As
per the Directorate of Education's annual reports, in the last 4 years, the
number of regular students studying in Class X and XII in Delhi Government
schools has decreased by 43,540 and 53,431 respectively. This reduction is 24%
in class X and 32% in class XII. That is, every fourth student in Class X and
every third student in Class XII has been pushed out before completing his/her
schooling. On the one hand, a large number of students are getting pushed out
of regular schools in classes 9, 10, 11, and on the other hand Delhi Government
is claiming credit for itself by joining hands with National Institute of Open
Schooling (NIOS). According to the Praja Foundation Report (White Paper, State
of Public (School Education) in Delhi, Praja.org, Dec 2017), 85,000 children in
Delhi were pushed out of schools in 2016. The point is, if the Delhi government
is patting its back for doing great work in schools, then, let alone the
number remaining stable, why is the enrollment decreasing in government schools?
Pushing children out of school
In
fact, it is becoming difficult for the students of Delhi Government schools to
complete their education till class 12. In 2018-19, 66% (that is, more than
100,000) of the total number of students who failed in Classes 9 to 12 were not
given re-admission in government schools (RTI reply, 15.11.18, made public by
advocate Ashok Aggarwal). In order to improve the results, the Delhi Government
instructed the schools that students failing in class 9, 10, 11 should be
encouraged to leave regular school and seek admission in correspondence/open
school. By rolling back the ‘No Detention Policy’, Delhi government has made
arrangements for pushing a part of student population out of schools after
class five itself.
We
are aware of this bitter truth that instead of becoming easier, getting
admission in government schools has become tougher. Under the Right to
Education Act, it is mandatory to give admission to children of the age group
of 6 to 14 years, but, over the years, the government orders in this regard
have been making various documents mandatory - Aadhaar card, proof of address,
bank account etc. Even the illegal condition of 'last date' for admission has
been imposed. In 2017, by making the process of admission compulsorily online
Delhi government increased the problems of parents manifold. It is needless to
say that parents of children coming to our schools were forced to invest their
hard earned money and time visiting internet café for filling up admission
forms. Many faced further loss and harassment in getting mistakes corrected in
their applications. Many children were deprived of admission and ended up
losing precious academic year/s due to the illegal and heartless conditions and
the opacity due to technical problems. We have come across children in the very
heart of the country's capital who were repeating their 5th grade in the
Municipal schools merely because they could not get admission in class 6th of
the government school! There were instances when even those students who had
passed a higher grade in the government's own school were seeking admission in
class 5th of the Municipal school as their parents could neither understand nor
fulfill the technical requirements of transfers upon shifting their
residences.
A
game of inflating examination results is being played out at the cost of truth.
Children are given differential and sub-standard tests so that the
pass-percentage appears higher. Written and oral threats have been used to
build an unethical pressure upon teachers to manipulate results. Repeated
testing is not only causing a waste of teaching-learning time but is also
creating a context in which intellectual values of education are getting
replaced by coaching, competition and MCQ-based exams meant for preparing
children for the world of market.
Studies
of scholars such as Dianne Ravitch and our own experience tell us that this
philosophy and system of result-based evaluation creates all kinds of
anomalies: such as, not going into the depth of a subject, test-controlled,
narrow teaching-learning, a fraudulent and undignified approach, right from
setting exam-papers to checking and declaring results, competitiveness and
resultant discrimination based on the feelings of superiority and inferiority,
reliance on external motivators etc.
Classifying/Labeling children inside schools
Students
from classes VI to IX and, since last year from class III itself, have been
classified and labeled in different sections on the basis of tests evaluating
their 'Basic Skills' in Hindi-English-Maths. These tests were imposed in Delhi
Government schools under schemes named Chunauti (2016) and Mission Buniyad
(2018). This is a system which reminds of structures and ideology of apartheid
and caste discrimination. We have seen the tragic and deeply dangerous impact
of this division and the policy of labeling children in the interactions and
the language used among teachers and students. On the one hand, some have taken
it as a mark of exclusive superiority, while others have felt disappointment,
inferiority and exclusion. In both circumstances, children have been
dehumanised.
