CH NEWS, VIJAYAPURA
Government schools were created to provide quality education to every child, irrespective of the economic status of the family. Yet, across Vijayapura, an uncomfortable question is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore:
If government schools are meant to provide quality education, why are even government school teachers reluctant to send their own children there? Why are auto drivers, daily-wage workers and small-scale employees stretching their finances to pay private school fees?
The answer may lie not merely in the perception of parents, but in the everyday realities inside several government schools.
A visit to Government School No. 25 offers an important case study of the challenges facing the government-school system. The situation at this school should not automatically be treated as representative of every government school, but the issues it raises deserve serious examination by education authorities.
Government School No. 25 caters to students from Class 1 to Class 7. The school currently has just 38 students, 24 boys and 14 girls, with four teachers. On paper, that works out to around 10 students per teacher. But the teacher-student ratio alone does not tell the whole story. The school has to accommodate seven standards and multiple subjects, including Kannada, English, Mathematics, Science and Social Science, along with other subjects. With only four teachers, the question is not simply how many students are assigned to each teacher, but whether every class and every subject is receiving adequate and specialised teaching time. A teacher who is trained or particularly strong in one subject may have to handle another subject because there are not enough teachers.
The problem does not end inside the classroom. Government school teachers are increasingly required to maintain records, update information and complete various departmental requirements through digital applications and online systems. When the server works, the work may be completed. When it does not, teachers may have to wait, retry and spend valuable working hours completing administrative requirements. At the same time, parents and students visit schools for certificates and other official requirements.
