Friday, November 16, 2012

For all those future administrators of the country...

Hey Guys!!!

I am sure you must be busy with your preparation....
I just had a volley of questions to throw to you... There are so many govt schemes that are meant to benefit people.. but sadly due to many reasons, they are failing to have their desired impact. I am coming across some problems and I need you guys to help me out. However wild the idea might be, post them here... Maybe together we would be able to do something significant, specially something for a backward and underdeveloped district like Shrawasti... So let your neurons fire and post your ideas here..

1) How to ensure that teachers come to school?
2) How to ensure that the teacher actually teaches students and learning happens?

If I get good responses on these questions, I will keep posting practical problems from the field and you all can advise me a to how to go about solving them. Let your fresh uncluttered minds work the magic...

Waiting...
Love.
S


It was amazing to receive so many of your suggestions. I am sure you have many more such great ideas. will definitely use some of your ideas in Shravasti. God Bless!!!

399 comments:

  1. Dear Madam,
    First of all Congratulations to you and Shravasti,

    The possible solution to the problem 1 could be the use of technology such as bio-metrics which I think is not feasible.I would therefore suggest one more thing, as you said people have lots of expectations from administration you should try to use responsible people from public. I visited a Haryana village where one veteran army personnel used to visit and check the conditions of the primary school in his village. Perhaps you could meet responsible people in the area such as elders and other retired teachers and ask them to keep a check on the teachers which I think they will happily do.

    for the learning process I think it is a teacher student relation thing, both parties must be willing to teach and learn respectively, either of them is unwilling learning is not possible. and therefore you can not ensure whether learning actually happens or not.

    happy to know about people like you,
    my sincere wishes for your future endeavors.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Madam,
    First of all Congratulations to you and Shravasti,

    The possible solution to the problem 1 could be the use of technology such as bio-metrics which I think is not feasible.I would therefore suggest one more thing, as you said people have lots of expectations from administration you should try to use responsible people from public. I visited a Haryana village where one veteran army personnel used to visit and check the conditions of the primary school in his village. Perhaps you could meet responsible people in the area such as elders and other retired teachers and ask them to keep a check on the teachers which I think they will happily do.

    for the learning process I think it is a teacher student relation thing, both parties must be willing to teach and learn respectively, either of them is unwilling learning is not possible. and therefore you can not ensure whether learning actually happens or not.

    happy to know about people like you,
    my sincere wishes for your future endeavors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mam , my suggestion to u will be to check studenrs copy regularly and specially date on them, instruction should be given to have marking on copy(like page 1,2.......till the end of copy)then randomly watching copies of 2-3 students simulatanously...

      Delete
    2. Well combined solution of both the problem would be like this.You can ask teachers to prepare reports of top 15 students of their class they teach in terms of everything like their checked answer sheets and a overall evaluation and same should be done for lower 15 students.And u make a circular that this report has to be prepared by every teacher and can be checked by your office randomly.this will ensure that teachers will teach and they will check the answer sheets properly and this way it will improve the attendance also.

      And any teacher can be interviewed about his class students i.e about their performance which student is better and which student needs improvement.And i am sure he will be able to answer about students if he is doing the both going to school and also interacting with them.

      Delete
    3. ans.1 surprise visits to schools; involve village people and students to get regular feedback.

      ans.2 for checking the learning level, surprise visit to schools during exam times and taking the answer copies of one school and giving it to another school for checking.. this should be randomly done, would act as a deterrent..

      Delete
    4. Hi! 1)Recruit only those who actually want to teach.if already recruited,use different methods like coercion,rewards,praise their regular attendance.highlight regular ones on notice board.get teachers' attendance checked randomly in surprise visits.
      2)Teacher from same community,highly qualified ones and devoted ones need to be found.regular unconventional tests tell whether teacher is actually teaching.

      Delete
  3. 1. May be an initiative on your part to reach out and take some subjects.Lead by example.Take some tools like blocks,figures,charts to bring some change in the teaching pattern. This can be continued for a week or so to bring a sense of remorse to the teachers. It has got repercussions too.
    2. Some workshops to the teachers in their regional languages on improvising the teaching methodologies.It can be possible if they are teachable.
    3. People are driven with incentives most arguably monetary benefits. Getting them bonuses, increasing their paychecks and assurance of possible hike in their remuneration based on the feedback of the students.
    4. Identify the problem of the teacher. Address their grievances to the possible extent.
    5.I agree with Mr. Rohit with learning being a Two Way traffic.
    a. What age group students are we dealing with?
    b. How can we engage them?
    c. Identify the interests of the students of a particular class not necessarily academics.
    d. Why is there any resentment?
    e. Are the schools enjoying the benefits that are due unto them from the Govt.



    Thank You
    Joshua

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1. May be an initiative on your part to reach out and take some subjects.Lead by example.Take some tools like blocks,figures,charts to bring some change in the teaching pattern. This can be continued for a week or so to bring a sense of remorse to the teachers. It has got repercussions too.
    2. Some workshops to the teachers in their regional languages on improvising the teaching methodologies.It can be possible if they are teachable.
    3. People are driven with incentives most arguably monetary benefits. Getting them bonuses, increasing their paychecks and assurance of possible hike in their remuneration based on the feedback of the students.
    4. Identify the problem of the teacher. Address their grievances to the possible extent.
    5.I agree with Mr. Rohit with learning being a Two Way traffic.
    a. What age group students are we dealing with?
    b. How can we engage them?
    c. Identify the interests of the students of a particular class not necessarily academics.
    d. Why is there any resentment?
    e. Are the schools enjoying the benefits that are due unto them from the Govt.



    Thank You
    Joshua

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Madam,
    You have asked two questions.

    The ideal answer to the first is to find i guess teachers who are really interested in teaching in a rural/backward area (at the expense of their careers in town. and i think no one will com forward). I believe here NGOs can help. A scheme where such teachers (either through NGOs/ voluntarily)come forward on their own should be given some kind of incentive...say if they teach in so and so village for one year/two year/three year, incremental benefits/recognition for future career growth shall be provided for....This is for young teachers...
    Further if in a village an educated elder is available he/she can be given a basic training on teaching to support the teaching infrastructure... the person can be offered monetary benefits..

    As far as ensuring attendance is concerned well madam u have worked in TCS and i am sure would have thought of Electronic-attendance. I do not know whether there will be funds available for same. I think CCTV might help so that one can ensure a teacher is actually taking classes. But in rural areas they may be damaged intentionally.... So, regular monitoring by nodal authorities at district headquarter level is required. I checked your district website and did not find District Education Officer. If there is a post then you can appoint someone (preferably from Shravasti). Needless to say that u will need to follow up on the officer and try to get random feedback from the kids studying as well. However, still i believe rather than mere enforcement one should look for interested teachers/ Super 30 types... I am sure there will be people available...

    Coming to second part... How to know learning is actually taking place... This is tricky.. but I feel that if the first part is solved this task becomes easier... However, kids must be motivated to learn... the way u were motivated to get IAS... I was reading today about an HIV+ orphan who was begging as a kid (2yr old) but later luckily came across an Army Officer and an NGO who helped him with his studies... Now in his 2nd yr of graduation he wants to join coaching for civil services.. Said he was inspired by writings of Dr Irai Anbu, IAS..... A friend once told me that a VRO in his village was so inspiring and many young kids in his village wanted to be like him... So learning will take place if children wanna learn... As an example the mid day meal scheme which was introduced to provide vital nourishment to kids as well as enhance enrollment... the scheme is gud from the nutrition angle,but to think of it as a motivator of education is a bit far fetched. Scholarships might help...or this is a really wild idea but u can combine total sanitation with this... say the 4500 which govt wants the beneficiary to fund can be waived off for construction of toilet in the home of Class topper or if he has one he may be given the privelege of choosing a beneficiary's house...It will be more than mere money... As mastercard says there r some things which money can't buy...NGOs/ maybe dedicated sarpanchs can help...

    Finally I wud say that it is easier said than done..You wud hav definitely thot of these things.. May be luck is also required in implementing the ideas...All the best for the same....

    Regards
    Subhasis
    Hyderabad

    ReplyDelete
  6. You are a Collector. you cannot have internet style 'janta ki adalat' where you discuss decision , asking and that too by majority vote. I think you better this idea otherwise you could end up facing Akshilesh's wrath.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Maam,
    It's been a year I m following ur blog.its really Grt to hav updates frm u.
    The practical solution to make teachers attentive n serious toward der job if educating d future of India are:
    1- teacher must be of local origin.presently its a big issues fr teacher who get posted in remote areas.this will make teachers job mire difficult as they face transportation problems as well as family issues.
    2- teachers must be awarded fr good results.there must be some provision fr incentives reward.
    3- practical orientation of teachers to make dem realise the importance of there job.
    4- the most important things to be imply is to hav feed back frm d parents and students n accordingly rewarding or punishing.
    Thanks Maam...
    My best wishes fr u in ur task of policy implementation.
    Jiwesh

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sir, I would suggest you to do the following approach
    1. Provide transportation like bus and ask them to come by bus.If they say they cannot come by bus ask them to leave by bus, And whenever they board the bus ask them to sign a sheet , and lets say if some body is not coming and still signing the sheet,send him a strong warning so that others will not think about it.
    2. In schools teacher doesnot show interest to teach to student, the reason there is no recognition to the teacher which is a motivating factor to a teacher. Give some awards , for every 3months like publishing thier name in some portal or some newspaper

    These two changes will bring lot of difference in functioning of the school.
    Do these changes and make the difference

    Appreciate your request.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good Morning Madam,
    The probable solution for problem
    1)Incentivisation could be initiated calling for a performance appraisal system that rewards good teachers, while withdrawing rewards from their poor-performing counterparts.

    2)To ensure the effective delivery of the curriculum, the govt needs to improve teacher ­content knowledge and curriculum coverage if we are to improve the quality of education.

    Along with frequent changes to the curriculum,are a source of major demoralisation.

    Material and extrinsic incentives may not be the most reliable way of ensuring improvements in the system

    ReplyDelete
  10. A very relevant question today, I feel this question is NOT as much complex as it seems. I personally feel that this problem is due to the negligence on part of everybody, and the Government taking the teachers for granted.

    Every method, including bio-metrics, may be (and will be) faulted. The only way is to let the teachers TEACH. Today, Government puts teachers in all sorts of non-teaching works as Census, Polio among others. The schooling should be made result-oriented and incentives should be given to teachers for better results. I feel the issue is no more of less awareness and low enrollment. The issue is of drop-outs now. And only community themselves can take that responsibility, not the teachers (not atleast in the current Indian schooling methodology).

    A rather eccentric idea I have is starting school-level Innovation competitions by the Government, and rate teachers & schools based on that. After all, National Innovation Council should have some work to do. Innovation is what really makes learning interesting. Forgot to say, participation it should me made mandatory.

    I wud've said about technology, but there are 2 reasons I didnt -
    1) Not feasible at school college currently.
    2) Technological advances are hardly a decade old, whereas education is as old as mankind.
    They sure help a lot, but I dont believe they are mandatory (especially for Primary Schooling).

    For the important issue of drop-outs (which is the reason for q-2), community drives are essential. They should be by the community itself. I'd go on to say that it is infact the sole responsibility of their elected representatives, who made a fake resolution for the same while asking their vote. No-one in India are more influential in their area than the elected representatives.

    Training is also important for teachers. Not on subject matter (they know it already), but on the teaching methodology. Dont remember the name, but there's one Gurukul I think was mentioned in some episode of Satyamev Jayate. By teaching, I dont mean sending them abroad or anything. This is where technology comes in. All that is needed is a room for teachers to sit and a projector, with videos prepared from the best practices.

    I think that will be all. Also, as per Indian norms, everything is evaluated by the budget allocation. Whatever I've said includes -
    1. Awareness and notification circulation for Innovation competition.
    2. Judging panel by respective states (or boards).
    3. Training videos preparation (one-time investment)
    4. Projectors (I think every district has a projector at their disposal :-\)

    Thankyou :)

    P.S. Views are personal. Critics are appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mam First of all Congrats and best wishes for your future.I would suggest you that first of all teachers problem should be understood. There must be lack of incentives on that part. At the same time elder person in the village should be brought forward for this initiative.
    Its really encouraging talking to you.
    Keep in touch.
    All the best.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello Madam,
    I propose the following:-

    Solution to Problem 1:
    Teachers are after all, human beings. And only two things generally drive us - incentives , fear of being penalized. Obviously, the former should be given priority. Following can be done:-

    1) Best Teacher\Best School award quarterly. The award is irrelevant, the title is.Monthly surprise visits will be the way the schools will be adjudged.
    We can have different categories, like Best English\Social Science\Hindi Teacher etc to let people compete without the prejudice that the prizes are few in number and they don't stand a chance...

    2) You can conduct a informal meetings with the various headmasters of individual schools over evening snacks (just to put them as ease), in the area. You may actually come to know what is stopping them from discharging their duties.

    3) It might sound like a far fetched idea but you can engage teacher-trainers, motivational speakers to put some fire in the teacher's belly...
    I think, most of these teachers have continued to work in similar way since a very long time ...monotony needs to be broken.

    Regards,
    Ashish

    ReplyDelete
  13. Why to waste so much energy to make someone do something which she/he doesnot want to do.Why recruit such teachers?
    Thats why they say systems fault...Create Competetion b/w schools ...I think there ought to be more schools ....

    ReplyDelete
  14. hi shubra,
    Here is my suggestion for your mission:
    Get the teachers trained,u yourself give them motivating lectures,engage NGOs to assist you in this process and send some of your officials secretely to see whether teacher is there or not. Be really strict with them coz u r dealing with the teachers of UP..In states like UP and Bihar, teaching is just for earning money and getting rice and pulse after mid day meal scheme was introduced...there is no teaching,they just pass time...
    for students engagement: you motivate their parents..they will have a lot to say about the school authority and especially absentee teachers. Make them aware of your intention and ask them to be a part of your mission...
    I don't know how many schools are there in your district but u can announce some prizes at school level for those who attend regular classes and do well in studies.A prize from a dc would be worthless bcoz u know the value of an ias officer in villages of UP and Bihar...
    Engage NGOs in your work and start "shrawasti ke bachho ko school jaana hai, kuch kar ke dikhana hai" mission....be their administrator, be their facilitator and be their role model.....you will do wonders....
    best of luck for your mission.....

    ReplyDelete
  15. i think primarily some community based programmes or meetings (on the importance of education for students,its benefit to their livelihoods etc) could be conducted by a resposible person .this might take a month or two but once this awareness is developed among the underdeveloped, the next step could be the discussions on the school's working environment and with the widespread knowledge about the same in masses the actions could be taken against such teachers (it would make a difference because this time it would be reinforced with the backed support of people). this might seem hectic or probably impractical but if implemented would give an uplift to the situation.its upto the administrators as to how they would implement it.

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  16. Have "Wanted" signs posted in the school with pictures of absentee teachers. Public display will bring in guilt, which will bring compliance.

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  17. I think it would be better idea if we get the parents of student as stakeholder in the education system.

    Every school\class can have parents committee which can give a periodic updates of teacher and evaluates him on different parameter like attendance, teaching capability etc.

    As parents will be conscious towards their child's education, I think they can also get a honest feedback from the students. Based on feedback of teachers you can decide your course of action. I also think that the parents committee should be a body of 10+ member, as rightly pointed by Mr. Rohit Kumar learning is two way road, so committee should be impartial to both students and teachers.

    Good to know their are people who take their job seriously and try to make change.
    Carry on your good work.

    Regards,
    Prateek

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dear Ma'm,
    Firstly i would like to appreciate your effort in seeking multiple views to serve a novel purpose of encouraging literacy.
    In my humble opinion, the following initiatives can be of help viz:-
    1. organising extracurricular activities like painting competition, singing competition, sports competition for the teachers so that coming to school becomes an enjoyable experience for them.
    2.incentives like best teacher of the month award, best class in terms of cleanliness, discipline, academic performance etc would ensure a combined effort from both students and teachers thereby learning can be ensured.
    3.also to address issues of conflict between the teachers an effective and transparent grievance redressal system needs to be present.
    4.also feedback can be taken from the students regarding the performance of teachers along certain indicators like his/her punctuality, relation with students, manner of teaching etc.
    5. may be, the help of NGOs can be sought that are active in enhancing literacy rate of india like teach for india.
    It has been an enlightening experience to hear about the ground realities faced by a DM. Hope to hear more of them.

    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  19. Random inspections will also create a difference.I remember when our college director was changed from an ignorant to a more strict and effective one, even our professors started instructing us...."complete your projects on time and in proper way...u know director is now changed na"

    ReplyDelete
  20. why cant u makes use of the national service scheme volunteers or such organizations / even retired teachers, to teach those peoples who didnt have educational facilities in ur district so that its current literacy level can be increased from 49%.
    jst try the kerala model, even particular the kottayam model reforms in literacy by Mr. Alphonse Kannanthanam IAS.
    Good luck

    ReplyDelete
  21. in our school we used to have surprise visits by the principal. or sometimes he would attend a few minutes of the class along with the students. this could be a solution

    ReplyDelete
  22. dear madam,
    i feel enthused to respond to your case. madam,there is no denying the fact that self sustained interest is the mantra of success in any field. hence to improve the teaching,first of all, we need "right people for the right job".
    except for salary if a bit more of non material support can be provided to techer lyk - a nice sitting place,bit of tea,snacks etc they may be encouraged.
    lastly,we can keep tracking the teching procedure with the help of students or their parents(in case students are intimidated)by reguler visits to field.

    regards
    roy

    ReplyDelete
  23. The best way is to include technology, you can use the delhi education model in which online submission of attendance record is compulsory before 10a.m and a feedback no. must be there so that students can register complaints and according to those records you can visit suddenly to schools to check or you can also use bio-metric attendance system.

    ReplyDelete
  24. The best way is to include technology, you can use the delhi education model in which online submission of attendance record is compulsory before 10a.m and a feedback no. must be there so that students can register complaints and according to those records you can visit suddenly to schools to check or you can also use bio-metric attendance system.

    ReplyDelete
  25. dear madam,
    i feel enthused to respond to your case.
    madam, as there is no denying the fact that self sustained enthusiasm is the key to success. hence to improve teching we need,first and foremost, "right people for the right job" approach.

    next,the teachers in dust poor areas can be provided a bit of non material assurances lyk - good sitting place, a cup of tea and snacks or a radio,besides their salary. this is bcoz we must ATTRACT people.
    lastly,a teaching trackcer mechanism with the help of students or their parents(in case students are intimidated) by reguler visits to field may reveal the learning improvement.
    also, if we can manage to bring in one or two influencial people form the community in this tracking board by sensitising them about the need of education - that will definitely work as a self sustained dynamo.

    regard
    roy

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hello Mam

    Congratulations to you
    i would recommend that u give some tasks to be completed which involves both students and teachers involvement for which they can take the help of some elderly person in the village who can actively participate n monitor the activities of school
    n can also make the teachers give assignments to the students n encourage them to pat on back for the best students
    n u can make coordinators(teacher) for each class and they give complete update of day to day activity to HM and he inturn gives a monthly /15 days report to u
    n maintain a complete record/file of each n every teachers day to day activity
    n introduce art n craft classes for students to encourage them to come to school
    n make a surprise visits to school when passing by
    encourage n also recognising teachers for their work which motivates them

    ReplyDelete
  27. hi ma'am

    I think a very feasable solution would be that u assemble them and tell them importance of the their profession , tell them how respectful and great their profession is ..... in short u can motivate them and make them realize that their work is important in building of this nation ..... then u can ask some young volunteers from the group who would acess you in your endeavour.....
    All the best and thanks for thinking like this.
    Feels create that in this chaos someone is really working..

