Page 25 - EducationWorld August 2022

following 34 years (1977-2011) of in 2016 for having cleared TET 2014 Education Foundation, the percent-
uninterrupted rule by a CPM (Com- are at stake. In fact, the appointment age of class VII children in state
munist Party of India-Marxist) Left of 269 teachers has already been government schools who cannot read
Front coalition, experienced continu- cancelled because of tainted recruit- and comprehend class III textbooks
ous flight of capital and investment ment. The CBI is reportedly exam- has risen from 23.7 percent in 2014
famine which have burdened the ining documents related to these to 31.7 percent in 2021.
D
state with mass unemployment. appointments. Comments r. A c hin
According to ED sources, money Meanwhile with teacher recruit- Chak rab ort y , director of the In-
and other valuables recovered from ment having stagnated since the stitute of Development Studies, Kolk-
Chatterjee and Arpita’s properties TMC government was elected for the ata: “The teacher recruitment scam is
were accumulated bribes collected first time in 2011, thousands of edu- a huge blot on the TMC government
from families desperate for sons and cated unemployed youth statewide and has made a mockery of chief
daughters to be employed as teach- who have written TET but whose re- minister Banerjee’s famous electoral
ers and clerks in state government- sults have been stayed by the courts, promise of arib artan (change) in
p
run schools. Chatterjee reportedly have lost hope and have accepted the education sector. The damage
demanded — and bagged — bribes of low-paid jobs in the private sector done by this scam to public school
Rs.10 lakh for Group C and D jobs; or are working as private tutors. education will jeopardise the future
Rs.10-12 lakh for primary teachers’ Moreover, because of rising teacher of 23 million students struggling to
jobs; Rs.15-18 lakh for secondary and vacancies, the average teacher- pull themselves out of poverty, and
Rs.18-20 lakh for higher secondary pupil ratio in government schools is indicative of this government’s
teachers’ posts. The total amount has risen to 1:59 against the 1:35 indifference to children struggling in
extracted from desperate job-seekers prescribed by the RTE Act, 2009. government schools.”
is estimated at Rs.400-500 crore. Inevitably, children’s learning out- Plus ç a c hange, p lus c ' est la mê me
As the probe into the mega scam comes have also plunged. According c hose (‘the more things change, the
A
unfolds, the jobs of 43,000 teachers to the latest (2021) nnual S tatus more they remain the same’).
recruited by the education ministry of Educ ation R ep ort of the Pratham Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata)

Its only a

blended learning software powered by A. I. that helps teachers assign curriculum
aligned formative assessments and tracks students' real time progress. Teachers
can obtain students' detailed reports with learning outcomes and help them cover
can obtain students' detailed reports with learning outcomes and help them cover
their learning gaps through the suggested remedies on this
their learning gaps through the suggested remedies on this
Maths app.
Maths app.

| w w w . c ountin gw ell. c om
| www.countingwell.com

AUGUST 2022 EDUCATIONWORLD 25