Review meeting highlights poor performance of govt schools

The school education department in Nagaland has expressed concern over the poor performance of government school students in the High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) examinations conducted by the Nagaland Board of School Education.

Of the 294 government schools, comprising 41 government higher secondary schools (GHSS) and 253 government high schools (GHS) in the state, students from 233 schools appeared for the examinations this year.

Twenty-seven government schools recorded nil pass percentage while 12 schools tasted hundred per cent success in the pass percentage of the HSLC exams 2018.

The pass percentage in the government schools was 40.77 per cent, registering a decrease of 1.83 per cent than that of last year, Principal Director of the department, Smita Sarangi said at the review meeting yesterday.

"The total enrolment of class 10 students in government schools was 5,798, of which 4,163 students appeared for the HSLC examination but only 1,738 qualified," she said.

During the discussions, the participants including district education officers, head masters, assistant head masters and teachers in-charge of GHSS and GHS with nil pass percentage, attributed the poor performance to the lack of sufficient teachers, non-availability of subject teachers to teach mathematics, science and english.

Neglect of rural schools, weak foundation of students in government schools was also highlighted at the meeting.

"In rural areas, students and parents are more interested in farming activities than education," they said.

Transfer of teachers, random upgradation of schools, proxy teachers and teachers resigning in mid session were also cited as the other reasons for the poor performance.

After listening to the views aired at the meeting, Advisor for School Education, K T Sukhalu said, "time has come to seriously ponder on the actual problems and improve the performance of government schools."
Stating that the government has taken so many initiatives and spent huge amount of money to ensure quality education, he said "teachers are in a noble profession on whom the parents have put their entire hopes."