    ReplyDelete
  28. Mam

    What I feel that this problem can be dealt with both strictness and appreciation.
    Some ways which can be implemented are listed below:
    - First ensure that the attendance register of teachers are cross checked by some officials[apart from school] on a weekly basis and cross verified by asking sub ordinate staff randomly.
    -create awareness among villagers/local junta about the importance of attendance of both teachers and students.
    -give some recognitions/award to teachers who are present 99-100%.(it could be cash-incentive too)
    -Pay surprise visit to schools at odd hours and check the attendance register.
    -provision of strict actions against teachers if found guilty of manipulating attendance register.
    -organise some camps and try to encourage both students and teachers to enjoy learning as well as teaching.
    -Arrange some personal counseling to teachers who are repeatedly found absent/disinterested in teaching on a personal basis.
    -The bio metric thing is not possible in rural areas therefore manual inspection of schools are necessary at random.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Dear Madam,
    Follow the following steps:
    1. Surprise visits can reduce absenteeism.
    2. Please have a one to one discussion with the students of the senior classes and ask them their favourite teachers, things they like about their school etc. (Positive things only)
    3. Call those teachers (good ones) and discuss ways of improvements.
    4. Appreciate the good work while setting example for bad cases.
    5. The situation may not improve in one day and don’t even try that but make improvements a routine.

    Regards

    ReplyDelete
  30. i have no idea about what are your powers when it comes to school administration like appointments, suspension of teachers, fund allocation etc, also how much time you have at your disposal to invest on this ...so dont know if these will fit you ...but still ...


    1) Both bad and good things start from the head only - use force or coercion or favors to get the principle on your side, put quantifiable results as target for him. Award +ve results, punish -ve results - but both on high degree/severity. Market this as model case or as deterrent within schooling community of that region.


    2) Attendance can ofcourse be ensured using technology, but sadly no technology can change the intentions of people - so we need to strive to change the intentions of the people - which can be done using combination of both motivation and fear. Motivate the teachers to put their best step forward - everybody wants to be famous - arrange competetion of schools in the region, award/felicitate the teachers responsible - make sure the newspaper covers it - this way teachers may put in extra efforts for the students even though for their own personal glory and public appreciation.
    Parallely you need to devise ways to make sure non-responsible teachers get punished - again publicly if possible.


    3) Close the loop with opening proper and easier to use feedback channels - devise methods for students to give their feedback like periodic oral/written feedback from the students about teachers, facilities, problems etc - can include parents also - create awareness among parents to strive for their child's rights - give them single tollfree number where they can call anytime to register their complaint etc etc.
    However, these feedback needs to be followed by proper action to keep the momentum alive.


    4) delegate your work on this - but only to genuinly concerned people - who own this up for their own profit and not as mere duty - hand pick people from each village, make a very small commitea of them - ask them to keep a tab on the school activities - have regular meetings with them - and most importantly - follow their feedback with action.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Dr Vijay Kumar Saxena, ScientistNovember 20, 2012 at 3:08 AM

    Dear Madam,

    We cannot ensure complete attendence till the time we have a tracking system for the same. I suppose Biometrics wont be a feasable option for the same. I beleive you should transfer responsibility of tracking on the teachers themselves. Select a particular teacher among the school whom you think is most qualified and honest as far as teaching is concerned and ask him to keep you inform about the defaulters through the mail on monthly basis. The concerned person should be given some performance incentive. The person should be rechosen every 6 months , so other teachers should also try to emulate him. This should be able to solve both of your problems(Attendence of teacher and Learning experience of students)

    ReplyDelete
  32. The best possible solution for the above problems is make them feel responsible for doing so:

    1.Empower the village panchayat to look over the administration of school the Sarpanch(Village Headmen) and the School teachers has to address a report about the functioning of the School and the education levels of the pupil to the Grama Sabha periodically say 15days or 1 month.If the teachers didn't attend are not discharge there duties correctly pay 10% of there basic pay to the panchayat as token of fine the same amount will disperse to the concerned teacherwith interestif he or she corrected there mistakes and pay due attention towards the students.
    2. The parents of the students in the village has to be form an monitoring committee to look over the school on daily basics.
    3.The teachers who got significant results will have an option to get transfer to there desired location during there time of transfers.
    4.The NGO like "Teach for India, Shiksha etc" made be apart of this program in order to train the teachers and to work in the Schools on Voluntary basics.
    5.The basics necessities of the school like roof to the floor, drinking water sanitation and toilets should be constructed so that they can have a better atmosphere to learn.
    6. Mandala / block / District level officers made regular visits and award monitory benefits to the schools to improve further.
    7.The Grama Sabha made ultimate responsible with reasonable powers to take action at any course

    From:
    J.GOPINATH
    e.mail:jgopinath369@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hi Subhra,

    In our country at the rural level I think financial stability is what everybody looks for and I think the only way to expect fair service from teachers to declare incentives by authorities based on the performance of his/her students. This incentive can be collected from the students family (if legitimate government fund is not available for the particular purpose).

    From time to time if a survey is conducted about the learning level of the students (as ASER does) and based on the results if teachers are rewarded it will be a boost for the teachers to take the job seriously.

    Just a practical and probable solution that I could think of.

    Thanks & Regards,
    Sumitabh Ghosh
    sumitabhghosh@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hello mam

    I liked your quality for getting suggeation and implementing for your purpose .
    The solution to your problem is very easy and its practical also because we have implemented it in our telecom sector.
    I was a cluster incharge in bharti Infratel ltd where real time monitoring system were used for our site movement .
    our company provided us a mobile hand set whci was mondatory to carry at sites . that hand set was able to provides our presence on real time basis.
    next solution to the problem is that there should be a competetion between students of every Prathmik Vidyalay that must be so designed that it can provides the real glims of quality education given by teachers . alot of priz and consolation prozes must be given to teachers to promot and their name pulished with studens name in local new papers so that they can get motivation

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hello Mam,
    we can use CCTV cameras in all ZP school and at every district place we can establish monitor or control station for these CCTV cameras, from these control station we can access any ZP school and see what is actually going on, like teaching quality, whether teachers are coming to school or not.
    someone may ask about the cost of these cameras and control station. Yes, that is the issue but when government is spending so much money to provide computers, television set etc to ZP school then as compared to that these expenses are negligible. Lastly for our ultimate goal i.e. quality education to all, we have to bear this coast.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Hello Mam,
    we can use CCTV cameras in all ZP school, at every district place we can establish monitor or control station for these CCTV cameras. From these control station we can access any ZP school and see whats actually going on. like teaching quality, whether teachers are coming to school or not.
    someone may ask about the cost of these cameras and control station. Yes, that is the issue but when government spending so much money to provide computers, television set etc to ZP school then compare to that expenses it is too less. and lastly for our ultimate goal i.e. quality education to all, we have to bear this coast.

    ReplyDelete
  37. hello ji,if was u,i wud opt for the most simplest and doable option i.e.paying surprise visits...if situation is very bad then twice a week....or else once a week will do...this will take care of both your probs...take care.
    ABHSHEK

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  38. Hello Mam,
    I think that you are mentioning about govt. and primary school Teachers..Well,I think you can go by polite ways and try philosophical approach to solve this problem(that why these teachers are not interested in teaching). Because this is a grass root problem that 'why primary govt. school teachers do not take interest in teaching?Why they do not use their experiences and knowledge to illuminate the lives of so many poor and under-privileged students?' And this problem is one of the biggest issue that every nation lover wants to solve.
    Mam actually,there is a general belief that education is for job.Job means facing competition and doing so much hard work.Well this is good as far as economic growth is concerned.Many understand this and also those qualified teachers understand this.But the difficulty comes when these thoughts overcome the free thinking of a human being.They forget that the role of education is for character building.Its importance lies in bringing to us the truths of the world.Its role lies in showing us the beauties of world,nature and human nature and how we can make this world and our self better.
    Teachers after facing so many challenges and desires in their student life forgets that what is the true role of education.They are filled with thoughts that reading and studying is a very tough thing and only those will become successful who are very hard working and intelligent.And the more disappointing thing is that they do not generally see their students as having such qualities.
    Other big reason is that-nowadays as engineering and technology has taken a very big part in giving employment,so again many understand that History,Sanskrit, Arts subjects are somewhat less important subjects now. They are somewhat inferior to the subjects like Science. Well it may be true at higher level.But small students must be taught each subject with the same passion as Maths and sciences is taught in Big Institutes. And these teachers should be made to understand the practical importance of their subjects.
    In simple words Mam, I totally believe that these teachers need a lot of motivation..They should be made to believe that their role(or job) is the one of best(very valuable) and filled with immense opportunities to remove many problems of the people and society as a whole.
    Maths and Science teachers in primary school are the most careless one.Because they know that their subject is difficult and they cannot teach the subject in depth.Well such teachers should be made to understand that even a single concept(that they can teach well)can show the students the beauty of that subject.It can spark the light in the minds of students to know and learn it more.

    These are my personal views Mam.I am writing this from my experiences.I have been attached to village education and culture. Right now,I am working as Mechanical Engineer.

    I have just tried to let you know some of the very common reasons and the ways by which it can be handled.Well some tough measures may be adopted at times to let these teachers understand that they are being paid thousands not to just enjoy.
    But this will not be able to eradicate the problem to much extent.Rather,They need motivation and should be given true vision.

    Wishing you purposeful and best days.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hello Mam,

    My suggestion for both the problems in one.

    Training and Motivation-

    Teachers should be trained and should be reminded of the importance of their duty which they have forgotten in the current profit seeking trend of life. They are the shaper of future India, what could be more prestigious than this. It they start feeling proud about there work as a teacher they would by themselves come to school daily and teach with interest. Presently they have taken it as just a job like any other job which is not the case. They have a huge responsibility of which they should be made aware. The lost prestige of teacher should be given back. No force could be stronger than self realization.

    Popular respectful teachers of high stature in the state should be asked to create this awareness among their fellow teachers by speeches,School day celebrations,seminars etc. Government officers of reputation should also visit schools randomly to make school and teachers feel important.They should be asked to inculcate human values and ethics among the students.

    Investing on teachers is investing on India of tomorrow.

    I am happy to see that you choose to post these problems for suggestion. Its something new happening in the Govt.sector.

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  40. Mam! These seemingly simple questions near impossibillity in finding their answers when seen in terms of feasibility and require weeks of headbanging by a devoted team for a solid solution. But, still, I won't resist myself in pouring out some of my opinions.Pardon me if i 'float in the air'.

    Q1) How to ensure that teachers regularly come to school?
    Monitoring Aspect
    Using video chats like video-enabled-gtalk or skype to record live presence of teachers 3 or 4 times a day.(one man will have to be put on this monitoring at headquarters!). This facility requires 1 PC + internet connection(dont know but believe BSNL Wimax might be there ) at each school. I hope these are available in UP. Once I went to a small village school near my college campus in Rajasthan and i was surprized to find a whole computer lab in that village-school lying unused and biting dust.
    OR
    Adolescents (class 8 and above) in Government schools are intelligent enough (though village children seem to lack confidence, definitely some of them will come forward) to evaluate the teaching conditions in the school and suggest ways to improve them (atleast they can tell which teacher is a regular absentee). If administration can somehow open a communication channel with them, say, putting a complaint-box at the market place through which letters are directly reached to the topmost concerned officer (they should be allowed to send anonymous messages) or calling through mobile phone.
    OR
    If possible,Every teacher must be made to call a monitoring officer from a GPS enabled fixed-phone from the school campus to record their presence 4 or 5 times a day. (I have no idea whether GPS works in remote locations or this idea will be feasible at all.)

    Motivation Aspect
    More than monitoring, motivation to do good work from within teachers is required. Generally govt. teachers are incompetent and recruited through bribery and nepotism if i have to believe in hearsay. This makes task all the more difficult. I can only give general solutions in this regard
    * it is seen teachers are loaded with extra-teaching onerous duties (conducting election duties, immunization programmes). It is to be ensured that, atleast, good teachers aren’t shunted to such duties.
    * posting good teachers not too far from their homes
    * developing some kind of recognition/prize/competition mechanism to reward good-performing teachers (one parametre to judge i will discuss below) .


    ............to be continued

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  41. continued 1......

    Q2. How to ensure that teacher really teaches and learning happens?
    I am more comfortable with suggesting on how to ensure 'learning happens' than to how 'teacher really teaches' aspect. I believe even if teacher is reluctant, children can do a good self-study if conducive conditions are provided to them in the government schools.
    For village children motivation to study will come
    1) if they (or their parents) come to realize the scale of dividends education can provide especially SC/ST children (actual needy don't benefit of it due to information deficit) or in other words 'general career counseling (polytechnic,ITI, agriculture, Hotel Management, Computer courses, Defense,Engineering)' which is not very difficult to provide.
    2) If they are provided relevant book materials. In metros, big cities, enormous number of good competitive books or relevant books are sold to scrap. If these books are instead donated to some government-run-programme by economic-privileged students (i am sure they will) or such donation drives are conducted in campuses of engineering and such colleges it will be of great value.
    3) Some good reader-friendly supplementary material besides text-books is prepared for self-study in government. It is here where administration can reward its best teachers and put them to good use. A competition can be staged to develop such good notes and rewarding the winner teacher with promotions, govt. sponsored training and so on.
    In all of the three points i made above, one great step can be taken to rope in young bright willing graduates of good institutes like IITs, NITs,BITS-Pilani, RECs, by providing them opportunity to get interned with the district administration in their summer vacations. They can conduct summer career-counselling workshops, source old books from their college,prepare great school-level study-material and be mentors to bright children. I did enginnering and i remember killing my time doing almost nothing in the long 2 and 1/2 months, summer vacations. I am sure only hardworking and truly willing students will come and do a lot of work if eastern-UP based Shravasti administration invites them.
    4) Increasing cross-village and cross block interactions among school children. Conducting extra-curricular activities.


    .............to be continued

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  42. continued 2........

    5) (Most Important) The bland and routine environment in a government school can be turned into an enriching learning experience with a minor tweaking. The text book generally seems alien to a village-child as it is divorced from the village experience. Ironically, on the other hand, it is the village environment which provided basis to most of our knowledge. District administration can tap this by conducting educational picnics, educational drives or designing interesting educational activities to be conducted outsides the confines of school boundaries weekly.
    Example 1: while teaching social science, particularly civics, childrens' groups can be made to visit Panchayat office, BDO office, sometimes district headquarters in making them learn government functioning.
    Example 2: Sravasti is the land of buddha, children can be made to conduct surveys among village elders about the myths and cultural beliefs related to buddha prevalent in the village society while teaching history.
    Example3: Sravasti is located at the 'talhati' of himalyas. Sightseeing can be arranged while teaching geography.
    Example 4: while teaching environmental science, observation to nearby forests can be arranged and linked to some citizen science projects like http://www.scistarter.com/.
    ......examples can be endless. These practical activities for the curriculum can be generated using best of the teachers available to the administration or interns as i talked above. The cost to the administration will not be much as Mid-day meal already provides for afternoon meals, accomodation can be at government school(if activity involves going to far villages...Only cost will be that of transport).

    Both Q1 and Q2: One final suggestion, I think, which will improve the educational scene all-round is a trilateral meet of Parents-Teachers-Local Media at the block level. Atleast in Haryana (my native state), local newspaper are quite vigilant and they keep on pulling the ear of administration through providing to-the-point description of problems faced by the populace. If district administration provide a platform for this trilateral meet where local mediaperson/journalist moderates a question-answer/discussion session between teachers of a village/blocklevel school and the parents...lot of problem and their solution can emerge on which administration can act. If teachers are not helpful, then just media and parents (bilateral one ) would also do.
    That is all I could come up with in two hours.
    PS: Mam, please keep posting your experiences. It provides a solace and inspiration to aspirants like us who are boggled down by the deluge of negativity poured down by the sensationalist media. To me, atleast, to be even in a position in which i could meaninglfully think of changing the educational scene of a district is like a dream. Your post has strenghtened my resolve to be an IAS, no matter how many difficulties come in way.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Talk to parents, ask them to treat the school, teachers and their child's education like parents with kids in private schools do. Tell them that if they are not shelling out grands each month does not mean that the school is not answerable to them.

    They should visit the school and communicate with teachers regularly. Also they should take education seriously and daily have a casual chat with kids regarding their day at school (a general chat doesn't require literate parents).

    This will keep a check on presence of teachers as well as both the children and the teachers will be encouraged towards learning.

    Good luck

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  44. 1) How to ensure that teachers come to school?
    Appoint dedicated spy kind of persons.Take the help of the NSS / NCC college students of that area or parents of the students who study there to track this.You can also track their mobile numbers with the help of GPS and ensure that they remain in class.

    2) How to ensure that the teacher actually teaches students and learning happens?
    Students can be asked to give feedback at the end of the year or sometimes in the middle on the conditions of anyonymity. So that techers are eveluated and also students are not thretened and meanwhile teachers may have teh fear of tranfer or suspension or someother kind of punishment.

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  45. One simple suggestion, If you have good people with you then you can make changes through them. If not, if you suspect nobody's with you, then go for systemic changes like GPS, bio metric etc.....

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  46. Dear Mam,

    Please look for the changes Mrs. Aparajita Sarangi (IAS- Orissa) brought into education sector,as Secretary.
    She worked mainly on

    1- Increasing Attendance of both Teachers and students
    2-Ensure Real Teaching Happens
    3-Ensuring Teacher's attendance
    and Many more
    These changes are very effective and she is really popular here.

    If any details require, i will try to put it over here.

    Regards,

    Tapan

    ReplyDelete
  47. A FEEDBACK MECHANISM may be instituted wherein at the end of every month students may be asked to rate (ANONYMOUSLY) all teachers on various set parameters. This will keep the teachers on their toes.
    The feedback would also indicate improvement in teachers' performance, if any. And such teachers may be rewarded in order to motivate them.

    Further in government schools even students are found to be lacking motivation and zeal to learn. So, periodic Motivation and Career Counselling session may be organized to arouse interest towards studies.

    RAJA.

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  48. Madam,

    Regarding the first problem, we can think of a low-cost frugal innovation which can act like a punching machine like in urban offices to record the in-times and out-times.

    And as far as the process of teaching is concerned, one possible solution can be to facilitate some visits from a guest faculty from the other school( preferably from some near by urban school) who can simultaneously act as a vigilance officer to make sure everything is on track.

    These are just some initial thoughts that came too me. will go over this again and will post if something substantial comes out of it.

    Very Nice to see some words coming from you after a stack of some wonderful paintings :)

    Thanks,
    Swapnil Tembe

    ReplyDelete
  49. hi,
    No one will be ready to take pains unless they are having some Gains. U can impose some monetary funding to the teacher whose concerned class students perform best.
    Students will be tested by foreign invigilators and average will be taken of it.
    Only 80% of student will be evaluated ,giving teacher the right to select best candidates so as to eliminate those students who are good for nothing actually.
    If it works fine then start a healthy competition of awarding 1st three positions.

    For regards from where will the money come, firstly our government issue funding for schools ,it can be taken from it n if not possible deduct a certain amount if a teacher absents from school after certain number of days. Accumulate the sum and use it for the above mentioned purpose.
    Hope it works.!! Cheers!!!

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  50. gud mrng Medam. This is sai chaitanya . i hope These are useful methods to you

    1) By test knowledge difference between the Any five candidates compare with past one year to present now towards how much they were improved first

    2) by observing environment in that school i.e
    i)There is any a healthy compitation between the students in education or not ,
    ii)way of inspiration ( Goutama
    budha, Swami vivekanada , Dr APJ Abdul Kalam ) they are got or not ,
    iii) Scientific thinking ,
    iv) good guture vision ,
    v) methods for learning
    vi) way of encouraging students

    And finally i hope not depends on weather all the teachers are came or not in regularly. it only mechanical process for controlling the peoples.

    By testing these parameters we can ensure the quality of teacher in that primary school.


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  51. Dear madam,
    First of all congratulation to you for your work and thanks for giving us opportunity to think on day to day problem.
    As Rohit Kumar said using the technology like biometric is not a pragmatic way in the said condition so parents participation can be of use. At present time every parent are aware about their children's education so engaging them in school affairs by the parents meeting can be helpful, by this teachers can be held accountable in their job such meeting should be made compulsory for every school.

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  52. i think regular tests, awards and enhanced competition for both students and teachers could do something that would regularize learning process.

    Best wishes for endeavors to do something in life.

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  53. 1) How to ensure that teachers come to school?
    Assuming that adding any infrastructure like computer is not possible in this case, I would suggest as the above response, giving responsibility to some person whose children are studying in same school and is also influential in the sense he cannot be manipulated by teacher.