From
another point of view, this mission is an attempt to dilute the objectives of
education and reduce schools to mere literacy or tuition centers. Those who
understand the complexities of education know that children learn 'language'
through concepts and life experiences. To de-contextualize language learning,
as has been done in programs such as Mission Buniyaad, holds a clear message
that knowledge and contemplation is being eliminated from language education.
In the name of making children literate, there is a conspiracy to transform
thinking minds into empty utensils.
During
Mission Buniyaad, teachers were instructed to execute the training manuals
provided to them. New mechanical tools are being used to monitor each activity
of each class of each school. In order to ensure that teachers’ self knowledge
and autonomy don’t hinder the implementation of these schemes, a body of
'mentor teachers' and Teacher Development Coordinators (TDCs) has been created
in schools. They are expected to do micro-monitoring, ensure smooth
implementation of government schemes, regulate teachers' behavior and instill
in them fear of the bosses.
In
fact, such 'missions' are being organized across the world to fulfill the
agenda of global capitalist organizations so that a 'literate but uneducated
labor force' can be prepared to serve their needs and interests. The Delhi
Government has also proved its loyalty to these global capitalist institutions
by investing so rigorously in such missions.
Along
with segregating children, the process of a hierarchical classification of
schools has also been accelerated. By declaring its 54 schools as 'model'
schools, government added another layer to the already layered structure of
government schools (and very cleverly infiltrated NGOs in the functioning of
these schools through Public Private Partnership). It has gone on to add another
exclusionary layer of schools, by establishing the VVIP set of 'schools of
excellence'.
Schools as centers of preparing cheap
labor force
Marketization
is also linked to the scheme of 'skill development', in the name of which
students in government schools are being pushed to vocational courses from
class ninth onward. Again, a large number of students of class XI are being
pushed into vocational courses against their interest or desire. This is a
direct attack on the academic character of government schools. Such courses
have a gender-divisive character too. Moreover, they are being imposed on
government schools only where most of the students come from the working class,
dalit, socially backward, minority and disabled backgrounds. This is a way of
ensuring an educational-social exclusion of children from disadvantaged
sections and classes.
It
is not just a matter of pushing working-class students towards vocational
education but also of imparting an anti-worker vocational education to them which
will be limited only to the technical knowledge of a vocation and will be
deprived of its socio-economic-political aspects. Today Vocational education is
teaching children to keep the interests of owners and consumers supreme and
inculcating in them a sense of becoming ideal servants as a virtue. This
education will not teach them the historical underpinnings of caste and gender
discrimination of these vocations. Any scope of raising questions on the
division of physical and mental labor and learning from labor struggles against
capitalism will be subdued. The NSQF (National Skills Qualifications Framework)
program run by Ministry of Human Resource Development in schools is an
extension of the same policy. Anil Sadgopal writes in his article Skill India
or Deskilling India (EPW, August 2016) that in future NSQF certificates will be
made compulsory for the unorganized sector to find employment and since many
children are already being made to leave school before class 8, they will not
get such a certificate. As a result they will be declared as unskilled laborers
and left at the behest of Make in India for unregulated exploitation.
Delhi
Government has implemented this policy in its schools with full force and
vigour. Today, in our schools, private organisations conduct aptitude tests of
children even in much lower classes and, without any active involvement of
teachers, classify children on the basis of these tests and encourage them to
go for vocational courses.
Delhi
government has not opened any new colleges or teacher education institutions,
but has erected a few 'world-class' skill development centers which have been
well-publicized and proudly promoted. In teacher education, the role of
universities and the SCERT is being diluted and significant control being
shifted to NGOs. What could be more ridiculous than the fact that when the
entire economy is going through a crisis, government sector is being
contracted, small self-employed businesses are facing one after another attack,
then the children are being taught that unemployment exists because of lack of
basic skills among people and which is why they need to learn such skills? Then
what is the need of schools in the first place?
Non-academization of school curriculum
The
Government of Delhi is running some more programs leading to dilution of
education; such as, Happiness Curriculum (till Class-VIII), Cleanliness
Curriculum and now Entrepreneurship Curriculum (Personal Business curriculum;
Class IX-XII). These curricula, lacking any deep educational-philosophy, have
been adopted without following due academic process. Basically, these programs
consume 40-50 minutes of the school time of every child in order to stultify
their consciousness. They encourage children to divorce questions of happiness,
satisfaction, and justice from the larger economic-social-political reality and
context. However, it is true that by throwing a glittering light upon such
superficial and faulty ideas, the government's publicity system has been able
to gain media attention and some uninformed applause. An organization like
Vidya Jyoti which has a purportedly spiritualist orientation, is being given an
important place within the district level institutions preparing elementary
teachers. It is certain that such institutions and courses will become a medium
to promote conservative and anti-science ideas in schools in a dangerous way.
