Page 18 - EW April 2024_Neat

Education News

former professor of English at JNU. that they have less
“As for the impact of JNUSU election than 30 students on
result on General Election 2024, it their muster rolls.
will be nil,” he adds. This closure of
The chances of the good professor schools highlights
being right are very high. that a large number
Autar Nehru (Delhi) of children are drop-
ping out of school,
WEST BENGAL especially from
Education Achilles higher secondaries
with boys’ drop-out
heel rate being higher. In
2021, while 10.5 lakh
students cleared the
ith dates of general Bengal rural government primary school class X board exam
Election 2024 declared, only 8.5 lakh wrote
Wthe political mercury in Hearings in the latest case were the higher secondary (plus II) exam
West Bengal (pop.91 million), set held on March 12 and 20, in which in 2023.
for seven-phase polling from April Justice Rajashekhar Mantha With increasing drop-out rates
19 to June 1, has touched unprec- stressed the need to find a “per- after class X the gross enrolment
edented levels. Leaders of the ruling manent solution” to fix recurring ratio in undergrad college education
Trinamool Congress (TMC) and problems with TET exam questions. has also dropped sharply. In 2017-18,
resurgent BJP are trading vitriolic Moreover, responding to WBBPE West Bengal’s GER (gross enrol-
diatribes, indulging in character as- (West Bengal Board of Primary ment ratio) in higher education was
sassination and slanderous allega- Education) chairman Goutam Paul’s only 18.7 percent, cf. the national
tions to discredit their opponents statement that all questions were average of 25.8 percent. Women’s
and sway public opinion. framed after consulting specialists, GER was even lower, at 17.6 percent.
Meanwhile as political parties are Justice Mantha asked for an affidavit Moreover, with nine colleges per
engaged in relentless slugfests, West from the said specialists. 100,000 population, West Bengal is
Bengal’s education system is experi- It’s pertinent to note that a verdict way below the all-India average of 25
encing a huge crisis. There’s an acute ruling that the questions were inap- colleges per lakh population.
shortage of teachers in the state’s propriate will further complicate the omments Prof. Pabitra
92,000 public/government schools recruitment process leading to all CSarkar, a renowned academic,
as recruitment has been stalled candidates who attempted the flawed former vice chancellor of Rabindra
for the past seven years because of questions in TET 2022 receiving Bharati University and former vice
multiple complications and pending full marks by default. This outcome chairman of the West Bengal State
court cases. will significantly alter the landscape, Council of Higher Education: “The
Recruitment following the increasing the number of individuals dismal state of education in West
Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) 2015 qualifying in TETs. Bengal has far-reaching implications.
has been stalled because of several With recruitment stalled for The lack of access to quality educa-
petitions filed in various courts al- seven years, the number of teacher tion perpetuates cycles of poverty,
leging irregularities in the selection vacancies statewide is estimated at unemployment, and social marginali-
process. Simultaneously, the state’s 3.5 lakh. In rural Bengal in particular sation, exacerbating socio-economic
primary education board hasn’t ap- there is a severe shortage of teachers disparities and hindering inclusive
pointed 150,000 candidates selected with the teacher-pupil ratio having growth. Without adequate invest-
from TET 2022 as a Calcutta high risen to 1:59 against the 1:35 pre- ment in education, West Bengal risks
court order has barred new recruit- scribed by the Right of Children to being left behind in an increasingly
ment before appointment of all Free & Compulsory Education (RTE) competitive and interconnected
successful TET 2015 candidates. This Act, 2009. Moreover, 6,845 primary world, perpetuating a cycle of under-
situation has been further compli- and 1,362 upper primary schools in development and stagnation.”
cated by a fresh case filed in the the backward districts of Purulia, For this alarming situation in
Calcutta high court by 500 aspirant Bankura, Birbhum, Jhargram, Mur- primary-secondary and higher edu-
teachers in September 2023, alleging shidabad and West Midnapore were cation, a rising number of academics
that there were 15 “wrong questions” shut down in March 2023, after an are faulting the lackadaisical attitude,
in TET 2022. education ministry report revealed bordering on indifference of the rul-

18 EDUCATIONWORLD APRIL 2024