    Also we can look into the reason why teachers avoid going to school when they are paid very well, one possibility can be that they are posted far from their home, if we can resolve that problem I guess attendance will automatically increase. As most of the lady teachers in UP find it difficult to travel 50 kms daily and teach. Solution to that will be posting individuals to nearest school.

    2) How to ensure that the teacher actually teaches students and learning happens?
    Have a standardized course structure, and constant evaluation which is there generally but linking performances of the students to the teacher's remuneration. Also random checks in a month and asking students to answer simple questions on the basis of course structure. Which will give some idea about students as well as teachers performance.
    Also there can be a feedback system with independent authority of that area, where parents of students can give their feedback regarding school happenings if teacher is coming or teaching.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Hello Shubhra
    Its very nice that officers like you are willing change the trend and infuse development in your area of work. What Rohit said above is one of the best way to achieve efficient implementation of government schemes i.e. partnership from community and civil society organisations. For curbing teacher as well as student absenteeism the best way is to involve parents of students in the process, ask them to form groups in each villages and they can make the school authorities accountable. You can get regular feedback from these parents groups and rotate the responsibilities of in these groups periodically. As mentioned by Rohit you should also include some responsible and veteran people of the society who are ready to cater for the service of society. Apart from these do ensure that schools have basic amenities such as toilets(especially for girl students), drinking water facilities.
    As far as teaching and learning proficiency is considered, the process will take time. For teachers as well as students workshop should be conducted. In this regard help from well established schools should be taken, proper technological exposure and upgrading should be done. Their must be agencies regarding teachers training, you should employ them. This training process must be continuous and everlasting, so try to do bring it in official procedure but at a later stage with participation of multiple parties such as parents body, teachers association, NGOs and of course government.
    Hope this could be of any help and wish you would be successful in your bid to percolate the development to lowest level of society.
    Regards
    Vivek Pandey

    ReplyDelete
  55. hi maam.
    Its very simple in my openion just taking feed back from the students about teachers we can ensure the above.
    thanx or sharing such parctical problems..its really build up our awareness as well as thinking ability.

    ReplyDelete
  56. What if there was a system of having a combined examination of the students.The paper would be set (and the papers checked)centrally to check if the students really learn anything.If a certain no. of students are unable to score,the teacher may be punished in different ways(deduction in salary to replacement).

    ReplyDelete
  57. hi maam,
    when i read the above problem and cam to the sentence "lets your neurons fire..." i remember that this is the sentence which is mostly used by mukul sir in psycology class. Its proves that he is your favourate teacher:)

    ReplyDelete
  58. I have few suggestions regarding your questions mam. I am a pre-final year engineering student and an aspirant of civil service.
    1) we can have a bio-metric system installed in the premises and entry and exit will be through this check. With this system we can track the attendance of the teacher and this parameter should count in their appraisal.
    2)For the second question mam u can conduct a common test on monthly basis at a sector level which include atleast 10-15 schools and both student and teacher should get benefit of this scheme so that it becomes a level of competition for both of them and they would try to give their best at their level. For ex-we can provide them with appreciation certificates to boost their morale.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Dear Madam,

    I have some suggestions, that would be 1)first providing the transport facilities as teachers would be mostly of not the same village travelling from neighbouring places. The best solution would be if temporary teachers are appointed from same village their presence in school would increase. 2)Frequent appraisals should be done to monitor their performance (once in 6 months) that would help to them to more dedicated 3) Different class rooms for different standards should be done so that students are taught at different levels.

    Thanks & Regards,
    Usha Aradhya

    ReplyDelete
  60. Dear Madam,

    I would like to list some suggestions on the problem

    1. Providing proper transport facilities , as mostly teachers travelling from neighbhourhood places. If temporary teachers are appointed from same village based on their qualification it would help for the presence of teachers in school most of the time.

    2. Frequent monitoring of the performance of teachers and giving hike once in 6 months would motivate them and help them to be more dedicated.

    3. Infrastructure - Different class rooms for different standards and accordingly different teachers should be alloted. As in most cases 1 teacher will be handling students of 1st to 5th . This detoriates the quality of teaching and students have different level of understanding , this would impact there interest in going to school.

    ReplyDelete
  61. hello mam,
    this is one of the biggest challanges for our society to make our schools the centre of learning.
    I feel that for this awareness among the teachers to be created , make them realise that its not a mere job but they hold key to the future of next generation of india.
    Various engagement practises at the local level can be started so that they feel more proud of their jobs.
    Also a feedback path to be created , like some active citizens of that area or some NGO's to be envolved who can monitor the quality of studies and then action can be taken against the deafulters by local administrators.
    thanks,
    vaibhav srivastava

    ReplyDelete
  62. Hi Mam,
    I belong to a district quite near to shravasti, i.e balrampur; its almost as backward as shravasti in many senses.
    yes govt schools, assuming you are talking about primary and upper primary govt. run schools, which due to mid day meal program have seen increase in the number of students, have grave problem of quality education.
    There are many systemic issues like non favorable student teacher ratio, lack of basic infrastructure like toilets esp for girls , drinking water, dilapidated building condition, no distribution or not timely distribution of scholarships and learning materials like dress , books etc (which do find place in open market very easily) and so many.
    These will require strong auditing system, which unfortunately is very weak. As a D.M. you can help in achieving this through various administrative rule book measures and some innovative ones also.
    According to me apart from strict audit and penalty system, you can apply some measures like:
    1- link skill development with education like every teacher should register what his/her hobby is? like knitting sweaters(i am sure most favorite of most of them), making handicrafts, tool making like small small electronics gadget making, book binding , singing , dancing , painting etc etc i am sure there will be many. Now these teachers should prepare their students in these skills and have inter govt school competition may be each quarterly(it has to be frequent to keep the spirit going).Apart from this skill competition, gk competition , spelling bee etc should be there to instill competitive attitude in teachers and students. Reward systems should be there for students, teachers and schools. Proper recognition should be given to them.

    2- One more issue is hiring of teachers by senior teachers to teach on their behalf in their absence.Who most of the time are not well qualified "as per standards like having b.ed degree". Though this is wrong , but i think at least they dont leave students unattended. We need to see the profile of teachers like distance from school to their residence, their medical condition i mean is it their health which is preventing them from coming school or other thing. better teacher school mapping is very important in this regard.

    3- above mentioned problem can not be checked through auditing system, but social audit and genuine consultation with teachers can bear fruit in this regard. Usually aged and medically unfit teachers do want to go to school , because of sense of power they feel and respect they get from their juniors and students and their families , but due to health problems they are not able to and they do not want to take VRS because of obvious reasons. So special care should be taken to place these group of teachers to teacher training task or program coordinating task.

    After all , its social mind set problem. It needs parents awareness and teacher's sense of responsibility both to make it work better.

    -Lavi

    P.S. After reading it again , i found most of the things i have talked about is cliche only(which is case with every IAS aspirant, but even then its true that implementation molded in contextual setting in the key to success . All the Best )

    ReplyDelete
  63. Hi Ms.Ranjan,
    I think spirit of competition makes difference. I am here assuming that the govt schools in your dist facing competition from private schools and the kids of people who could complain join private schools.(I think I am assuming the simple case which is the case of our dist)
    If this is the case I think the incentives for govt schools as well as students if they could secure top marks/rank in Mandal/Taluk could help. This may in longterm would cause increase in the strength of govt schools which again will have a positive effect on teachers.

    Regards,
    Vishnu

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  64. Mam,
    My mother is a gov school teacher, and I have noticed some major flaws in the govt education system. here are some solutions :-

    Instead of directly suspending the guilty teachers, a warning and moral counselling should be done. There is a big lack of communication in our country between the teachers and higher authorities and also between teachers and students.

    A random meeting can be organized between the district authorities and school teachers to sort out any problems if school teachers have. This will motivate them and instead of because of fear, they will work with their heart and soul in the school.

    Also, school students should be motivated personally in a way by giving them prizes, or organizing more extra curricular activities. This will generate interest among them (which is null at present) and hence more seriousness will creep in. If the students go serious, then offcourse the teacher will :)

    ReplyDelete
  65. Hi Madam
    1)Introduce some "BEST CONSTELLATION AWARD"

    Where every teacher will be given a star by their 1.Respective Students & Parents of Student
    2.Head Master

    Star can be given with respect to
    From student view
    How well he/She comes to class
    How well the lesson is taught
    How approachable he/she is in clarifying doubts
    Are parents happy with their inputs to teachers
    etc

    From Head Master View
    How well teacher organizes class
    He/She knowledge levels
    Any creative programs other than academic subjects
    etc

    In a class of 100 , so each teacher is liable to get
    100+1 stars. Let this exercise be conducted one in quartely or monthly. The teacher with max starts gets a financial incentive

    You can pilot by selecting some list of schools.
    I am sure some budget can be requested from G0UP regarding this pilot project

    Note:
    Due support from Head Master of school is required
    The collection of stars can be organised in a fairly and transparent manner. During any assembly, prayer events in absence of teachers

    The vote(star) of parents can be dropped by parent or student in the respective box placed in headmaster office.

    Once can display the list of teachers according to their current star points on notice board or black board etc

    The incentive must be rewarding, not in the form of cash necessarily, but Yearly bus pass, A free trip to local tourist places ( i m sure there plenty in UP), A transfer wish, etc

    Backlog:
    Care should be taken to avoid favorism and removing hurdles to allow healthy competition

    This all came from corporate idea, where best employee from a team is rewarded by a manager and co-employees

    Regards
    Vinod

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  66. Teachers should be given amble training and proper tests should be conducted for them to ensure that their knowledge and skills are up to the mark.Necessary action needs to be taken for the under performers.Performance based incentives should be given to them on a yearly basis.

    Students should be given an overview of the world outside their school corridors.Students should be given a session to present their dreams and ideas.Make them understand that Primary education is mandatory to achieve any heights that they dream for.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Dear Shubra,
    Congrats on your posting as DC of Shravasti. May god give you all strength to make the life of people better.
    Coming to the questions posted by you:
    1. To ensure that teachers come to school: For this both regulatory and promotional measures should be taken. In regulatory measures, frequent inspection should be done and action should be taken against those who are found guilty. Along with this, to increase the motivation level of teachers, some good teachers should be awarded on regular basis. The award may be monetary or any form of recognition of good teachers.
    2. To ensure that learning happens: For this, both short and long term steps should be taken. In short term, the way of teaching should be improved to make learning fun. In long term the capacity building of teachers should be done so that they are better equipped in future.
    Apart from this local participation should be ensured.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Mam,

    I think that the use of technology will prove the veracity of teachers coming to school or not. Biometrics is the only way as human approach does not guarantee justified results. If not retina scan than atleast a Thumb Print Logins and Logouts will suffice given the condition that teachers cannot leave the school premisis during school hours. Its costly, Yes. But it should aleast tried out on a Trail basis from a small town or village.

    Learning process can be made efficient by testing out teachers ability to teach on timely basis. Why not have teacher's practical exams every six months and make them teach students in front of the panel. Exam pressure makes every child to study, likewise the teachers should be brought under this process.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Hello Madam,

    As long as there is no job fear, it will be difficult to make teachers come to school and teach and as long as there is no career fear, there is no way in which students will learn.



    Regards,

    ReplyDelete
  70. hello madam,,
    with due respect, hereby i am putting my views
    for the 1st problem, we can think of two measures....1)"negotiations and talks" and,
    2)" coercive methods"......
    ideally starting with "negotiations", we should try to talk to the teachers and explain them the importance of the work, they have been assigned. and also listen to their problem if they have any. secondly,, efforts must be made to make the parents and guardians aware or their child's RtE,and their duty to ensure this(pursuasion from their side, can make the school authorities more sensitive about the issue).... ...i feel that such efforts by a district collector herself will have a deeper impact on common people..
    if this does not work ,then we can pursue with regular inspections and punishments to the non performing teachers after engaging withthe higher authorities....

    for the 2nd problem... i think , we should incentivise good teaching,,like giving the best teacher award(for each subject),, best acadmecian and so on.......
    for students to learn,,it requires them to understand the importance of education in life....we can ensure this by holding seminars,calling "inspirational personalities" to motivate them.....
    finally i would say, that only a coordinated effort by all can usher the desired changes.....

    wishing you good luck maa'm

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  71. maam,I am only trying it as you have mentioned "ideas howsoever wild",so kindly bear my possible weird ideas.
    1.(a)People in general has become selfish mindful of their own business,so to incentivise the teacher in a village there should be something personal attached to it so that they might come.Main problem here is the following dialogue my father had with the management of my sister's school.He asked if any of the officials representing the management of school had their wards studying in this school and as you might expect they send their kids to delhi (my home town is panipat ).So if in village level,people could force the teacher's wards (through gram sabha's mutual agreement etc etc) to study in the same school that might atlist force the teacher to come regularly.
    (b) Problems can dealt at microlevel (more like an pilot project in a village or a couple of villages,to be replicated later on) or at macro level ( a meeting of the local leaders, village heads etc but this might have political cannotations and since is unaware of the political realities there so can't comment on it).
    (c)Fact is , just imagine a situation when things are goin ok,what are things that might be going right for its success,those are the things that need to be targetted at.For me, involvement of locals is the key in its initiation and its subsequent implementation and monitoring.
    (d) Maam,though shravasti is no where compared to kottayam in literacy levels but the small autobiographical book "making a difference" of K J Alphonse is very good in this regard as he drove the literacy movement in the state and helped make Kottayam town as the first 100% literate town in India in 1989 and how he had made it possible.This is the link to the book :http://www.alphonskannanthanam.com/book.pdf .Literacy campaign part starts from page 62,many ideas he has used (each one teach one,mass media etc.) ,if you find it not useful par se but it will still be very motivating.
    (e)There are 2 ways to make them come,either through fear or encouragement.With fear(i.e suspension of continous defaulters) there is a fear of backlash,if the teachers union is strong with political association(which is the norm in UP) this might only make things worse .Other option is the need to create a positive environment where their involvement is seen as the right thing to do by them.This change of perspective for the teachers is something very difficult but if there is a benefit attached to it or atleast a perceived benefit for them (eg. some kind of education drive,education fair,seminar etc etc that might make them feel important and respected in the society),then the current trend might be reversed.

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  72. 2.for the second question,the first thing that strike me is "COMPETITION".Whether good or bad,Indian education system is very much sunk in competition mode.This is specially a big motivating factor for students as being a topper implies jealousy amongst his friends and also amongst friends parents,parents of the students also give their silent approval if they work hard,if not blatantly.All parents now realise the importance of education so they don't want to miss this opportunity if provided with sufficient attractiveness.So may I suggest to plan for a district level class wise scholarship based competition and other such measures.This might even be valid for teachers.This can be held in many of the village level festivals to integrate it into the village culture so they accept it as something related to them not something that is imposed by higher authorities.They should be encouraged to participate and involve famous persons of that areas to give it a local touch.

    In the end,every solution needs a localised flavour which I am sure you could come up with innovative ones.Also the fact that such an issue is a continous one because they are bound to create newer problems or an unimportant problem become significant due to the changed circumstances. Maam your an inspiration to many of us,so please keep updating on your blog and specially on the proposed problem on how you are tackling it.

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  73. Hello Madam!

    The answer is OPEN SECRET.
    THESE QUESTIONS ARE APPLICABLE TO ONLY GOVT SCHOOLS.
    I know this ISSUE on the ground level.

    As the PRIVATE schools are encouraged more by GOVT and PEOPLE.. GOVT schools are discouraged. Teachers LOST THEIR INTEREST TO TEACH. When there is no INTEREST.. they search for the ways to avoid going to SCHOOL (After all they are also human beings).

    WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?? TEACHERS?? I DON'T THIS WE CAN BLAME TEACHERS.

    IF POSSIBLE TRY TO DISCOURAGE THE PRIVATE SCHOOLS.. WHICH AUTOMATICALLY MAKES THE RESULTS...

    P.S: I KNOW THIS MAY NOT POSSIBLE IN INDIA AS EDUCATION BECAME A VERY BIG BUSINESS IN INDIA.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Maidam
    may you inform me about good study material books for pub. ad and history subjects in hindi medium for IAS exam.

    ReplyDelete
  75. Dear Madam ,
    Thank you for giving us the opportunity to participate in development process .

    To ensure that teacher comes to school a school can maintain "best teacher of the month OR week" and place them in notice board outside school thus encouraging them (we find these kind of appraisal in companies as best employee of the week like KFC ), Beside workshops can be held as when possible engaging both students and teacher of all school may be once in a year . giving them small competition within there curriculum , which will also engage teacher student together . and also awarding them .
    Beside how many schools are there in Shrawasti and teacher student ratio ?
    Madam you can also ask the headmaster to send you the monthly teacher attendance report (depending on the number of schools ) this be a sign of some observation or like "the administration is watching ."
    I hope my ideas comes to some help , but I am really happy for Shrawasti sure the district will improve .

    Thank you,
    Nilanjan Bhattacharya

    ReplyDelete
  76. Dear Madam ,
    Thank you for giving us the opportunity to participate in development process .

    To ensure that teacher comes to school a school can maintain "best teacher of the month OR week" and place them in notice board outside school thus encouraging them (we find these kind of appraisal in companies as best employee of the week like KFC ), Beside workshops can be held as when possible engaging both students and teacher of all school may be once in a year . giving them small competition within there curriculum , which will also engage teacher student together . and also awarding them .
    Beside how many schools are there in Shrawasti and teacher student ratio ?
    Madam you can also ask the headmaster to send you the monthly teacher attendance report (depending on the number of schools ) this be a sign of some observation or like "the administration is watching ."
    I hope my ideas comes to some help , but I am really happy for Shrawasti sure the district will improve .

    Thank you,
    Nilanjan Bhattacharya

    ReplyDelete
  77. Dear Madam ,
    Thank you for giving us the opportunity to participate in development process .

    To ensure that teacher comes to school a school can maintain "best teacher of the month OR week" and place them in notice board outside school thus encouraging them (we find these kind of appraisal in companies as best employee of the week like KFC ), Beside workshops can be held as when possible engaging both students and teacher of all school may be once in a year . giving them small competition within there curriculum , which will also engage teacher student together . and also awarding them .
    Beside how many schools are there in Shrawasti and teacher student ratio ?
    Madam you can also ask the headmaster to send you the monthly teacher attendance report (depending on the number of schools ) this be a sign of some observation or like "the administration is watching ."
    I hope my ideas comes to some help , but I am really happy for Shrawasti sure the district will improve .

    Thank you,
    Nilanjan Bhattacharya

    ReplyDelete
  78. i know mam, there is lot of problem raising...
    i will give you unique solution promise mam

    ReplyDelete
  79. 1)DC should make surprise inspection to a random school once in a weak without giving a clue even to his subordinates.
    2)Attendance of teachers should be submitted to district on a daily basis.

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  80. 1) Teacher Incentivization (Training/Monetory Benefits/Recognition in front of villagers) based on the performance improvement of class/students.
    2) Parent-Teacher Committee should be formed, and both parties should have clear tasks, which can be monitored by a higher official. Give some monitoring powers of the school to the parents, this will create ownership.
    3) The learning should be activity based. That is how interest among students can be increased. Innovative ways of teaching should be adopted. For the teachers, there has to be workshops in child psychology, debates in Education system in India which will give them a broad outlook.

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  81. Teachers should be evaluated and awarded on a regular basis ,based on the feedback from the children ,students and local guardians.There should be scholarships for the brighter children based on their attendance and performance which has to be evaluated by a combined competition to be conducted among all schools.A common platform to share and conduct activities of different schools and prize awarding ceremony should be done annually.Frequent crosschecks and inspections should be done by the district administration.

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  82. Teachers should be evaluated and awarded on a regular basis,based on the feedback from the students and local guardians.Meritorious children should be awarded based on the attendance and a combined entrance to be conducted among all students of the area reading in different schools under the supervision of the district administration.Besides frequent inspections a common platform to bring different schools together and conducting various competitions in sports ,ex-curricular activities and awarding them may help.