Schools becoming sites of Propaganda
The
Delhi government joined hands with the Saajha Manch NGO to facilitate the
process of School Management Committee (SMC) elections and organizing its
monthly meetings in schools. Alongside has started the process of imposing a
centralized agenda on functioning of the SMCs and using them for non-academic
purposes. For example, the Delhi Government, holding the No Detention Policy to
be responsible for the poor results of students, issued a directive (dated 15th
June, 2015) to the schools to use the SMC meeting to convince parents that the
said policy and their children's lack of effort was the main reason behind the
latter's poor performance. These meetings are not meant to provide an open
space for teachers and parents to discuss issues freely and according to their
needs and contexts. Rather, they have been hijacked to sell government programs
such as Mission Buniyaad, Aadhaar, GST, Provident Fund for girls etc. In our
society, parents still seek school teachers’ advice for their children and that
is why governments have started using schools and teachers as salespersons for
their policies. On January 28, 2019, the platform of the Mega PTM organized in
schools of Delhi Government was openly used by the CM himself for party
propaganda and making an electoral appeal to the parents and even the students.
Hoardings announcing ‘construction of 11,000 classrooms by Delhi Government’
were put up in schools on the day of this Mega PTM. This was not any public
benefit announcement but a clear case of self-promotion regarding a work that
has not even started yet! The feeling that their labour and role is being used
for party propaganda is leading to a growing sense of discomfiture among
teachers.
The
MLA representative of a school's SMC, exhibiting an example of VIP culture,
threatened to throw an employee out of job on the spot after finding an alleged
fault in his work. In another school, an SMC member advised and put pressure on
women teachers to wear dupatta in order to follow and exemplify decorum. We
need to understand that if the relationship between the SMC and teachers
continues to be determined by a centralized agenda then the objectives of
increasing community participation in schools and democratising them cannot be
achieved.
Schools becoming centers of Data
Production
Another
aspect of the changing role of Delhi government schools is that they are being
transformed into centers of gathering data of different kinds. For example,
this government directs the schools to collect all kinds of personal
information (eg, voter card, Aadhar card, phone number, educational
qualification, proprietary nature of the house etc.) of all members of students’
families. When questions were raised in the court about the need of this data,
the government could not give a satisfactory reply, except to claim that it was
needed to make various plans. It could not even disclose the identity of the
third party which was to be handed over this data. Though, put under pressure
in the court, the government had to reduce the range of information sought, it
managed to collect and upload a lot of data by putting acute administrative
pressure on the principals and teachers, and by making them work overtime.
Then
the parents of the children who had shared their phone numbers with the school
owing to a feeling of trust in schools and their lack of awareness, received
messages on their children's birthday through which the Education Minister
wished them that they would grow up to do good work for the nation like the Aam
Aadmi Party! Everyday an emergency of data is created in schools and teachers
are reprimanded for any delay on their part in this regard. This hunger for
data is increasing incessantly which is not only raising the burden of
non-academic work on teachers but also making schools a site of business in
data. Important personal information of children is sought by schools, but
children and parents are not informed why the said information is sought, where
will it go and what conclusions will be derived from it. This data production
needs to be understood in the light of the increasing trend around the world of
using citizens' data to build propaganda and put citizens under
surveillance.
Education budget increasing under an
anti-education agenda
The
growth of the budget can be seen in the construction of new rooms, formation of
new blocks in the existing premises, and reconstruction of the old buildings,
but it has not been done as per the organic requirements of the schools or
areas. Apart from this, government’s failure to set up new schools and a close
look at the announcements made everyday indicate that this increased budget has
been used to fund unnecessary projects and benefit private organisations. It is worth noting that
media has also given a very positive reporting of the handful of schools where
'world-class' swimming pools have been made, without investigating the fact
that in most schools, playgrounds are contracting. The question which needs to
be asked is what percentage of children are able to use the five-star
facilities of these handful of schools and who is actually reaping the fruits
in this process. While Rs 670 crores are being spent on installing CCTVs in
schools and a budget of about Rs 75 crores has been kept for the purchase of
tabs for teachers, the need to waive off the CBSE fees of children from class 9
to 12 has not been felt. Under the PPP formula, the grounds of some schools
have been entrusted to the private coaching academies for running their centers
during holidays. In order to make this acceptable, the government has said that
these academies will have to reserve 50% seats for the government school
children free of charge and they can make profit by charging fees on the
remaining 50% seats.
