುವ (TCOL)ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ದೊಮ್ಮಲೂರು 
ಮತ್ತು ಬೆಂ.ಗ್ರಾಮಾಂತರ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ತ್ಯಾಮಗೊಂಡ್ಲು( ನೆಲಮಂಗಲ) ಶಾಲೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹಮ್ಮಿಕೊಂಡಿರುವ  ವಿಭಿನ್ನ 
ಚಟುವಟಿಕೆಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ "ಹಿಂದು" ದಿನಪತ್ರಿಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಕಟಗೊಂಡ ವರದಿ.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/a-5-am-call-to-improve-sslc-pass-percentage/article8362767.ece

Few excerpts of TCoL Schools -

Suchetha S.S., a mathematics teacher from Thyamagondlu in Nelamangala
taluk of Bengaluru (Rural) district said that a Class 9 student is
“tagged” along a Class 10 student to monitor his or her progress.

“Each Class 9 student has been asked to maintain a diary to keep a check
on what the Class 10 student is studying … what the atmosphere at his or
her home is… if an intervention is required, then we (teachers) step
in,” she added.

At the beginning of the academic year, each teacher “adopts” 10-15 Class
10 students and is responsible for their academic progress, Ms. Suchetha
said.

The school, which recorded a pass percentage of 98.7 in last year’s SSLC
examination, is hoping to secure cent per cent results this year. M.J.
Avadhani, headmaster of Government High School, Domlur in the city, said
that their Class 10 students receive a wake up call between 4.30 a.m.
and 5 a.m. daily.

“We also make students study in the school as the atmosphere at their
home may not be conducive enough to study. A majority of our students
come from the low socio-economic status and often academics is not high
on the parents’ priority list,” he said.

Parents are sent a voice message once a week asking them to encourage
their child to devote time to studies, he added.



--

*ವೆಂಕಟೇಶ್ ಟಿ ಗೌಡ Venkatesh T Gowda *|
Programme Associate | IT for Change 
(/In special consultative status with the United Nations ECOSOC)/
91-80-26654134 | 9945147359 | Fax 91-80-41461055
Email: venkat...@itforchange.net/
Blog: http://geluvejeevana.blogspot.in//
ಕಲಿಸೋಣ, ಕಲಿಸುತಾ ಕಲಿಯೋಣ, ಕಲಿಯಲು ಕಲಿಸಲು ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನವ ಬಳಸೋಣ, ಹೊಸ ಹೊಸ ಜ್ಞಾನವ 
ಪಡೆಯೋಣ.../


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[Kannada Stf-12135] Fwd: [ctekarnataka] ಶಿಕ್ಷಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಐ.ಸಿ.ಟಿ ಬಳಸಿ ಸಾಧನೆ ಮಾಡಿದ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರಿಗೆ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಮಟ್ಟದ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿಗಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾವನೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸುವ ಕುರಿತು. [1 Attachment]

[ITFC-Venkatesh]

ಶಿಕ್ಷಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಐ.ಸಿ.ಟಿ ಬಳಸಿ ಸಾಧನೆ ಮಾಡಿದ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರಿಗೆ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಮಟ್ಟದ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿಗಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾವನೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸುವ 
ಕುರಿತು ಡಿ.ಎಸ್.ಇ.ಆರ್.ಟಿ ರವರ ಸುತ್ತೋಲೆ...


 Forwarded Message 
Subject: 	[ctekarnataka] ಶಿಕ್ಷಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಐ.ಸಿ.ಟಿ ಬಳಸಿ ಸಾಧನೆ ಮಾಡಿದ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರಿಗೆ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಮಟ್ಟದ 
ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿಗಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾವನೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸುವ ಕುರಿತು. [1 Attachment]

Date:   Sat, 19 Mar 2016 15:39:28 +0530
From: 	'Dakshayani, SADPI,ICT1,DSERT' ict1.dsert...@nic.in 
[ctekarnataka] 

Reply-To:   ctekarnat...@yahoogroups.com
To: 	dietkarnat...@yahoogroups.com, ctekarnat...@yahoogroups.com, 
ddpikarnat...@yahoogroups.com




Sir/Madam,
Pls find the attached file

--
Dakshayani  M N
SADPI
DSERT
#4,100 feet ring road, BSK 3rd stage, Hosakerehalli
Bangalore 560 085

__._,_.___
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