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  83. Indian youth are eagerly waiting for an ias as you,now mam please collaborate with the unemployed youth in your dist.many people with extraordinary mind under rural areas, please concentrate on them,they will educate or aware the parents.
    2.previous students with alumni can put a pressure on the panchayats and gramsabhas .thus the school environment can change easily.
    3.suggest the scholarship holders of higher education to participate in ssa & monetar the midday meals
    3. sudden feedback(by student-teacher on every inspection of school gives boost.
    4.d.e.o-m.eo- spl(school pupil leader) ties increase quality of education,leader ship ,accountability of schools and decrease dropouts
    thanking you mam,

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  84. hi Shubhraji,

    I am a BE comp passed out and now working in IT sector for last 5 year in PUNE, Maharashtra. This year i am giving my first try for UPSC and opting for Psychology and Pub Admin subjects. I do have a fulltime IT job and hence get very limited time for studies.
    I have started preparation this month. I came across your blog today n was very much excited after reading through. I hope you would be able to guild me across this jounery to a become a public servant from time to time.

    On the problem you mentioned i think it is important to ensure that teachers and students are both moraly inspired to come to school.
    1. Assign a leader from teachers itself on rotation basis who would keep track of teachers activities in every school. Also have bi-annaul meetings for staff where the teachers whoes stdents performed good or the teachers who are dedicated would be awarded (possibly with money)
    2. Have good disccusion sessions from teachers of diff school on teaching techniques.
    3. Try to get hold of some good short films on literacy and education and arrange to show it students.
    4. Asign guest lectures of the educated people from the district or near by regions, so that students are encouraged to attend school and education.

    I hope some of these suggestions would work out for your district.

    Thanks,
    Amruta Kulkarni

    ReplyDelete
  85. Hi Mam,

    An attendance sheet should be prepared for the teachers to start with, if no such provision is there. Many teachers can access there salary slip online which means the system are in place. A similar MIS can be created for recording the attendance.

    To ensure better check the Quarterly Attendance Rolls can be made available to the Gram Panchayat under which the school comes. This open a channel for social accountability of teachers.

    A Daily Attendance Board should be prepared and place in high visibility area. It will create peer pressure.

    The teacher with the highest attendance in a month should be recognized in front of the entire assembly. A word of praise can be much more motivating than pecuniary benefits.

    The teacher with the highest number of attendance in a year can be rewarded by the school management.





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  86. for 2. introduce awards for teachers . link them to student performance

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  87. for 2. reward teachers based on performance of their wards

    ReplyDelete
  88. Hi Mam,

    An attendance roll should be created for the teachers if no such provision is there. The salary account information of teachers have been made online in many places which means that the system are in place. The platform can used for creating an online attendance report of the teachers.

    The Quarterly Attendance Report can be provided to the Gram Panchayat under which the school comes. This will open the channels for social accountability of the teachers.

    A Daily Attendance Board should be prepared and placed in high visibility zone. This will develop peer pressure.

    Practise of recognising the teacher in front of the entire assembly with the highest monthly attendance should be followed. Word of praise can motivate them.

    Teacher with highest yearly attendance should be rewarded by the school management.

    ReplyDelete
  89. Dear Madam
    It may be possible that police say that they have already too much of work to do, but one thing is basically well known that people have fear with respect to the police personals. So if it is possible to get a random checks by Police personals not below the rank of C.O. (Circle officer, to maintain a respectful behavior, and attitude towards teachers). And apart from this during their checking they must list the school name and teachers name performing well and on the three month basis performance teachers from a school can be send for a tour to a nearest possible science institute (students above 5th standard) and ZOO or sanctuary for student below 5th standard. But keeping in the mind the expenses must be borne by Government.This would be a kind of fear cum encouragement scheme.
    pankaj kushwaha
    my english/grammer may be wrong. ignore that.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Dear Madam
    It may be possible that police say that they have already too much of work to do, but one thing is basically well known that people have fear with respect to the police personals. So if it is possible to get a random checks by Police personals not below the rank of C.O. (Circle officer, to maintain a respectful behavior, and attitude towards teachers). And apart from this during their checking they must list the school name and teachers name performing well and on the three month basis performance teachers from a school can be send for a tour to a nearest possible science institute (students above 5th standard) and ZOO or sanctuary for student below 5th standard. But keeping in the mind the expenses must be borne by Government.This would be a kind of fear cum encouragement scheme.
    pankaj kushwaha
    my english/grammer may be wrong. ignore that.

    ReplyDelete
  91. Dear madam
    I am sure that Police would say that they have already too much of work to do, but one thing is very well known that People have fear w.r.t. Police. I suggest If it is possible to have Police personals on checking system(no one in civilian dress)not below the rank of inspector (to keep the respectful talking) and during their checking they should note the school name and teachers working better and on the basis of each three month/ six month the best performer would be awarded by a tour to a nearest possible science institute for student above 5th standard and nearest possible ZOO/ sanctuary visit below fifth standard. But keeping in the mind that the expanses of these must be borne by government.
    this is a fear cum encouragement scheme.
    The real problem would be to have a group of Police personals.
    Thank You!
    pankaj kushwaha

    ReplyDelete
  92. I think, its better if you meet the teachers, express your expectations from them, as a teacher what is der contribution to the society,in nation building process..
    and with the help of civil society nd ngo's you can keep a check on them..

    ReplyDelete
  93. 1) Make sure that the school has an appropriate ambience in terms of clean claases,proper fans , proper blackboards, etc. which would encourage teachers to atleast come to them. Address a circular which mentions that the teachers will face dire consequencies if they fail to do so; Also do mention in the circular the steps which is being taken to improve facilities in the school.

    2)In order to blossom learning among students,all teachers whether they are junior and senior should attend a counselling which would be appointed by state government to instill in them new ways to make teaching enjoyful for children.All teachers thus should be made aware of new teaching methods used in other good schools.Also award a teacher under whose guidance the school achieved successfull results.

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  94. Good afternoon madam.
    I have few suggestions.
    1) first speak with the teachers cordially and find out the reasons why they are reluctant to come to schools and teach. If their problems are judicious , try to help them solving issues with the help of local heads.
    2) provide some basic facilities for the teacher and student like drinking water , bathroom and sanitation facilities. Keeping the school premises clean will make students and teacher feel comfortable.
    3) have periodic checks for few months and check the student progress in studies accompanied by their respective teachers and encourage the teachers to do more for the students.

    ReplyDelete
  95. Good afternoon madam.
    I have few suggestions.
    1) first speak with the teachers cordially and find out the reasons why they are reluctant to come to schools and teach. If their problems are judicious , try to help them solving issues with the help of local heads.
    2) provide some basic facilities for the teacher and student like drinking water , bathroom and sanitation facilities. Keeping the school premises clean will make students and teacher feel comfortable.
    3) have periodic checks for few months and check the student progress in studies accompanied by their respective teachers and encourage the teachers to do more for the students.

    ReplyDelete
  96. well mam.. thank you for ur new update.

    why don't u take help from " Gram Sabha" and nominate a member to keep vigil on teachers, second thing is to start a prize ceremony for teachers whose pupil will score gud marks/ performed well in sports and thus they will push for gud education. i am not saying mere prizes can lure them but, atleast some monetary advantage can motivate them.
    As teachers are from rural background so imparting them with new knowledge of teaching is also important. foundations like Ajeem Premji ( Wipro Foundation) helps in that. You can invite them to your district.
    Social Audit by free lance workers are also necessary for teacher attendance/ fund management.
    Student-Teacher relation is two way process. if Students are not interested then Teacher can't proceed further. So for this Mid Day meal program should be implemented for nutrition of students, providing students with small stationery item as gud performer, mock visit to school for Standard of teaching, a co-operative short of arrangement for community teaching in which the intellectual person belonging to that area can be invited for lectures/classes.

    ReplyDelete
  97. well mam.. thank you for ur new update.

    why don't u take help from " Gram Sabha" and nominate a member to keep vigil on teachers, second thing is to start a prize ceremony for teachers whose pupil will score gud marks/ performed well in sports and thus they will push for gud education. i am not saying mere prizes can lure them but, atleast some monetary advantage can motivate them.
    As teachers are from rural background so imparting them with new knowledge of teaching is also important. foundations like Ajeem Premji ( Wipro Foundation) helps in that. You can invite them to your district.
    Social Audit by free lance workers are also necessary for teacher attendance/ fund management.
    Student-Teacher relation is two way process. if Students are not interested then Teacher can't proceed further. So for this Mid Day meal program should be implemented for nutrition of students, providing students with small stationery item as gud performer, mock visit to school for Standard of teaching, a co-operative short of arrangement for community teaching in which the intellectual person belonging to that area can be invited for lectures/classes.

    ReplyDelete
  98. Hello, I was happy to come upon your blog while browsing. I have 25 years' teaching experience at various levels from elementary to college in Bharat (M.P.) as well as in the USA. A few humble suggestions are below, hoping that some would work:

    Frequent unannounced visits from authorities who will visit the classrooms amidst an ongoing lesson, and make sure that lesson plans are being prepared and implemented as per the curriculum. A lesson plan notebook was used by the teachers in the past.

    Frequent walk-thrus by the principal and written documentation of the activities that are observed in the classrooms.

    Like mentioned in the above comment, a respected person from the community itself can visit/bond with the employees and the students to motivate them. My father, a retired surgeon used to walk 5Km. once a week with old magazines to meet the students and teachers of local Kanya Shala and encourage them to READ.

    Training for teachers where they can learn to teach through games and manipulatives so that both teaching and learning remain interesting.

    Consistent practice of reading aloud to the children motivates them to become good readers but this can happen only if teachers are interested in reading as well, therefore young teachers should be encouraged to READ by role models like yourself and other administrators.

    Lastly, a respectful but well defined relationship (in terms of authority) between the principal and teachers and several team building activities to keep the organization close knit.

    Thank you.

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  99. Hello mam,
    I would also like to give my input to the problems.

    Soln 1)Technology is one thing that can best ensure the attendance of teachers. We can use Aakash type cheap tablets with inbuilt software to mark attendance of teachers with onsite photograph(by using webcam). This should automatically upload on a central server of UP Basic Education website.
    Photographic attendance would avoid proxies. Also, attendance with 'time' can be taken.However, this would be a long-term solution.

    In short-term, it requires :
    1.Regular but randomized checking of even the remotest schools. Take disciplinary action against absentees.
    2.Proper transfer policy of teachers: a computer generated list of teachers allotted to schools nearest to their homes would be beneficial. It would also reduce corruption in transfers.
    3.One day(say Saturday) fortnightly fixed for parent-teacher meetings. Parents of students can be best people to motivate/force teachers to teach properly. A grievance redress mechanism is also required.
    4.Meetings of officers and teachers to boost their morale.
    5.Headmasters should be motivated to take full responsibility to build good reputation of their school by any means. They must be given necessary corresponding authority in this matter(regarding their staff).
    A Principal of a small private school can ensure good education in his/her school to earn profits. Similarly, Heads of Govt. school can be given incentives for progress in their schools. It can be monetary or non-monetary(like awards,recognition,etc.)

    Soln 2) I believe learning would come up once teachers and parents both are committed to teach their students/children and shape up a bright future for them.
    Also, the curriculum needs to be uniform across all Boards so that no difference be there between private and govt. school.
    Moreover, students need to be taught in a playful and really interactive environment using tech tools. I have seen that village students are thrilled by seeing gadgets such as laptops/smartphones/etc.
    They can be attracted to come to school by showing some educative movie on a projector at any fixed day.For this some projectors can be purchased for a distt. which can be borrowed by the school on demand.

    I have no idea how feasible these solutions might be in a practical way on field. But still they may be duly modified/changed and considered.

    Education sector in India really needs stalwarts like you to bring up a revolution and lead to progress of the country.
    In fact our bulging demographic dividend requires immediate initiatives in this regard.

    All the best!

    ReplyDelete
  100. Good morning mam,
    If I am not wrong, you have posted these questions for those schools which are run my govt. and these are mostly in villages.
    mam, possible solutions of the above problems in Shrawasti could be ....
    1) It will be very meaningful if you can aware the guardians of those students who r studying in the schools. Whether teachers are regular or not and their children are studying or not is also the duty of guardians. Since most of the guardians are ignorant, especially in ruler areas you can aware them by realizing them the importance of education .Once they will understand your concept then it will make your job very easier to make vigilance over the teachers.

    2)By observing the whole vicinity of the school you can chose delegates from the same village who may help you in getting correct information of the teachers ( whether teachers are regular or not and whether teaching happens or not.). I have seen many villagers who are very keen to do such type of work and they are very responsible also. You can provide teachers certain rules like, regular class test , regular assessment , and whole test and assessment should not be in verbal but in written if they do not abide by them u must take strict action . And I am cent percent sure if you will take action against one, thousands will automatically will come on proper track ....

    Thank you mam for considering me so worth to give ideas regarding these issues.......
    yours sincerely
    Tanveer

    ReplyDelete
  101. Good morning mam,
    If I am not wrong, you have posted these questions for those schools which are run my govt. and these are mostly in villages.
    mam, possible solutions of the above problems in Shrawasti could be ....
    1) It will be very meaningful if you can aware the guardians of those students who r studying in the schools. Whether teachers are regular or not and their children are studying or not is also the duty of guardians. Since most of the guardians are ignorant, especially in ruler areas you can aware them by realizing them the importance of education .Once they will understand your concept then it will make your job very easier to make vigilance over the teachers.

    2)By observing the whole vicinity of the school you can chose delegates from the same village who may help you in getting correct information of the teachers ( whether teachers are regular or not and whether teaching happens or not.). I have seen many villagers who are very keen to do such type of work and they are very responsible also. You can provide teachers certain rules like, regular class test , regular assessment , and whole test and assessment should not be in verbal but in written if they do not abide by them u must take strict action . And I am cent percent sure if you will take action against one, thousands will automatically will come on proper track ....

    Thank you mam for considering me so worth to give ideas regarding these issues.......
    yours sincerely
    Tanveer

    ReplyDelete
  102. Good morning mam,
    If I am not wrong, you have posted these questions for those schools which are run my govt. and these are mostly in villages.
    mam, possible solutions of the above problems in Shrawasti could be ....
    1) It will be very meaningful if you can aware the guardians of those students who r studying in the schools. Whether teachers are regular or not and their children are studying or not is also the duty of guardians. Since most of the guardians are ignorant, especially in ruler areas you can aware them by realizing them the importance of education .Once they will understand your concept then it will make your job very easier to make vigilance over the teachers.
    2)By observing the whole vicinity of the school you can chose delegates from the same village who may help you in getting correct information of the teachers ( whether teachers are regular or not and whether teaching happens or not.). I have seen many villagers who are very keen to do such type of work and they are very responsible also. You can provide teachers certain rules like, regular class test , regular assessment , and whole test and assessment should not be in verbal but in written if they do not abide by them u must take strict action . And I am cent percent sure if you will take action against one, thousands will automatically will come on proper track ....
    Thank you mam for considering me so worth to give ideas regarding these issues.......
    yours sincerely
    Tanveer

    ReplyDelete
  103. HI Madam,

    Read the above problem, a small idea from my end..

    A few of the problem's with the govt schooling structure have been their right from the inception, few of the reasons that i attribute to the problem are:

    1.People consider govt job as the most secure option and over a period of time loose interest in the work they do.
    2.Their is no good feedback and control system, the structure allows the teacher to do nothing and still get away with it.
    3.A part of the problem also lies in the environment where these govt schools run,
    -Most of the Children coming to govt school dont realise the importance of schooling & education
    -Parents also dont realise the importance of schooling as they are more then busy earning their bread and butter.

    A few of the ideas that come to me are:

    1.Breaking up the salary of the teachers in the basic and variable component in a 50:50 format.
    Variable component will be from 1%-100% in a 4 slabs of 25% each and this variable component will be decided on the feed back from students(feedback can be taken every 6 months by the BDO of that taluka),number of competitions won by students under that teachers guidance, career guidance provided that by teacher, publications by that teacher in magazines,newspapers etc..
    Higher incentives to be provided to teachers(25% of basic salary) who perform exceptionally well and their seems to a huge positive impact on children because of that staff member.

    2.Surprise checks by higher ups(taluka level officers), in schools having poor performance.

    3.Annual report w.r.t results and intellectual child growth profile to be created taluka wise and submitted to the district head.Wherin the problems and solutions can be discussed.

    4.For Teachers that are not performing well training programmes to be created wherin the teachers are made to realise the importance that they have in creating a better future for the children.

    5.Quarterly children, parent meeting to be held so that the Parents are able to interact with the children and come to know their role as well in the childs development.

    6. Finally, If a teacher is found to be not performing well over a period of 2 years even after above activities he should either be dismissed or should be transferred to some other role where in his functioning does not impact much on the childs future.

    7.Their is also a part of the children but, since we are discussing only teacher's problem, have not included that here.

    Administrative system of the school also needs to be held accountable if the performance is not good, as we all know that Management is the most important node in an Organization, and all the attributes like control,communication,motivation and leadership are to be performed well by this node so that the whole organization as a whole performs well.

    Thank you & Regards,
    Rahul




    ReplyDelete
  104. HI Madam,

    Read the above problem, a small idea from my end..

    A few of the problem's with the govt schooling structure have been their right from the inception, few of the reasons that i attribute to the problem are:

    1.People consider govt job as the most secure option and over a period of time loose interest in the work they do.
    2.Their is no good feedback and control system, the structure allows the teacher to do nothing and still get away with it.
    3.A part of the problem also lies in the environment where these govt schools run,
    -Most of the Children coming to govt school dont realise the importance of schooling & education
    -Parents also dont realise the importance of schooling as they are more then busy earning their bread and butter.

    A few of the ideas that come to me are:

    1.Breaking up the salary of the teachers in the basic and variable component in a 50:50 format.
    Variable component will be from 1%-100% in a 4 slabs of 25% each and this variable component will be decided on the feed back from students(feedback can be taken every 6 months by the BDO of that taluka),number of competitions won by students under that teachers guidance, career guidance provided that by teacher, publications by that teacher in magazines,newspapers etc..
    Higher incentives to be provided to teachers(25% of basic salary) who perform exceptionally well and their seems to a huge positive impact on children because of that staff member.

    2.Surprise checks by higher ups(taluka level officers), in schools having poor performance.

    3.Annual report w.r.t results and intellectual child growth profile to be created taluka wise and submitted to the district head.Wherin the problems and solutions can be discussed.

    4.For Teachers that are not performing well training programmes to be created wherin the teachers are made to realise the importance that they have in creating a better future for the children.

    5.Quarterly children, parent meeting to be held so that the Parents are able to interact with the children and come to know their role as well in the childs development.

    6. Finally, If a teacher is found to be not performing well over a period of 2 years even after above activities he should either be dismissed or should be transferred to some other role where in his functioning does not impact much on the childs future.

    7.Their is also a part of the children but, since we are discussing only teacher's problem, have not included that here.

    Administrative system of the school also needs to be held accountable if the performance is not good, as we all know that Management is the most important node in an Organization, and all the attributes like control,communication,motivation and leadership are to be performed well by this node so that the whole organization as a whole performs well.

    Thank you & Regards,
    Rahul




    ReplyDelete
  105. Dear Mam,
    I think solution could be based on the socio-economic-cultural context of that particular region otherwise it might turn top-down approach as well. I would suggest :

    1> a) By using your admin functionary, arrange the meeting with school teachers and try to know about their peculiar problems(if there is any resistance from the community, etc)

    b) Next meeting would be, arrange side by side meeting along with village level education committees and teachers. And use this meeting as to build mutual trust among them.

    c) Under your supervision, next meeting should address, elevate the great respect gained by teachers since ancient India(Acharya devobhava). This forum, needs to inculcate sense of moral obligation of teachers towards nation building, their social esteem and encourage them to contact with community, etc

    2>> a) Address infrastructure bottlenecks, change teaching methods in such a way that, impart creative skills among future school children[ICT].

    b) community accountability by using parents/gramsabha proactive involvement.

    c) Address teachers training needs

    d) Ensure that, teaching skills should focus on personality development of student than focusing only on marks.[Need Creative thinkers for 21st century]

    I read your public admin book and its good one.
    Thanks for your post.