Institutions
like the British Council have been given the opportunity to enroll students of
government schools in the name of teaching them spoken English for the need of
the market, thereby diluting the academic basis of the subject. Schools have
been used unethically for promoting the business of private institutions. In
the name of helping 'poor' children, government has entered into contracts with
coaching centers for providing competition-oriented coaching to students. This
has led to a further negative impact on the seriousness of regular schooling.
Similarly, in another attempt to display its magnanimity, the government has
announced the policy to provide loans for higher education whereby it has
accepted to play the role of guarantor before the bank. This way it has been
able to establish higher education as a legitimate site for market and private
profit to flourish. Thus, killing two birds with one stone! In this scenario,
the Delhi government’s case needs to be taken as a lesson which tells us how it
is possible to increase the education budget and yet push a neo-liberal agenda.
Schools becoming laboratories of
neo-liberalism
NGOs
are the prominent agents of neo-liberalism in education and it is these NGOs
who have been given a prominent place in policy formulation and implementation
by Delhi government. The NGO Pratham creates tools to test skills of children
and then prepares shallow material (Pragati Books) which are brought into
schools causing marginalization of NCERT textbooks. A corporatist organization,
the Centre Square Foundation has been engaged to join hands with Delhi
Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) for preparing a grading
report of schools. This is the same organisation whose proud free-market declaration
is that instead of running public schools, governments should give vouchers to
children to study in private schools (fund children, not schools). Research and
programs sponsored by such forces all over the world have created an anxiety
around the ‘crisis of Learning’ (i.e. children are not 'learning') to defame
the public school system and declare it a failure so that education can be
cleared for the profiteers to invade. That is, first these institutions conduct
surveys to prove that government schools, especially teachers, are useless,
then earn money from government by selling their tests, books, trainers and
then prepare the way for handing over of the government schools into private
hands. It is a fallacy to argue that teachers alone are responsible for
students’ results, while the truth is that children’s learning is influenced
far more by their socio-economic context and school conditions, two things for
which the responsibility lies with the State.
If
the senior officers of Pratham have been given a decisive role in the education
department of Delhi Government, another prominent figure of the same
organization has also been seen to play an active role in the MHRD, Central
Government. It is thus clear that the Central and the Delhi governments are
being controlled by the same hands.
The
important thing is that government schools are being converted into
laboratories for neo-liberalism. Today, children from the working class
studying in these schools are being cheated in two ways - by reducing the academic
content from their education and by wasting their time in many ways. The future
of the schools is getting dependent on their efficiency to collect data, feed
it on computer, implement the ever new anti-education policies and schemes and
send completion reports to the government. For this, each teacher in Delhi
Government schools is also being provided a tab. They are expected to present a
model of proficiency that attracts new vendors. If we look at the policies of
the Center and various state governments, it is clear that on the one hand,
governments are manipulating the education budget in the name of efficiency,
and on the other hand, they are pinning the blame of their own failures on
public systems and their employees. We are increasingly hearing about
unannounced inspections of ministers and officers, suspension of teachers,
introduction of new tests etc. Instead of controlling directly, they are
creating frameworks for result-based assessments which claim to be objective.
Indeed, the desire to increase auditing and accountability is a way of
neo-liberal governments to cover-up their own failures and debacles. It is
becoming clearer now that under neo-liberalism, government schools will not
just be used to create an army of workers as per the requirement of capitalism,
but government schools will be used to fulfill various needs of local and
especially global capital. This whole game is not about strengthening public
education but to present a model of skillful governance that can serve the purposes
of global capital. Governments, at the centre and in states, would be made to
prove their worth sooner or later. Else, the agents will be shifted.
17th
February, 2019