    ReplyDelete
  106. Namshkar madam.....


    first of all thanks for the blog.
    In my opinion most of teachers specially ladies teachers do not come to school telling that the school is is very far located from their residence and they want to get transfer to schools nearer to cities.(some times men also)
    1. arrangement like cab or bus should be introduced so that there will be no excuse of conveyance. second making such a system so that proxy attendance marking completely get abolished by a teacher on behalf of other teacher.
    2. second there should be a such a training system so that every teacher understand the importance of their work. teachers doing well should get appreciation from collector level.if any monetary facility can be provided should also introduced. training at 5 or more school , schools at block level.competition should be introduced between schools to do well.

    thanks & regards
    kuldeep yadav

    ReplyDelete
  107. Hello Ma'am,

    There should be some minimum attendance rule for teachers also, which has to be strictly enforced.
    Also, training programmes can be organized for teachers to ensure that learning is a fun experience and not merely a mechanical process.

    Hope these suggestions can be of some help to you.

    ReplyDelete
  108. Dear mam,

    It feels great to be interacting with you.

    1)Ensuring that the teachers come to school.

    To begin on a lighter note..the ad campaign "SCHOOL CHALE HUM (featured on teachers)"comes to my mind.

    On a serious note, i feel that the situation in the area is such that the teachers and to some extent students don't understand the importance of education.Thus,I feel first step would be maximizing the attendance of students.
    Possible solution is :-
    Variable Incentive for teachers based on daily/weekly strength of the class,including a factor based on the strength of all the classes cumulatively. Although its easier said than done but this would not only ensure teacher's attendance but also encourage them to motivate the students to attend the classes.

    2) Creating an atmosphere of learning in school.
    I believe this will take some time to reflect but nevertheless,

    a) There could be a provision for free education of the children of the teachers in the same school in which they teach. So more or less their children would be in the same school as their's and I believe that the teachers wont take the future of their children lightly, leading to a good learning atmosphere in the school.
    b)Annual exams be held in a different school if that is not the case and variable incentive be given to teachers as per the pass percentage.

    ReplyDelete
  109. Dear mam,

    It feels great to be interacting with you.

    1)Ensuring that the teachers come to school.

    To begin on a lighter note..the ad campaign "SCHOOL CHALE HUM (featured on teachers)"comes to my mind.

    On a serious note, i feel that the situation in the area is such that the teachers and to some extent students don't understand the importance of education.Thus,I feel first step would be maximizing the attendance of students.
    Possible solution is :-
    Variable Incentive for teachers based on daily/weekly strength of the class,including a factor based on the strength of all the classes cumulatively. Although its easier said than done but this would not only ensure teacher's attendance but also encourage them to motivate the students to attend the classes.

    2) Creating an atmosphere of learning in school.
    I believe this will take some time to reflect but nevertheless,

    a) There could be a provision for free education of the children of the teachers in the same school in which they teach. So more or less their children would be in the same school as their's and I believe that the teachers wont take the future of their children lightly, leading to a good learning atmosphere in the school.
    b)Annual exams be held in a different school if that is not the case and variable incentive be given to teachers as per the pass percentage.

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  110. Hello Madam,
    My name is Arvind and according to me:
    In order to make teachers come to school regularly conduct a meeting of Block Education Officers on regular basis and appoint one of the senior clerical staff from Educational department who would go on supervision once or twice a week and collect their signatures and make them report to you directly once in month.This may solve the problem to some extent.
    Secondly in order to make teachers teach and do justice to children in school call the meetings of teachersalong with thier BEOs once in a month or two and try to tell them of importance of educating children,also ask the BEOs to make an arrangement to conduct surprise tests on regular basis and supervise it if possible in order to asses the knowledge of students on chapter to chapter basis and reward the teachers of that particular subject suitably depending on the percentage result of the subject that particular teacher handles is maximum. This may create competition among other teachers and may lead to them also teaching better.
    Please give your feedback on my suggestions Shubra Mam.

    Thanks and Regards
    Arvind Patil

    ReplyDelete
  111. Dear maam,

    As a part of our rural immersion course, I visited under Kotra block of Rajasthan. Although the village lies in the last 5 percentile of villages in terms of MPCC but then the Village Education Committee( VEC) was very active in terms of ensuring that teachers visit the schools daily. If the members of VEC are vigilant enough, it can be controlled.
    Moreover what I feel is that if you talk of technology, Mobile phone is the future last mile connection. It is a rarity to find the most deprived villages with less than 5 mobile phones/100 population. So a free SMS whistle blower system in Co-ordination with VEC and a flying squad team can help a lot.

    If you talk about the actual Knowledge/Learning in schools; there lies the biggest challenge. If you see the ACER report/your own experience of field , you will find that even if teachers come to school, it's more of a fun/time pass/ gossip centre than learning centre. Having exposure to management practices, I think assesment centre based training for teachers can help. It can have advantage at two levels ...First it will help in rating the teachers (through an objective methodology) ...The best rated can be rewarded after every training session. I t will help in identification of teachers who lack competency/techniques for effective teaching. Similarly you can introduce summer/winter schools for training best students from government schools. This will help in overall development of child along with meritocracy among schools/students. Some of the best practices of private schools like Session plan and review/random check based on that can also help. It is also an important observation that para teachers are more dedicated to teaching (although less qualified) than permanent teachers (some of them who have good subject Knowledge). So a good balance of para teachers and permanent teachers should be maintained across schools.

    The other side of coin also needs your attention for proper decision making. When I talked to some of the teachers i got mixed reactions. One teacher told that she comes to school all way from town which is 27 kms away from her home and her school is not even having chair for her;no toilets and the students who come to schools have a filthy appearance with many diseases etc. It really turns her motivation of teaching down. On top of that no students remains in school after the mid day meal is served.

    I understand that real challenge with such big projects/projects aimed to raise motivation is the "MONITORING". I have seen/studied many administration initiated projects with a good vision/action plan; but poor monitoring made those projects to go haywire.

    I think these observations/suggestions might be of some help to you. Best of luck for your future endeavors.

    ReplyDelete
  112. Dear Madam,

    Thanks for giving chance to put opinion on real issues.
    As i see it, both problem that you have mentioned are mutually dependent.
    My base belief in my below adviced solution is that majority of teachers are willing to teach and students willing to learn given a good environment and platform.
    The best solutoin is to promote a environment where teachers will feel motivated and willing to go to schools by virtue of which they will essentially take higher interest in teaching and students will also become more engaged.
    If a dialouge can happen between you and teachers, the real reasons will boil down and come in light which will help take neccessary steps to improve the situation.
    Personally, am not in favor of taking forceful steps specially where teaching and learning is concerned which should be spontaneous and based on motivation

    ReplyDelete
  113. Dear mam,

    for ensuring that teachers come to school
    positive measures :
    a) the sysytem of salary based on the no of classes they take can be devised

    B)schemes like incentives on 100 percent attendance of teachers etc
    other measures :

    a) unexpected visits and inspections and punishing those found regularly abstaining

    also an unique but intresting measure can be :

    lOT OF PEOPLE COMPLAIN ABOUT THE POOR STANDARD OF EDUCATION IN RURAL AREAS SO

    ALL WE NEED IS SKYPE( WHICH IS TOTALLY FREE) ....ONE PROJECTER PER SCHOOL AND A COMPUTER /LAPTOP/AAKASH WOULD EVEN DO.....

    I MEAN THIS MAY SOUND WIERD ,WHEN WE CAN CHAT FOR FREE IN SKYPE WHY CANT WE TEACH THROUGH SKYPE.... AND AS FAR AS I KNOW AN NGO IS ALREADY DOING THIS......TEACHER VOLUNTEERS FROM URBAN AREAS ARE APPOINTED TO DEDICATE SOME TIME TO TEACH RURAL DEPRIVED STUDENTS THROUGH SKYPE >


    AND MAM FOR THE SECOND QUESTION.....HOW TO ENSURE STUDY REALLY HAPPENS......I THINK IT CAN BE DONE BY MAKING STUDY FUN AND INTERESTING FOR THE KIDS AND PROFITABLE FOR THE TEACHERS.

    SO A) USE OF PROJECTOR BASED STUDY, PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE SESSIONS , INFORMATIVE MOVIE SESSIONS ETC CAN HELP

    b) SOME INCENTIVES FOR THE TEACHERS MIGHT HELP TOO


    I KNOW THIS IS EASY TO WRITE BUT FOR YOU AS AN ADMINISTRATOR ,DIFFICULT TO ARRANGE WITIN OUR SLOWW SYSTEM....BUT IF YOU CAN TRY AND BRING THESE INITIATIVES I AM SURE MAM YOU WILL BIULD A VILLAGE ...BEACAUSE TRUE EDUCATION AND NOT MERE LITERACY CAN SOLVE ALL PROBLEMS

    GOOD LUCK MAM!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  114. In my opinion any strict action taken against anyone is only a temporary measure and might prove to be counterproductive, and people are always clever enough to find new ways to ward off their duties. I'm not denying inevitability of strict actions in few situations though.

    In my opinion finding solution to these problems is to address the root cause of these problems ie
    * Why teacher/student does not come to school?

    I think one might have to come out of "Zilaadhikari" status to a more of a FRIEND-like conducive env't where people can openly speak about their real problems, along with INCENTIVES to lure them to give their best in a two-way process of learning.

    Here are few suggestions that comes to my mind.

    Arrange for separate informal meeting of 1-2 hrs with teachers and students at least once in 2 weeks or better if you can spare one in a week.

    You could have a defined agenda in your mind, but need not tell them (By INFORMAL I mean, please make sure no one in authority (say Principal) attends teacher's meeting etc)

    Teacher's meeting agenda
    - Talk of something exemplary related to one's life
    * rural folk
    * teacher
    * farmer etc
    who in spite of so many hurdles went on achieve greater heights

    - Subsequently in later meetings as teachers get to know you as a person trying to solve their problems, you might slowly change the agenda like
    * try to inculcate the feeling of they being the part of NOBLEST profession in the world ie TEACHING and the difference they've made to the lives of students both in teaching and personal front of students worldwide

    * giving them responsibility subsequently to say write some articles (water saving tech), literary work (story, poems) etc that can be displayed on school's notice board or better some sort of distt magazine!

    * engaging them in true teacher-student relation where they encourage students to learning by doing then being crammers

    Student's meeting agenda
    - Talk of DIFFERENCE EDUCATION can make to ones lives
    * Farmer son becoming an IAS, IITian etc
    and thus changing the lifestyle of whole generations to come

    - Organizing different extracurricular activities like sports, cultural events etc when they can show their talent

    - Arranging transport for students in case of accessibility pb
    - Announcing prizes like cycle, books, scholarships etc for very poor and first 5 rankers in class
    - Inter-village competitions of cricket, dance, kabbadi etc

    Cutting short, I intended to convey that one has to start from informal conversation by trying to solve their personal pbs or it can be just few words of appreciation by "zilaadhikari" to boost their morale and subsequently they will realise their duty and feel indebted to what zilaadhikari and others have done in their life, so they must pay back in some form.

    My ideas might sound impractical with ground realities as the process is surely time consuming and might even prove to be futile in initial stages, but a strong conviction and patience by involving senior village leaders and others is not at all hard for an IAS officer working for the real cause.

    All the best in your endeavors.

    ReplyDelete
  115. In my opinion any strict action taken against anyone is only a temporary measure and might prove to be counterproductive, and people are always clever enough to find new ways to ward off their duties. I'm not denying inevitability of strict actions in few situations though.

    In my opinion finding solution to these problems is to address the root cause of these problems ie
    * Why teacher/student does not come to school?

    I think one might have to come out of "Zilaadhikari" status to a more of a FRIEND-like conducive env't where people can openly speak about their real problems, along with INCENTIVES to lure them to give their best in a two-way process of learning.

    Here are few suggestions that comes to my mind.

    Arrange for separate informal meeting of 1-2 hrs with teachers and students at least once in 2 weeks or better if you can spare one in a week.

    You could have a defined agenda in your mind, but need not tell them (By INFORMAL I mean, please make sure no one in authority (say Principal) attends teacher's meeting etc)

    Teacher's meeting agenda
    - Talk of something exemplary related to one's life
    * rural folk
    * teacher
    * farmer etc
    who in spite of so many hurdles went on achieve greater heights

    - Subsequently in later meetings as teachers get to know you as a person trying to solve their problems, you might slowly change the agenda like
    * try to inculcate the feeling of they being the part of NOBLEST profession in the world ie TEACHING and the difference they've made to the lives of students both in teaching and personal front of students worldwide

    * giving them responsibility subsequently to say write some articles (water saving tech), literary work (story, poems) etc that can be displayed on school's notice board or better some sort of distt magazine!

    * engaging them in true teacher-student relation where they encourage students to learning by doing then being crammers

    Student's meeting agenda
    - Talk of DIFFERENCE EDUCATION can make to ones lives
    * Farmer son becoming an IAS, IITian etc
    and thus changing the lifestyle of whole generations to come

    - Organizing different extracurricular activities like sports, cultural events etc when they can show their talent

    - Arranging transport for students in case of accessibility pb
    - Announcing prizes like cycle, books, scholarships etc for very poor and first 5 rankers in class
    - Inter-village competitions of cricket, dance, kabbadi etc

    Cutting short, I intended to convey that one has to start from informal conversation by trying to solve their personal pbs or it can be just few words of appreciation by "zilaadhikari" to boost their morale and subsequently they will realise their duty and feel indebted to what zilaadhikari and others have done in their life, so they must pay back in some form.

    My ideas might sound impractical with ground realities as the process is surely time consuming and might even prove to be futile in initial stages, but a strong conviction and patience by involving senior village leaders and others is not at all hard for an IAS officer working for the real cause.

    All the best in your endeavors.

    ReplyDelete
  116. i think for the first part what you can do is appoint 1 or possibly 2 persons to check it, also there can be surprise visit of a person from near by police or Panchayat office any time in a week or two in order to conform the above.
    For the second part , the actual learning can be checked by forming a separate team under education department for each area which would go into schools regularly and do inspection to check , how well the teacher is delivering lectures and also what all students have learned can be checked by test or viva.

    One more method can be adopted , which is inspecting officer can talk to students separately in absence of teacher (ensuring that they should not have fear of teacher) about the happenings in class and other information.

    ReplyDelete
  117. Mam we are really fortunate to have people like you in administration and by inviting ideas you have given us an opporunty to express our idea on public issues I have wriiten mains this year and I hope I will follow the same road. For Solution here are some steps that we can take

    1: Measurement/metrics of learning is required, which can happen only by clearly outlining the syllabus. there should be transparent examination at basic siksha parisad like X board exam i.e. no home exam. Percentage pass result should be a criteria to measure the effectiveness of teaching.

    2:Schools or teachers with bad result may be penalized.

    3:There are many examinations for scholarship at class 5-10 level like Navodaya,NTSE,Sainik school,All schools must participate in these exams.We can not expect all students to pass but securing some minimum success (Marks scored are sent to all participants) must be made mandatory.

    4:Most of the schools lacks infrastructure like library.Library is very fundamental requirement hence if government can not fund a full fledged a very simple library with only news paper and some career magazines can be setup with 500 rs monthly budget.


    5:Although it will be a bit idealistic but if kids of Administrative officers and teachers are encouraged to take admission in government schools we may expect some change in teachers attitude.

    ReplyDelete
  118. biometerics(those which use fingers) those used in offices,may be implemented. which will make the teachers to come to school.

    ReplyDelete
  119. all the best mam ...

    ReplyDelete
  120. One idea that comes to my mind is: Incentives, On the basis of students performance, the teachers must be suitably rewarded (monetary - variable pay scheme/books/household goods etc.). And if majority students perform badly in the test, respective teachers must either be provided with suitable training and his/her performance closely watched.

    Periodic feedback can be taken from students. The opinion of peers on a particular teacher can be asked for anonymously.

    ReplyDelete
  121. Dear Madam,

    I think that it could be addressed by

    1)Oversight by Panchyats of the schools in their village.
    2)Inspections should be matter of routine by SDMs and you.
    3)Panchyat leaders and SDMs of the areas should report about the absence of teachers to you.
    4)Trying to make teachers aware about their responsibility through meetings and conferences.
    5)To ensure that teachers actually teach NGOs of the areas can be used for assessment of the students performance.
    6)In addition in order to motivate teachers to perform the schools which perform should be given
    recognition for their work.

    best of luck for your efforts.

    ReplyDelete
  122. Dear Madam,

    I think that it could be addressed by

    1)Oversight by Panchyats of the schools in their village.
    2)Inspections should be matter of routine by SDMs and you.
    3)Panchyat leaders and SDMs of the areas should report about the absence of teachers to you.
    4)Trying to make teachers aware about their responsibility through meetings and conferences.
    5)To ensure that teachers actually teach NGOs of the areas can be used for assessment of the students performance.
    6)In addition in order to motivate teachers to perform the schools which perform should be given
    recognition for their work.

    best of luck for your efforts.

    ReplyDelete
  123. Getting to the point.

    1.Sensitize the teachers of their role they play and the contribution to the society.

    2.Help them realize that Teaching is not a mere job with a monthly salary but a seeds that they are sowing for a better citizen tomorrow.

    3.Help them to have a better self-worth and self-image thereby they teach better in class.

    This would lead to self-realization of their presence at the classrooms and performance and lead to long term fruitful results than rules.

    ReplyDelete
  124. hello madam
    i am an mba student and my mother is a principal in a govt. school the basic need is to fulfil monetary and health and hygiene needs of teachers basically they go for excuses of poor health and also some times make issue of low pay that is been given to them it really makes them more use to of ignoring the basic duties of imparting knowledge and selection of teachers should be made more skimmed because the y themselves find it hard to understand concepts leave apart teaching
    in the matter of class hours regular monitoring of syllabus finished and tests taken shall prove their efficviency performance analysis shall be a good solution as per my knowledge

    thank you

    ReplyDelete
  125. The best possible alternative to ensure that Teacher's along with students attend the Govt. schools that I have found out is to start a score card system for both the teachers and students.

    Score card system???

    Let me explain:

    Teachers- should be monitored on a weekly basis at the beginning of each session and a feedback should be collected from the students in order to find out which teacher is really taking an effort to teach well, if the teacher is doing well, every month or 4 months organize a best teacher competition to be organized by the students and the best teacher to be selected by the students. Consecutively if a particular person is doing well that means the effort put in is of use, else the next alternative of stringent monitoring:)

    Students: Awarding of paper certificates for the smallest effort put in will definitely motivate students who don't want to study to study. Thus leading to competition among the fellow mates. If 30% effort is put in by the teachers,rest 70 percent will follow automatically.

    ************************************

    80-20 rule works wonders when applied correctly!!

    ReplyDelete
  126. hello mam......hope u r doing good.
    mam
    I have read ur entire blog, i guess. But you haven't touched on one aspect of clearing UPSC---'the medical exam' It's a very humble request to give us the overview of medical exam and also answer one of the following question in particular.
    i wish to inquire whether or not successful candidates suffering from asthma clear the medical exam or not.

    ReplyDelete
  127. hello mam......hope u r doing good.
    mam
    I have read ur entire blog, i guess. But you haven't touched on one aspect of clearing UPSC---'the medical exam' It's a very humble request to give us the overview of medical exam and also answer one of the following question in particular.
    i wish to inquire whether or not successful candidates suffering from asthma clear the medical exam or not.

    ReplyDelete
  128. 1) How to ensure that teachers come to school?
    Your visit to any one school in a month will improve the condition much. I am sure. Teachers will be afraid that any day u may visit.

    2) How to ensure that the teacher actually teaches students and learning happens?
    Regular presence of teachers will automatically improve the teaching. After all the teachers will teach, when they come to school.

    ReplyDelete
  129. the only solution i belive is decentralisation. make the teachers accountable to the gram sabha (not sarpanch). GS should have control over local matters as in appointment of teachers, control over quality, removal etc.

    Second ARC has explicitly talked about principle of subsidiarity wherein all those subjects that can be administered at lower levels must be the responsibility of lower levels. rest having a national or state perspective must be left to upper levels.

    all this will give a sense of participation to the people. moreover people will take better decisions when the issues are concerned to them.

    this may require legislative action by the states (if i am not wrong) because how much devolution a state is ready to do depends on the will of state govt.

    though the solution seems idealistic, but this is the best way how accountability can be achieved rather than employing bureaucratic methods of carrot and stick.

    Regards
    Abhinav

    ReplyDelete
  130. 1. fingerprint attendance system cost (rs. 5000-10000) will ensure that the teacher comes to school personally to mark attendance and that too on time!! we can ask him/her to mark attendance 3 times- first when school starts, then during recess and finally before leaving. this will to a gr8 extent ensure that he/she stays in the school and not run away after marking attendance (which many do). This has worked well in Thane Civil Hospital, maharashtra you can speak with the civil surgeon there. This solution is atleast worth a pilot!!
    2. weekly surveys of students: ask them if teacher has been in the school/class in the past week. ask them to list the topics they were taught by their teacher. (atleast we ll know something was taught.)

    ReplyDelete
  131. Hi,

    1st Part – How to ensure teachers come to school

    Assuming that presently teachers are not inclined to teach in the schools in that area, first step would be to identify the reasons.

    Some of the reasons for it could be – low pay, low level of motivation and most importantly low level of societal status given to a teacher in our Indian Society.

    If we look at the profile of teachers there would be two categories – (i) male teacher who could not get into any other area and (ii) female teachers – mostly wives of officers of navy, army, railways etc who may not like them to work in other organization and consider teaching as a noble option. People in first category are the ones who are not inclined towards their work/teaching but have to teach for livelihood.

    Now suggestion to ensure that the teachers come to school could be by holding meeting with the principals of the schools and understand exact issues of the problems of your area, if the problem is same as what I have mentioned, then you may initiate a programme called “Teacher’s Development Programme” (you can rename the programme) for 7-10 days (on their working days) in a suitable location outside the school (which need not be very expensive) in which professionally qualified teachers or professionals from outside can conduct such a programme with an objective of motivating and enhancing the morale and self esteem of teachers. Secondly, you would also find that in such a programme, teachers are able to share their opinion about the problems in the work with the outside professional. Such feedback of the professional is very very important and should be documented and then principal should be instructed to implement those grievances of teachers.

    This could be done in one school as a test case and most probably it should work (due to my HR experience  ) and then can be implemented in other schools.

    2nd Part – How to ensure that the teacher actually teaches students and learning happens?

    In my opinion, a teacher can teach well if he has interest in the subject and should consider ‘teaching’ not merely as his job but as something with which he is able to develop the society. After doing the above exercise the teacher should ideally be motivated and if his feedback/concerns are worked upon, we may not have to work much on the teacher.

    About the learning, every teacher during 7-10 days training should be trained about how to handle different kind of students (not all students are same), we need to ensure that teachers also think in the similar fashion about students and their improvement as we are thinking about teachers in paragraph above.
    Hope that might help to some extent !

    Nalineesh Chand

    ReplyDelete
  132. Before leaving school everyday give them a format in which they will write the no of lecture they gave in that particular day and strength of class in each lecture..
    maintain a separate register of attendance of students.if the figure given by teacher varies or they are constant or follow a particular pattern then it is cleared that the attendance record are doctored..
    every day principle from a particular school can mail records of both attendance to a u r id.so that it cant be doctored later..
    if you wish you can do a surprise check on any school to ensure..

    cost to implement in one school per month
    30-A4 size paper
    1-attendance register
    a net connection either on mobile or a desktop as per your wish..

    ReplyDelete
  133. I think involving Panchayat leaders into the issue would help. Panchayat leaders are the only people who do not suffer from any constraint as far as this issue is concerned. They are locally available all the time and have the power to intervene in educational matters. So they are the best people who can ensure that teachers come to schools and teach.

    They need to be convinced that doing this would bring them name and electoral gains in the next election. And I believe that an IAS officer telling them this would be taken very seriously. This is no original idea. This is how things have been bettered in the state of Karnataka.

    ReplyDelete
  134. Maam,

    Here are my suggestions to solve these problems:

    1. Random visits to the schools are a forgotten but most effective way to ensure educational quality. Fear of DM checking basic educational attainments of children keeps teachers on their toes.

    2. Encourage relevant officials like BSA (Basic Siksha Adhikari) and DIOS to do the same.

    3. All Schools must be assigned a unique number.

    4. There should be a helpline to receive complaints. This helpline must receive one word complaint (ex. School No. Present/Absent and School No. Good/Poor). This provision will help in catering to the large volume of complaints and enforcing accountability. Helpline number, along with relevant school number, should be displayed on prominent places in the locality. Citizens should be made aware to use this helpline via phone.

    5. Volume of complains must dictate the frequency of official's visits to a school.

    ReplyDelete
  135. respected maam .. i think the first problem can be solved by taking following measures

    a) Do random checking of schools , and instruct ur officers responsible for education to do the same . tell them to go to any school unplanned and check,only the officer should know about the checking , schools can be selected by doing akkad bakkad (the point is random selection), punish the teachers who are not present , this checking should not be a one time affair , this should be regular (i.e checking should be regular but the schools which are being checked should be randomly selected), teachers will start coming to school due to fear of loosing/suspension from job.

    b) Try to appoint local teachers in the schools. Try to ensure that the teacher should be from the same village.

    c)additional increment can be given to those teachers who are willing to serve in the villages.

    d)Take help of local self govt. in monitoring teacher's attendance. The defaulters should be punished by cut in salary or effect in career growth (but it will increase corruption).

    e)the solution given by rohit to use responsible persons.

    etc.

    As far as the second problem is concerned its very difficult .. i will try to think something on it .

    ReplyDelete
  136. Principal can be to appoint a body consisting of all parents of student, on approval of which salary will be released. Once in a month a meeting of school teachers and administration with parents should be scheduled to evaluate(last month) and plan(next month) the functioning of school. Reports of this meeting shall be sent to tehsil level education officer who shall report to DM about the whole thing every month. Panchayat can also be roped in too if required.

    ReplyDelete
  137. This is a major problem through-out nation. That is why India positioned second last in PISA rating. May be by a series of experiments you can set an example.

    Problems are: Lack of interest both in part of teachers and students, monotonous schedules, lack of facilities, lack of awareness etc.

    I have a few suggestions which you can try:

    1. Conduct random, uninformed and frequent visits.

    2. During visits arrange surprise tests and reward (for motivation) to well performing students and their teachers. Teachers can do better with a sense of recognition. Also you can ask your subordinates to ask respective school teachers to submit yearly planed curriculum of how they are planning to cover syllabus and revision. (It might be a little extra time consuming but will help in long run as authorities on inspection will have familiarity with how much is completed).

    3. Design inter school competitions and ask faculties to prepare a report on another school's same subject quizzes.

    4. For making more interesting for students arrange seminars for teachers and ask them to conduct more live and interactive teaching. as by involving students in some crafting project or clay arts in science classes or a story of self for language classes or making maps for geography class or explaining which character they like most from history and why...etc.

    5. In my school days cultural activities was the best part and I eagerly waited for cultural events. Make it compulsory for school to do that and as chief invitees send a few professors or scholars to motivate and interact those students.

    6. Make it compulsory for every school to have a notice board and paste their every upcoming scholarship or event notice or even district cultural meet notices. Ask heads of school that they make sure its always updated. Also ask inspection authority to keep an eye on notice board while visit.

    7. Arrange few college students visits to school to interact with them and let them open-up a little bit. In due process they can guide them.

    8. Make sure the incentive and rewards by government are provided to deserve-rs in presence of as many students and teachers as possible. Achievement and rewards act as motivators.

    You can organize a committee and will require honest help of your subordinates. I know this will require a lot of energy and time, but think it this way that you have got a chance to work on root of all other problems. This, always neglected problem needs a few steps and examples. Better to start with something.

    Wish you luck.

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  138. Hello Mam,
    1) How to ensure that teachers come to school?

    Please start making surprise inspections in few schools randomly and take strict actions against those found guilty.
    While I was in nss team of My college we used to visit government schools for imparting them computer education. Same dismal situation was prevalant there. However once we started engaging; the teachers were afraid that we would complain about them. Situation Improved.


    2) How to ensure that the teacher actually teaches students and learning happens?
    We all are aware about knowledge deficits of teachers, apathy from student's side. I don't know if imparting training to teachers in modern style of teaching is an option or not. We still follow conventional method of teaching in school , While we should move to methods of group study, group tasks and other methods where students are directly engaged in learning process. Senior students would take interest when quality of teacher is good. If there is a good college around few students can volunteer and take that initiatives.

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  139. 1) How to ensure that teachers come to school?
    Make surprise visits and punish the guilty. Engage few NSS volunteers from some nearby colleges who will act as a watchdog on their activities.We did this as a part of our nss team and it helped.

    2) How to ensure that the teacher actually teaches students and learning happens?
    Knowledge deficit of teachers and apathy from student side is a matter of concern. For senior students volunteers from a good college would fill that knowledge gap.
    For kids we should move away from conventional teaching and move to innovative ways like group teaching, teaching cum learning, etc.
    You may talk to people from Teach for india and ask them if they could help and train the teachers there on How to teach innovatively and keep students motivated and teachers engaged.

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  140. 1) How to ensure that teachers come to school?
    Its not death but fear of death that leads to death.-Hard to kill(film)
    Suspend few of erring teachers,all others will follow lane.Even recommending few will lead do good.
    Spread rumour that any teacher can act as a whistleblower against the erring teachers..Based on mutual suspicion they may get regular to classes ..
    this will act as a active detterent for indiscipline..

    2) How to ensure that the teacher actually teaches students and learning happens?
    Assuming in all schools there would be computers,
    arrange for subject wise respective video classes for all classes..(may be for this u can make use of edusat..)
    If number of videos wrt a subject increases(by installing a software u can know subjectwise usuage ,time, no. of candidates using videos regularly) it clearly shows that as student are not able to follow that particular teacher class, hence they are relying on that particular subject videos.
    If there is no such computer facilities availble, then peer to peer review by other school teachers or NGOs may work..
    pradeeepks@gmail.com


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  141. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  142. Hii,
    Though I dont know the case-specific reasons and their relative importance,but as we know that unfortunately it is the case as usual in our Govt schools particularly in rural hinterland.So,i will try to give some general suggestions,which are implementable just with the help of strategic steps and will.We must remember that in India one of the major problem is the huge gap between theory n practice.So,i am not giving outrightly theoretical solutions.These suggestions are mainly aimed at containing the culture of impunity,prevailing at present and might not solve the problem in a sustainable manner and/or with immediate results.
    Few Points-

    1-Any suggestion which requires special funding and technology is not practically viable considering your role.

    2-Case- studies of similar experiments across the country,particularly in your region can be studied.I dont mean that in-depth study is required but just have an idea.

    3- Pareto's 80-20 rule can also be applied to find out "Major" problem areas n then focus on them,create ENABLING environment for any possible future improvements n sustainability.

    Some Limitations in taking corrective-steps and reasons of teacher absenteeism could be-

    --Corruption in recruitment results into such people getting the job,who do it just for the sake of a "Sarkari-Naukri".Many a times,such "teachers" pay a visit to school for attendance only and then go back to do their other "tasks".

    --It is the issue of "Work-culture" as mentioned above and accountability has to be ensured BUT how?

    -If a "strict" administrator is posted,people start behaving(posing) properly as they know that he/she wont remain there for eternity.
    -Local Politician's interference is also there.
    -People's participation is not there.They dont FEEL that they are stakeholders.Evenif some of them try,they dont get necessary support.Strengthen such sections,if present.

    -One officer at district/Sub-division HQ cant properly put all these checks at the ground-level.

    Before he/she moves out to conduct raids in schools of a particular area,defaulters got the "Intelligence" and starts posing accordingly.
    -In absence of clinching proof,one can not assume that a teacher is utterly negligent and must get some "punishment";as that will be against principles of natural justice and local rivalries can transfer the blame on some innocent.
    Moreover,just based on "one" fault,which can be an aberration,may be an honest mistake,one should not be given punishment,at best some strictures can be passed.

    So try to catch habitual defaulter.

    - If students are asked about teachers' conduct then they CAN face some back-lash.

    So,keeping these points in mind,HOW exactly to do it??

    1-Random checks by Officer concerned.
    e.g.-Announce that you are going to Ward 10's school but instead go to Ward 12.
    *If you are going out for a visit to state capital,leave an hour before and check all the schools on the way.
    etc.
    But keep your tactics flexible as defaulters will try to find some pattern n will try to get around the same.

    *You can also start issuing Orange and Red cards as punishment and make it public.Orange card means teacher is put on notice and if caught again,he/she will be given punishment which could be red-card.You can accordingly devise some methodology which can catch public-imagination.

    * Apart from this,a "secret" team can be constituted,for these checks.BUT they might try to abuse their positions.Local rivalries etc can come into play.
    So,you can randomly raid their(team's) functioning as well.
    Such teams can be used particularly in those "seasons" when because of local factors absenteeism is high.e.g.In some areas during Harvest season.

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  143. i ve read there is a very good model in north east. basically the schools and teachers are put under the gram panchayats instead of the department line. the panchayat appoints a committee of 4-5 villagers to monitor the functioning of the school. Local responsibility at the last mile goes a long way in ensuring good service.

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  144. SITUATION IN state like UP is really pathetic. Teachers think that their salary is safe. In this case either we should go for spreading awareness by frequent meeting with teachers and villagers or shd use technology for raising feeling of threat. In the current situation you can send some person for random inspection each time a different one or call principal at the school time to send messages about the
    presence. This will raise concern among teachers

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  145. Madam,
    I believe it is mandatory for teachers to stay at the headquarters, unfortunately they are not found to be abiding by it.

    A possible solution to check their absence is making them accountable to Gram Sabha.
    Carrying of students' academic assessment by educated volunteers from other blocks can help.

    Also, the records that they keep for the syllabus covered should be made available to Gram Sabhas and be subject to verification.

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  146. The possible solution to this is awarness of VILLAGE PANCHAYAT. Responsible citizen of the villages should be encouraged to have active interest in seeing that teacgers come to school as where I have studied there was a lot of pressure from village side on teachers and due to this quality of school was maintained... On the other hand theere is also situation complete opposite to this in neighbouring village where no one want send there child in government school although village is big than mine due to disinterest by that villlage administration and citizen...........

    As far as Teaching is concerned it two way...Disinterest either one of them will bound to hamper learning process. for On the part of teacher's side some encouragive programme can be started at block or village level in discentralised manner in which there should be acive involvement of village people.They themselves should confer award and recognition to teachers for there teaching.and on the part of students school should be made a fun.where it should not feel them like jail.Sports facility,competetion within schools in debates,map pointing,sports,poetry should be started.If administration have fund than from govt. side but but resource generation from village should be given priority.As this would actually generate interest in student as well as awarness in the mass when they gather to watch these small-small competetion at local level

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  147. Respected Madam,

    Please accept my heartiest wishes for being posted as DC&M of Shravasti District in UP.
    I must acknowledge that you have been entrusted with a duanting task ahead as Shravasti is one of the underdeveloped area of NorthEast UP, which has lots of opportunities to do good work and I am sure with you will do do good there.

    Inputs from my end.

    Observations:
    1. Low literacy rate ~ 49% (Checked district website here: http://shravasti.nic.in/district.htm)
    Implications: Teacher availability, children enrollment into school, dropouts etc

    2. Teacher-pupil ratio is low (Checked here, Page 25, http://www.icssr.org/District%20Shrawasti%20-%20S%20Nayak.pdf)
    Implications: Pressure on teacher thereby increasing absence from school, quality of education decreases, less engagement of students at school thereby them dropping out

    3. Distance of home to school (Checked here, Page 32, http://www.icssr.org/District%20Shrawasti%20-%20S%20Nayak.pdf)
    Higher secondary schools are very far from home.
    Implications: low enrollment of students, teacher absent from school


    Suggestions:

    A lot of issues around teachers not coming to school is because of the pressure on them to teach different classes in return for paltry sum of money. As in there is no incentive for them to go to school.

    1. Incentives should be tied to teachers attendance. Each teacher should be given a camera (with tamper proof date/time stamp) will be required to ask a student to take a photo of himself/herself along with the class at the start and end of school time. There should be some min. gap b/w the start and end time. These data will be monitored by the village gram sabha or other compentant bodies on a regular basis and incentives be given accordingly.

    2. Shravasti has low teacher-pupil ratio, which can be due to lack of educated teachers in the district. So methods like multi-grade class can be adopted where teacher teaches more than one grade of class. So for example Class I, II, III are jointly taught by 1 teacher .. on a common subject. To help teachers, seniors from the school can be nominated as monitors of the class who can help teacher in ensuring that everyone has understood things.

    3. Giving teachers from relatively urban areas incentives(good accomodation, monetary assitance) to go to rural areas for teaching.

    4. Teacher training should be made compulsory. Teachers should be taught on various pedagogic ways to ensure that they max. impact on learning in resource constraints.

    5. Bus/transport services being given, which would pick teachers on their way to school. Students can also pick teachers on their way to school, which will probably act like a psychological force on them to go to school.

    I hope my suggestions would help you someway.

    P.S: I must mention that on the district website of Shravati(http://shravasti.nic.in), the webpage on district statistics(Zila Sankhyaki Patra) is extremely poorly managed and I could not access any data related to district. There appears to be some issues with the server where the page is loaded and I would request your prompt attention towards the same.

    Cheers

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  148. Surprise inspections.
    - Form 3 or 4 flying squads who will go to random schools and check the presence of teacher against the attendance register. The register must be maintained by the principle himself. A teacher absent for too many days should be put to task - warnings/demand explanation/suspension/posting. If falsehood is found in the register, the same must be applied to the principle.

    - To ensure that teachers actually teach, each teacher must be asked to maintain a daily register of the topics taught in class. Specify the exact format expected. When carrying out inspections, check how much students know against the topic taught recently.

    - Call PTA meetings in schools where performance is low. Attend them and act on the feedback

    Regards
    Rohit Jain

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  149. Dear Madam,

    Some of the ideas for ur problems are-
    1) we need to find the reasons behind it. quick redressal of teachers' grievances ,regular inspection by relevant officers, setting some deterrent by taking strict actions

    2) Incentives to teachers. Schools showing better results in Inter-school competitions will b awarded.

    Thanks
    Jitendra

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  150. Mam,
    To the first point:
    How to ensure that teachers come to school?
    In a place where people have no incentive to work(either financially or morally),so for tht
    1.To boost financially try to make teaching a very lucarative job,maximise the salary so people fight to take up the job with interest.Now we also have to see whether they come to school daily.A very genuine person (youth preferably)be allocated a job to take record of teachers attending daily and he should report to the collectorate,or by making a most strict at the same time perfect /service oriented person as HM would also do...Monthly once you can take stock of the situation and see if anything can be done.
    -Now if financial booster are not enough try to find volunteering youths from the village /nearby district and employ them with good salary and thus motivating many more...


    To the second issue:
    2) How to ensure that the teacher actually teaches students and learning happens?
    Here technology would be a major booster,like there was in a district in AP where all school kids where given tablet to work,even small 4th 5th std kids....and this is also a govt prog aakash can be made available to both kids and teachers..
    Next:The school education be made interesting..students must be taught with interactive videos,slides,animations,good animation movies (to keep their interest)by this kids will learn them and will be interested in coming to school and teachers will also find this change good...

    Nice job mam..All the best.

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  151. Hello M'mam

    I definitely agree that in reading the following lines it may take time. But pl: be patient.

    Firstly, divide u r district into circles having equal no. of schools.

    Secondly, ask the teachers themselves what are the problems facing in doing their duty.They can be categorized into 1. Political
    2. Social
    3. Economical
    4. Personal

    Thirdly, make a report/graph with the input, by now itself u will be knowing the problem.

    when u know the problem then u can definitely have a have solution.

    If u find above lines anyway useful to u let me know @ the following address tsuryachandrar@gmail.com
    I can add some more inputs what can be done from u r side to ensure that teachers come to school?

    Regards,
    Surya.

    ReplyDelete
  152. Hello M'mam

    I definitely agree that in reading the following lines it may take time. But pl: be patient.

    Firstly, divide u r district into circles having equal no. of schools.

    Secondly, ask the teachers themselves what are the problems facing in doing their duty.They can be categorized into 1. Political
    2. Social
    3. Economical
    4. Personal

    Thirdly, make a report/graph with the input, by now itself u will be knowing the problem.

    when u know the problem then u can definitely have a have solution.

    If u find above lines anyway useful to u let me know @ the following address tsuryachandrar@gmail.com
    I can add some more inputs what can be done from u r side to ensure that teachers come to school?

    Regards,
    Surya.

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  153. madam while my training at railway staff clg Vadodara I came across a commnity initiative that was being run by the citizens of anantpur district in its timbuctoo village in telangana part of Andhra Pradesh....if I m not mistaken it was named some learning network initiative....selective adoption and proper adaption can troubleshoot ur problems....atleast it will give u a way to circumvent the problems....madam, do look into it...its my hearty request....

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  154. Dear Ma'am,

    A profound honour to assist you & the nation in any way possible.

    With previous consultations, schools should prescribe the course at the beginning of the session with clear breakup of the syllabus that has to covered in Week-1, Week-2..Month-1, Month-4 etc.This document should be "pasted" in every classroom & students should be made aware of this.

    This "roadmap" then should be tracked by random checking of the "notebooks" of the students with the syllabus covered against respective dates, by any competent authority. This "might" keep the absentee teachers on their toes.

    I will discuss these issues with my friends & will keep you posted if I'll get something relevant to the cause.

    All the best.

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  155. To ensure teachers come to school we need first find out why they are not coming to school which can only be found after talking to the teachers of respective schools.

    Then based on the answer of various teachers we need to classify the problems in following categories
    1 Financial problems
    2 infrastructural problems
    3 Motivation and Morale related problems
    4 Social problems
    5 Others

    Even in finding solutions to these problems the involvement of teachers is required. This will create sense of belongingness and in this process we also need to make them understand the importance of their profession and their involvement in the development of our nation.

    In our country every problem is solved by creating more laws and restrictions and this results into lack of motivation and involvement on part of employees. In this kind of structure employees do the minimum possible work which will keep them afloat and never go the extra mile treating the system as their own.



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  156. Hi,
    Some proposals in my order of preference:

    1. Presently I am at IIT Kanpur attending a workshop for college teachers on human values and professional ethics. This workshop is not like normal moral preaching. I am associated with 'Jeevan Vidya' since my student years at IIT Kanpur and I have seen how it has changed the thinking and behaviour of teachers towards students. I will suggest that some teachers can be sent to this workshop on trial basis.
    2. You must be knowing about the village Hiware Bazar where gram panchayat is responsible for ensuring proper education in the schools. This can be replicated even in backward areas.
    3. Better contact with parents can ensure that teachers are held accountable to them.

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  157. Dear madam,

    I think Under Sarva Sikhshya Abyican Village education council are established which is having all stakeholders including village president, and other members as well. So if they constantly engages in activities of ensuring school attendance there will be a significant improvement from teachers as well as student's level.

    2) I think first of all the teachers should be given Moral training.So they should realize that they are pillars of the country. If and if only these moral values are inculcated no real responsibility will take place.

    ReplyDelete
  158. Dear madam,

    I think Under Sarva Sikhshya Abyican Village education council are established which is having all stakeholders including village president, and other members as well. So if they constantly engages in activities of ensuring school attendance there will be a significant improvement from teachers as well as student's level.

    2) I think first of all the teachers should be given Moral training.So they should realize that they are pillars of the country. If and if only these moral values are inculcated no real responsibility will take place.

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  159. Reward teachers for their high "Actual Attendance".There should be programs to identify "The Teacher of the Month" or "The Teacher of the Panchayats/District". Alternatively 4-5 schools can be grouped together and then their progress and attendane should be compared & contrasted & the best or improving school should be rewarded financially or by means of certificates like "The Best School of the year" etc..

    ReplyDelete
  160. Hi,

    The problem at hand needs to be looked at two levels at an individual and at community level (it could be state as well). Having recognized that the issue of education is hinged with presence or absence of teacher, we need to look at what drives an individual and therefore a community?
    Simply, putting it as in your case, the rationality of mind to find answer to the problem makes you write this post. However, this rationality alone is not enough for you to strive for answer therefore, comes the role of desire.
    The answer to your question lies in understanding and altering these two basic elements (out of three) of human behavior. There can be various ways to address the issue and hence the answer to the problems as given: I am suggesting only plausible solutions which may have their share of execution challenges.
    How to ensure that teachers come to school?
    • Implement barefoot teacher model (driven by desire for recognition)
    • One year compulsory teaching service by graduates in their community or any un-served school in vicinity (hard to implement)
    • If we accept high attrition rate, than wages and pay incentives can come handy.
    The last two would only ensure teachers presence at school.

    How to ensure that the teacher actually teaches students and learning happens?
    To make teachers teach their pupil would require both soft and hard means of implementation:
    • Soft tools:
     Community oversight (Panchayat or elders as evaluator of school performance)
     For above our passion for hierarchy must go in beginning
    • Hard tools
     We have many such in place already…( my take avoid their use)

    Regards,
    Amit
    looking forward to your next post and comments

    ReplyDelete
  161. Hii Mam,as an Anonymous visitor,i have already posted 2 comments,in continuation,giving some practically implementable suggestion considering your role and authority.
    There is a good debate going on our forum,many of members have also posted here.
    Interview Preps for IAS community-
    http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#CommMsgs?cmm=23492063&tid=5819527356027688506&na=3&npn=2&nid=23492063-5819527356027688506-5819782176848063078

    You can also study these links-
    Gud one
    Abstract: Teacher absenteeism in government primary schools in rural India is a huge and well-documented phenomenon. Using Christopher Hood’s cultural-theory framework of doing public management, this paper analyses this problem from four different perspectives, i.e. the hierarchist, egalitarian, individualist and fatalist management approach. The paper proceeds with a discussion of three innovative strategies currently proposed or pursued in India to deal with teacher absenteeism. These are 1) the creation of local-level institutions that could hold teachers accountable, 2) the creation of a voucher system to allow parents to choose the school (government or private) for their children, and 3) the recruitment of volunteers on contract basis to do a teaching job. These three strategies, the paper argues, can be interpreted as responses that fit, respectively, within an egalitarian, an individualist and a fatalist approach. The paper concludes that none of the four perspectives can be expected to provide ‘quick fix’ solutions, especially because they ‘act on’ teachers rather than ‘act with’ them. Teachers, it is argued, should get a larger role themselves in the formulation and implementation of a strategy to address teacher absenteeism.

    http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/20502/

    -----------

    Check this on "incentives"-

    http://smritiweb.com/navin/economy/reducing-teacher-absenteeism-in-rural-india

    ReplyDelete
  162. Hello Shubhra,

    To ensure attendance -
    Probably you can ensure every school has a signboard with a phone number of concerned authorities where students/parents/colleagues or any other interested party can call to complain about attendance of teachers.

    Teaching quality-
    Also, making head of the institution (head master, principal) responsible for the performance of the children in acads. Annually(or any feasible time period) there can be a random pick of few of children from each school to the district centre for an evaluation cum ceremony. Schools performing good should be awarded with commendation letter(s) and social facilitation in district centre and their local area.

    Another wild idea for attendance -
    From a phone camera (of school authorities) take daily picture of school assembly (so as to include children and teachers both). These picture can be kept as a documented proof of attendance. To make the system little robust, take both start time and end time pictures of school.

    Hope this helps.
    Kind regards.


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  163. Ma'am,

    I was discussing the issue with some of my friends who do have a rural educational background & we have come up with some further suggestions -

    1) Most of the teachers in villages flank from the same village or some nearby villages. They divert their teaching time to look after their fields, "atta chakki" etc because of accessibility to their farms or enterprises.If possible, teachers should be posted from some far-off place to discourage such practise.If police personnel, anganwadi workers etc can migrate to work to some other place, why not teachers?? After all they are not getting no less salary than others.The image of the teaching profession as a "soft one" has to be curtailed for effective results.

    2) To avail this, if possible, some accommodation can be provided to the staff at the school premises or in any other building under panchayats. If both man & wife are teachers, they can be posted at same school.

    3) Although you might be aware of, but for the sake of sharing some useful information, there is a "rampant" problem of "absentee teachers" in schools. Influential people get their daughters & daughter-in-laws posted as teachers, withdraw the government salary & never for a day they go to teach.Else, they place a "proxy teacher" on some petty salary & keep the rest to themselves. I think a proper checkup of the "background & relations" of such teachers should be taken up for some effective results.

    I'll come up with some more suggestions as I gather them.

    All the best.

    ReplyDelete
  164. Good morning mam,
    If I am not wrong, you have posted these questions for those schools which are run my govt. and these are mostly in villages.
    mam, possible solutions of the above problems in Shrawasti could be ....
    1) It will be very meaningful if you can aware the guardians of those students who r studying in the schools. Whether teachers are regular or not and their children are studying or not is also the duty of guardians. Since most of the guardians are ignorant, especially in ruler areas you can aware them by realizing them the importance of education .Once they will understand your concept then it will make your job very easier to make vigilance over the teachers.
    2)By observing the whole vicinity of the school you can chose delegates from the same village who may help you in getting correct information of the teachers ( whether teachers are regular or not and whether teaching happens or not.). I have seen many villagers who are very keen to do such type of work and they are very responsible also. You can provide teachers certain rules like, regular class test , regular assessment , and whole test and assessment should not be in verbal but in written if they do not abide by them u must take strict action . And I am cent percent sure if you will take action against one, thousands will automatically will come on proper track ....
    Thank you mam for considering me so worth to give ideas regarding these issues.......
    yours sincerely
    Tanveer

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  165. "Ziladhikari Shravasti Zindabad"!

    Madam Collector,
    Let me be the first one to say that you will rise to the top; rise to the top you will but not because of your orientation or dedication but because of your overarching ambition. The only thing you covet is personal glory, even if it comes at the cost of others and brings no tangible results.

    It makes you so ruthless that you don’t even bother to think about trampling upon lives of lesser beings. As soon as you are posted as a DM, you have this extraordinary urge to show some action, give some results, tell the world that you have arrived. If you are so keen to prove yourself, hit some Goliaths, the Davids will automatically take care of themselves.

    If you so eager to change the education and literacy scenario of a backward and underdeveloped district like Shravasti, do this one simple thing, send your child to a government school, ‘motivate’ your subordinates to send their children to government schools and colleges likewise for all other government services (Hospitals, PDS, etc.) that need improvement. You will get all your answers. If you don’t get your answers even then please ask the people of Shravasti about what ails the systems and how to reform it, not these so-called ‘blue-eyed future administrators’ of our country.

    The shitty argument of individual freedom of choice and administration being a class-apart, appointed to steer and guide the society without actually experiencing what they profess is an argument given by self-serving hypocritical leeches who only eye the next big position nothing else. They just talk big, act small, role-play their parts till they are well ‘paid’ or else leave the scene midway.

    IF you as a DM can’t achieve this, why bother with close scrutiny, sustained supervision, review reports, CCTVs, Biometrics, School coupons, Voluntary organizations, et. al. Why bother at all, those who want to learn will learn, those who want to teach will teach, you have very little time and very limited authority to make any significant and long lasting change. Further, what happens when you are gone, what about things stagnating or changing for worse?

    The worst thing you can give someone is false hope, by your trailblazing spree you will make people more cynical and alienated from administration. Please accept the reality that there are some things you can change, some things you can’t, changing oneself being one of them.

    So, you should live and let live.

    And to all other fools who are showing so much zest and zeal on this blog, I must remind you that Madam Collector has topped the exam of which you are only aspirants, do you really believe that you can guide her in administering a district. You don’t get it I think! DO YOU?

    Best wishes,

    S.D. Balraj.

    ReplyDelete
  166. • To ensure attendance, install fingerprint based biometric attendance devices in all schools. These devices come at an affordable cost, are easy to maintain, and the feedback can be easily stored in a database that can be checked on a periodic basis. There should be fingerprint attendance at the start and end of every period (or on an hourly basis). This is a coercive method however and will not ensure dedication on part of teachers while in classroom.
    • A corruption proof monitoring team to make periodic surprise visits in schools, to see if the classes are being taken as schedule. This however will require a lot of dedicated personnel.
    • A working Parents Teachers Association should be set up at various regional levels, with defined reporting roles of officials like school principals.
    • The practice of home-coaching by school teachers should be immediately checked as it incentivizes teachers not to attend or teach at school properly, by earning easy tuition money. PTA and feedback from students can be a good way to get reliable information on such practices, as those parents and students who can’t afford private tuitions will be more than ready to divulge the details of such teachers. This is a very serious problem even in urban public schools.
    • Collaborations with NGOs can be done to interact with teachers and understand and address their problems, sensitize them about the importance of their role in nation building, and motivate and train them timely. There is need to bring an attitudinal change in teachers.
    • Introducing teachers to better teaching techniques, use of IT, videos, graphics charts etc. will instill a new spirit in them. However lack of infrastructure can remain an impediment.
    • There is also a need to devolve some important functions like feedback etc. to PRIs and Urban local bodies. It is not only easier to maintain an interface with these legitimate and responsible institutions, but also a good way to improve relations between Local government and District Administration.
    http://eruptingmyself.blogspot.in/2012/12/on-teachers-absenteeism-in-schools.html

    ReplyDelete
  167. Hello,

    I think huge no of ideas and suggestions have already been floated on this forum. :o) I believe there is no simple and universal solution when we are dealing with human behavior related problems.

    One good source of people having experience of dealing with such issues is Azim Premji Foundation. They have been working with different state government and govt education machinery for last couple of years to improve overall education scenario in our country. They should not only be able to share their experience but also provide support in terms of resources, training, workshops, etc.

    http://azimpremjifoundation.org/

    Best wishes.

    ReplyDelete
  168. Hi
    Mam my self final year undergraduate student
    Radical firing thought is nothing making frequent visits to schools n keeping on asking feedback of students regarding the teachers I hope this would a difference as such

    ReplyDelete
  169. Mam,
    I would suggest that create a monthly test system classwise and subjectwise,lets call it "monthly Performance evaluation test system"(MPETS).
    MPET should be conducted under the supervision of local officials,Panchayat Functionaries with a lot of folklore and Publicity(where village community can come in).
    The test papers should be set by every village teachers of respective subjects and uploaded at some common "Google Group"(Online Database) in a set format of excel(Classwise,Subjectwise).
    Standard of question needs to be set to ensure they capture learning outcomes.(which requires some consultation and training).

    Any Random Question Selection Algorithm can be used with condition that same question paper uploaded by a school does not reach it and unique papers be prepared for every village.

    Now the test should be compulsorily attended by every student and 75% result should be linked to renumeration/incentive/promotion of teacher.

    A student will not be promoted if secures less than 50% marks in 30% or more tests.

    Some mechanism for dismissal of non-performing teachers, if feasible, can be created.

    Introduce it from the beginning of the session and create some examples of erring teachers,so that they can do some course correction.

    Rest of the changes can be introduced on incremental basis.

    ReplyDelete
  170. Respected Ma'am,
    I am also a Govt servant (in ISRO).
    1.What i think that teachers in Govt school don't get encouragement and inducement. there is no promotion scheme and no exposure at all. life time, they have to teach in same class and nowadays they don't get respect also. There is no difference b/w who teaches sincerely and who doesn't. They cannot do private teaching and there is no promotion scheme so life time same income.
    2. They are more involved in campaigning for govt scheme
    3. In some of school, higher authority(owner) also take money from teachers and also exploit them. There is no authority to whom they can complain about their misbehavior and also these people r usually powerful.
    4.In school generally bright student don't come specially who can afford as our current competitive exams focus(IIT,IIM) on marks. My personal view is that if you read in bad college then you are not going to score very good b/s nowadays difference wrt quality is huge b/w govt and private college.

    ReplyDelete
  171. Hi Shubhra,

    I don't want to scandalize it but you are dealing with an epidemic which has been and is being conveniently ignored. I firmly believe Primary education is the foundation for a strong civic society and molding the future generation. Here goes my two cents on the problem at hand -
    1> Engage the panchayat and wise folks of the village to sensitize them about the issue. In Indian context social accountability is a big driver of things. If possible you can organize a small convention, which has local achievers as well as people from Shravasti who have made a name for themselves. Every human has a potential, the early you tap/channelize it the better it is.

    2. Now the real issue is the quality of education that can be imparted by these teachers. I come from a small town and my perception is the whole recruitment process is a sham. So my faith in imparting education and passing values to students by these teachers is low. Sorry to be pessimistic. But on the brighter side we can bring in the technology. We can find innovative & interesting personalities with strong understanding of the subjects to create a video for lessons. You can use the teachers to take the questions and work it out for students. This can be tried on a pilot basis to analyze the benefits and pitfalls. You can couple this approach with scholarships to students who show excellence in academics.

    ReplyDelete
  172. Hi Shubhra,

    I don't want to scandalize it but you are dealing with an epidemic which has been and is being conveniently ignored. I firmly believe Primary education is the foundation for a strong civic society and molding the future generation. Here goes my two cents on the problem at hand -
    1> Engage the panchayat and wise folks of the village to sensitize them about the issue. In Indian context social accountability is a big driver of things. If possible you can organize a small convention, which has local achievers as well as people from Shravasti who have made a name for themselves. Every human has a potential, the early you tap/channelize it the better it is.

    2. Now the real issue is the quality of education that can be imparted by these teachers. I come from a small town and my perception is the whole recruitment process is a sham. So my faith in imparting education and passing values to students by these teachers is low. Sorry to be pessimistic. But on the brighter side we can bring in the technology. We can find innovative & interesting personalities with strong understanding of the subjects to create a video for lessons. You can use the teachers to take the questions and work it out for students. This can be tried on a pilot basis to analyze the benefits and pitfalls. You can couple this approach with scholarships to students who show excellence in academics.

    ReplyDelete
  173. Glad to see so many solutions pouring in. Hope to see some more practical difficulties to find place on your blog. According to me, rather than infrastructural facilities, it's the motivation level among the teachers and students that really counts. As an administrator it's more likely to get focussed upon the infrastructure. But I guess it's more about finding people, who are willing to change the conditions and extend all possible help to them to establish role models in front of society. Without the help of senior members from the village, it's not feasible to change the existing beliefs and practices regarding education. The accountability of teachers can be better ensured by villagers rather than anyone else.

    ReplyDelete
  174. hello ma'am,
    my village is in district Bulandshahr (UP) ... :)

    I will bluntly put some facts

    "most of the students going to primary schools, in my area, are from very poor class/BPL families.

    on the parents part: they are almost uneducated + poor+ marginal labourers/ daily wagers. they want their children to be educated but simply do not have enough money to send them to private schools + they are busy in bread and butter. fathers go to work in the morning and mothers go to collect fodder for the cattle.

    result: parents never go to schools to check the status of education of kids + filthy appearance of kids in school + demotivation of teachers."

    my request : please keep these things in your mind.

    suggestions: i will not repeat some of the very good points already stated by others :)

    1. Technology : I can dream of a device comprising of features of bio-metric system + run on mobile networks to report in your district office.

    2. Collaboration with private schools in the area and competitions among students + casual educational visits by good teachers in the area from other schools (get together all + share knowledge and experience)

    3. Appointment of school heads from higher educational institutions on yearly basis + good incentives/payments ----> new ideas/ways of teaching

    4. Work with "Teach for India" and other organisations -----> motivation+vigilence (already going on in some parts of Rajsthan where some of my friends are working)

    5. Appointment of new teachers by merit from the local area + good incentives/payments + keeping an eye on their records... interaction with well performing teachers on the problems.

    6. Attract new talent to teaching ...... on internship bases for one year + good incentives.... and further inclusion in teaching system based on the performance.

    Subhra Ma'am.... you are my hero ... :)

    ReplyDelete
  175. Dear Shubra,
    Finger print based attendance system can be used which must be updated every hour.this will show that the teacher is present all time.

    Now important is that k children are getting knowledge/have knowledge which indirectly will give an idea the level of teaching.For this monthly assessment needs to be done by second party through exams of a single paper comprising all subjects question(mixed).The answer booklet must be checked by the third party.

    If you like my Idea ,please feel free to mail me on
    tabish044@gmail.com

    Regards,
    Md Tabish

    ReplyDelete
  176. Respected Mam,

    I explain you a situation first. There is a school that is working in a remote village. Even when the teachers are not reporting to their schools, they are paid because they changed their attendance to their need.
    Fine reason why teachers are not reporting to their work place is because, even when they are not reporting they are paid.
    So, if one teacher doesn't report the others will follow them and this lead to a big drawback.

    Use Laptop Computer in the school for the attendance purpose of the teachers fine. Use a software application with provisions like the entry of attendance regarding the reporting time, afternoon session and also the returning form work time. Let this attendance date linked to their salary(pay). Ok give every teacher their individual login id and password to access the system.

    How it Works? fine if a teacher reports only 10 days in a month but there are 20 working day in that month. the software will credit only 10day pay in their account. And let them view how much salary is added in their account every day. So now teachers who report in time in schools get paid and others didn't get paid and as they can view their pay everyday using their login id they will surely report because of the pay.

    so what are the problems in implementing this thing...one problem is the software ask the help of an itt student(interested in coding a software) they will do it free for you because they love india growing.

    secondly if there is any problem with deducting their pay for non reporting days (i thing in govt schools only pay is based an attending school) if not use an incentive to motivate them if a teacher is paid for her right reporting in the school give her a incentive, and if others( the teachers who are not reporting) know this they too will come and report atleast for the incentive. thirdly dont think about power shortage and broadband connectivity because we are using laptops only and the other thing is that Govt have plans extending Broadband connectivity.

    Give incentives regarding performance of students in Exams. if class 5 student get good score in half yearly exams in maths give a small incentive to the maths teacher.
    i believe corporate india moves on incentives.

    Moreover educate teacher how important is their contribution to the growth of india.

    ReplyDelete
  177. Respected Mam,

    I explain you a situation first. There is a school that is working in a remote village. Even when the teachers are not reporting to their schools, they are paid because they changed their attendance to their need.
    Fine reason why teachers are not reporting to their work place is because, even when they are not reporting they are paid.
    So, if one teacher doesn't report the others will follow them and this lead to a big drawback.

    Use Laptop Computer in the school for the attendance purpose of the teachers fine. Use a software application with provisions like the entry of attendance regarding the reporting time, afternoon session and also the returning form work time. Let this attendance date linked to their salary(pay). Ok give every teacher their individual login id and password to access the system.

    How it Works? fine if a teacher reports only 10 days in a month but there are 20 working day in that month. the software will credit only 10day pay in their account. And let them view how much salary is added in their account every day. So now teachers who report in time in schools get paid and others didn't get paid and as they can view their pay everyday using their login id they will surely report because of the pay.

    so what are the problems in implementing this thing...one problem is the software ask the help of an itt student(interested in coding a software) they will do it free for you because they love india growing.

    secondly if there is any problem with deducting their pay for non reporting days (i thing in govt schools only pay is based an attending school) if not use an incentive to motivate them if a teacher is paid for her right reporting in the school give her a incentive, and if others( the teachers who are not reporting) know this they too will come and report atleast for the incentive. thirdly dont think about power shortage and broadband connectivity because we are using laptops only and the other thing is that Govt have plans extending Broadband connectivity.

    Give incentives regarding performance of students in Exams. if class 5 student get good score in half yearly exams in maths give a small incentive to the maths teacher.
    i believe corporate india moves on incentives.

    Moreover educate teacher how important is their contribution to the growth of india.

    ReplyDelete
  178. hello mam
    i will suggest you some points
    try these points and see the results
    1. visit the school and start teaching at rt time.do this for 3 consecutive days.in any of the school of ur area.select one or two school others will automatically learn a lesson.
    2.public awareness; the people should make return complaint if the teacher is not punctual and make village local self govt. to ensure this and take feedback.
    3.as one of the member said above make students to write date on their lectures.
    4.take strict action on one or two teachers and publish it in the newspaper.
    5.ask the newspaper journalist to publish a column everyweek abt the name of the schools where teachers were not present or they r not performing.and be assured that it is not a one time news.
    names of defaulters should be printed weekly in the newspaper.
    6.like IIMs conduct workshop for teachers so that they respect their work and understand their responsibility.
    7.if it is possible suggest state govt to use electronic attendence machines.

    ReplyDelete
  179. Suggestions
    1. Random Visit
    2. Schools that show improvement in upcoming result in comparison to previous year’s result( it can be in terms of number of students get passed or the average percentage) should be awarded others questioned.

    ReplyDelete
  180. Subhra,

    Character of the nation is build by building the character of the people and it start from the school formally and family informally.You have really raised a very important issue of village school education in the county.Its very pathetic and one of friend is also District Magistrate and he is also facing the same issue what you raised in this blog.Let me ask you a few questions before I give my veiwpoints. why are still talking about these issues after 65-67 years of Independence rather than talking about next generation education reforms in village level in particularly and the country particularly? what is ground work done by your predecessors to address the same issues raised by you in this blog? what is the sustainability of initiatives started by your predecessors? what will be the sustainability of your initiatives.
    The things have really gone very bad in the last many years and it was far better when the resources and other facilities were not available at that point of time as I can see the difference as I have come out of similar kind of setting and I can see the difference even of my school now and then. Whatever you start and what is important is sustainability of your initiatives and efforts as once you are transferred, all efforts and initiatives are questionable.
    Please find my inserts to your questions:
    1) How to ensure that teachers come to school?

    Ans: 30,60 and 90 days evaluation plan is best suited for such kind of educational settings and have really worked well and shown great results wherever it is replicated.
    2) How to ensure that the teacher actually teaches students and learning happens?

    Ans:Well,LGP methodology is the best solution to handle this kind of scenarios. You can google about it find out how does it work. This is my own experience and I can suggest and I always believe in advocacy of this educational system in backward and under developed places. I have an example to share of my school which was in remote and backward places like your district but again it has a past of question of sustainability .

    In addition to these, I have a few suggestions in the interest of sustainability of nations efforts in this direction:

    1. Make all govt jobs on contract basis right from civil services(IAS and IPS ) till down the bottom. They will always have the fear of loosing the contract position the moment they dont deliver. It is not only the teachers who are to be blamed for not doing there jobs but I have seen even the bureaucrats dont come to office on time and work from home when they are posted in remote and backward areas.... so it is very easy to blame others.....it is very important to know why the teachers come late and if their deliverable are not up to the mark... then provide the need based solutions. It is very important to find problems and issues with others but it is very difficult to provide solution...I always believe that each problem comes up and has a definite solution and one who provides the solution to the problem is the wise ,educated and leader for the society.
    2.A strong audit system is required on quarterly basis for all level of systems....in matrix matched system and career of individual.

    3. I believe that each questions are answered by expertise of the domain...and very important to incorporate at levels of decision making.

    4. we all are stakeholders in the whole system in the society so we all have to work as team irrespective of power hats worn by any one.

    ReplyDelete
  181. Subhra,

    Character of the nation is build by building the character of the people and it start from the school formally and family informally.You have really raised a very important issue of village school education in the county.Its very pathetic and one of friend is also District Magistrate and he is also facing the same issue what you raised in this blog.Let me ask you a few questions before I give my veiwpoints. why are still talking about these issues after 65-67 years of Independence rather than talking about next generation education reforms in village level in particularly and the country particularly? what is ground work done by your predecessors to address the same issues raised by you in this blog? what is the sustainability of initiatives started by your predecessors? what will be the sustainability of your initiatives.
    The things have really gone very bad in the last many years and it was far better when the resources and other facilities were not available at that point of time as I can see the difference as I have come out of similar kind of setting and I can see the difference even of my school now and then. Whatever you start and what is important is sustainability of your initiatives and efforts as once you are transferred, all efforts and initiatives are questionable.
    Please find my inserts to your questions:
    1) How to ensure that teachers come to school?

    Ans: 30,60 and 90 days evaluation plan is best suited for such kind of educational settings and have really worked well and shown great results wherever it is replicated.
    2) How to ensure that the teacher actually teaches students and learning happens?

    Ans:Well,LGP methodology is the best solution to handle this kind of scenarios. You can google about it find out how does it work. This is my own experience and I can suggest and I always believe in advocacy of this educational system in backward and under developed places. I have an example to share of my school which was in remote and backward places like your district but again it has a past of question of sustainability .

    In addition to these, I have a few suggestions in the interest of sustainability of nations efforts in this direction:

    1. Make all govt jobs on contract basis right from civil services(IAS and IPS ) till down the bottom. They will always have the fear of loosing the contract position the moment they dont deliver. It is not only the teachers who are to be blamed for not doing there jobs but I have seen even the bureaucrats dont come to office on time and work from home when they are posted in remote and backward areas.... so it is very easy to blame others.....it is very important to know why the teachers come late and if their deliverable are not up to the mark... then provide the need based solutions. It is very important to find problems and issues with others but it is very difficult to provide solution...I always believe that each problem comes up and has a definite solution and one who provides the solution to the problem is the wise ,educated and leader for the society.
    2.A strong audit system is required on quarterly basis for all level of systems....in matrix matched system and career of individual.

    3. I believe that each questions are answered by expertise of the domain...and very important to incorporate at levels of decision making.

    4. we all are stakeholders in the whole system in the society so we all have to work as team irrespective of power hats worn by any one.

    ReplyDelete
  182. Hi Mam,

    Wish you luck for all your future endeavors.

    i am not going to provide any suggestion for the issue you have raised in your blog, but i am simply making a request to you to please guide me for my preparation.

    let me brief about my education. i am an engineering graduate from UPTU in IT and currently working in a software MNC as a java developer. this is my dream to become an IAS officer like all my other mate do have.

    my only question is i am struggling to decide whther i should do my preparation in Hindi or english medium. my education till 12th standard is in Hindi medium and naturally engineering was done with English medium.
    i am going to take Geography and Public administration as my optional subjects for mains, but as the schooling being done in hindi , i am not very much sure about choosing English as the medium for me. also i might be having a myth regarding selection of hindi medium students is not on that level as compared to English medium students?

    Is it worth to prepare in English medium by devoting additional time ?

    Should i quit the job and start my preparation with full dedication towards my studies only as it is too tuff for maintaining balance with office work?

    Please provide me your valuable guidance . i will be highly obliged to you.

    Many Thanks,
    Sandeep
    Shipra Sun City, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, UP

    ReplyDelete
  183. 1. Have some incentive schemes. like an award, a recognition. which motivates them.

    2. Organise some seminars to sensitize the teachers, talk to them, motivate them, listen to their problems if any..

    3. There was this IAS officer in Punjab. He changed the whole scene here with his innovative ideas and perfect discipline. He tried to get their attendance realtime everyday via internet in the morning. strict action was taken against the erring people.

    4. I think alongwith that people have to be made aware of their rights..parents should feel that their children are actually going to school to learn something. Some Committees can be formed which keep check on what the teachers are doing in the schools, are students satisfied. When the teachers feel pressured that they are being watched by the parents of the students or the authorities, they will respond.

    5. You can make surprise shifts to these schools to keep them at their toes.

    ReplyDelete
  184. Shubhra
    Character of the nation is build by building the character of the people and character building of the people start from the school and if this foundation is not strong then you cannot build the great nation and India lives in villages and hence a strong foundation is the need of the hour.
    You have raised really very important points and I have seen that this has gone from bad to the worst side. Here are my inserts to your questions:
    1) How to ensure that teachers come to school?
    Obtaining and enforcing a 30,60 and 90 days plan(including training) is one of the best tool adopted to address the issues in schools in backward area setting. Time window can be customized to circumstances basis. Its important that performance criteria set in the plan should satisfy minimum parameters set in the plan and have done PCA before rolling out this plan into the backward area school setting.
    2) How to ensure that the teacher actually teaches students and learning happens?
    See LGPSE is best suited system in this kind of setting and I am always in advocacy of this system not in underdeveloped and backward areas of the and it has worked well.
    Its strange that after more than 65 years our independence , when we are supposed to talk about next generation reforms in the education. I would also like to ask Shubhra few things: 1. what were the efforts and initiatives started by your predecessors in this direction( I am sure they must be aware of these issues in villages) if so were those efforts and initiatives gone thru PCA and if so what is next build on those efforts?2 how are you going to ensure the sustainability of your efforts through system and procedures as there are chances of disruption of your efforts once you are transferred to another place? 3. Why have many schemes have failed and whats the outcome of root cause analysis?
    Few additional points , I would like to share here:
    I have seen being born and brought up in backward area that it is not only teachers who come late but I have seen even many senior officers and particularly bureaucrats(IAS and IPS) who are posted in remote or backward area, even they dont come to office on time and work from home or if they come they spend half day & go back to their residence and it was surprising to hear of them saying that in backward and remote areas there is not much work to do . How to make sure that these officers come to office and work? .
    Currently, there is a trust deficit in the system and the people running the system and also lack of role model/leadership and moral and ethical values. You need not to be a govt servant to make change happen and you can contribute in any capacity because nation is far above than any individual or officer at any time
    All good schemes will not have their impacts and these may be achieved if we think of implementing a performance driven system in place.
    Few points to share here on engagement and change management models:
    1. All govt jobs from high class IAS and IPS till labor class should be on contract basis( with very good remunerations ) if not performing and delivering on their respective roles and responsibilities so that everyone should have a fear of loosing the job because country is far far important than people along with their designation at any given point of time.
    2.Matrix matched audit should be implemented at all levels of the systems on quarterly basis for continual improvements .If this is implemented , I am sure system will takecare of all the problems.
    Concl.: strength often springs from the weakness if strong desire is present and not doubt outstand contributions have been made by less privileged being on this earth, so rise to discover your natural gifts and energies to make our nation more beautiful place to live in not only for today and tomorrow but for posterity.
    Dont run away from your roots because that is your foundation and the nation's foundation too. If you want to make a difference you to got to start from the bottom
    All d best in your endeavors.

    ReplyDelete
  185. hello ma'am
    i would say that the lackadaisical way in which our govt department works is a result of silent political patronage, people far above on the ladder doesn't want it work efficiently because that will increase accountability at all levels including their own, which doesn't sounds like a very pleasant outcome for them, this jinx has to be broken with audacity on the part of people like you. By this very argument the top to bottom approach falls even before it stands,seeing teacher absenteeism as a separate problem seems palliative, still one has to look at every point including political say in recruitment, regular inspections and actions, creating awareness in people is the core of all the changes we are seeking to implement, residential facilities for teachers in remote areas, and in present context the way governments are showing cold attitude towards education is a matter of concern.

    ReplyDelete
  186. hi..
    mam, i m passout from NIT jalandhar this year.....during our college dayz v were very passionate about teaching d marginals... so v try in many NGO working dere to start........even i tried hard to find internship in some NGO in gurgaon( which is my hometown) ......but nowhere v found satisfactory work.....den v started to teach d kids of construction labour workin in our college..intially v were few people to start but later on many enthusiastic to join our hand( even more den kids)..n it run fr 3 years successfully( bt now i dnt know d condition).... i want to say u can make a mechanism to procure d college students from nearby college who r enthusiastic abt teachin on internship( most engineering colleges close for 4 month a year) ....if u find it really effective den atleast i can be volunteer fr my college........

    another solution can be mother committee (as mother cant tolerate bad of their children)which will be vigilant over teacher n dis committee report abt teachers directly to district education officer.( i have read dis somewhere)

    ReplyDelete
  187. hi mam,
    1- i m 2012 passout of NIT jalandhar......v were very enthusiast abt teachin d marginals....even v work with a NGO in jalandhar ...n also everytym when i cme home to gurgaon during vacation i used to work wid sme NGO......n also in campus v started a organized society fr teachin labourz kids.....n in dis endeavour many sudents joined our hands to work wid us.....n i think upto large extent v were successful wid our intiative.......i want to say if u facilitate d mechanism for procurement of dese type of nearby college students ( n also for farther college as u know in most engineering colleges derez almost 4 month break a year) for temporary basis den it can be helpful for qualitative learning

    2-a effective motherz committee can be formed which is vigilant over teacher( as mother cant tolerate bad fr child). n committeez feedback abt teacher should be provided to district education officer ( i think deze type of committee r workin in orrissa)

    3- u must post dis question on another social netwrkin site like facebook....as ur blog is followed mostly by IAS aspirant which r limited in number n also mostly dznt cme out wid fresh ideas bt established one which de have read smwhere( as in my case.....n also u can get fair idea abt viability n effectiveness of idea by seeing no of likes on each suggestions in case u post it on fb)

    ReplyDelete
  188. Shubhra
    Character of the nation is build by building the character of the people and character building of the people start from the school and if this foundation is not strong then you cannot build the great nation and India lives in villages and hence a strong foundation is the need of the hour.
    You have raised really very important points and I have seen that this has gone from bad to the worst side. Here are my inserts to your questions:
    1) How to ensure that teachers come to school?
    Obtaining and enforcing a 30,60 and 90 days plan(including training) is one of the best tool adopted to address the issues in schools in backward area setting. Time window can be customized to circumstances basis. Its important that performance criteria set in the plan should satisfy minimum parameters set in the plan and have done PCA before rolling out this plan into the backward area school setting.
    2) How to ensure that the teacher actually teaches students and learning happens?
    See LGPSE is best suited system in this kind of setting and I am always in advocacy of this system not in underdeveloped and backward areas of the and it has worked well.
    Its strange that after more than 65 years our independence , when we are supposed to talk about next generation reforms in the education. I would also like to ask Shubhra few things: 1. what were the efforts and initiatives started by your predecessors in this direction( I am sure they must be aware of these issues in villages) if so were those efforts and initiatives gone thru PCA and if so what is next build on those efforts?2 how are you going to ensure the sustainability of your efforts through system and procedures as there are chances of disruption of your efforts once you are transferred to another place? 3. Why have many schemes have failed and whats the outcome of root cause analysis?
    Few additional points , I would like to share here:
    I have seen being born and brought up in backward area that it is not only teachers who come late but I have seen even many senior officers and particularly bureaucrats(IAS and IPS) who are posted in remote or backward area, even they dont come to office on time and work from home or if they come they spend half day & go back to their residence and it was surprising to hear of them saying that in backward and remote areas there is not much work to do . How to make sure that these officers come to office and work? .
    Currently, there is a trust deficit in the system and the people running the system and also lack of role model/leadership and moral and ethical values. You need not to be a govt servant to make change happen and you can contribute in any capacity because nation is far above than any individual or officer at any time
    All good schemes will not have their impacts and these may be achieved if we think of implementing a performance driven system in place.
    Few points to share here on engagement and change management models:
    1. All govt jobs from high class IAS and IPS till labor class should be on contract basis( with very good remunerations ) if not performing and delivering on their respective roles and responsibilities so that everyone should have a fear of loosing the job because country is far far important than people along with their designation at any given point of time.
    2.Matrix matched audit should be implemented at all levels of the systems on quarterly basis for continual improvements .If this is implemented , I am sure system will takecare of all the problems.
    Concl.: strength often springs from the weakness if strong desire is present and not doubt outstand contributions have been made by less privileged being on this earth, so rise to discover your natural gifts and energies to make our nation more beautiful place to live in not only for today and tomorrow but for posterity.
    Dont run away from your roots because that is your foundation and the nation's foundation too. If you want to make a difference you to got to start from the bottom

    All d best in your endeavors.


    ReplyDelete
  189. Dear Madam,

    Simple..Try to bring a change in the attitude of teachers. They have to take their profession as a responsibility not as an earning instrument.

    Give a call to the students in the final and per-final year of their graduation to take up an assignment(teaching at schools, one chapter per week in a subject) voluntarily.The innovation of youth will come into play. Ensure that they would be rewarded with confidence and experience. Create an environment that makes them work as an Intern like Tech people do at Corporate World which is an added achievement to one's profile.

    This makes teachers realize their work and responsibility. I hope making strict environment may bring teachers to school but not in teaching.

    Hope it might be useful.

    ReplyDelete
  190. Hello Mam,

    I believe for the effective community service, participation of community service is very important.

    I think the problems that you are facing are more prevalent in the rural areas and to eliminate this we can seek the help of Panchayats or we can constitute the women groups to ensure that there is regular attendance of the teachers in the school.

    In addition to the above mentioned method, a periodical surprise visits by the zonal officer should be carried out and if required stricter actions should be taken......

    ReplyDelete
  191. Hello Mam,

    I believe for the effective community service, participation of community service is very important.

    I think the problems that you are facing are more prevalent in the rural areas and to eliminate this we can seek the help of Panchayats or we can constitute the women groups to ensure that there is regular attendance of the teachers in the school.

    In addition to the above mentioned method, a periodical surprise visits by the zonal officer should be carried out and if required stricter actions should be taken......

    ReplyDelete