two days back...on 5th of Oct, students of Govt. Higher Secondary School, Anini went on strike. they saw to it that the offices and shops were closed for the day. their grievance: get them some more teachers. students have been writing board exams without senior teachers in subjects like economics for the last few years.
its a sad plight when students have to resort to such things for what actually is their right and govt's responsibility. mind you, anini is not some chota mota town: its a district headquarter, and a mla constituency. there are scores of people who go about criticising students for not studying..especially in govt schools in arunachal. but then they are not geniuses who can learn the abcd of economics or accountancy without someone guiding them through. there have been instances where teachers have left students in lurch during board exams since they have had to go to itanagar to see to it that they get transferred.
when i was in my 12th standard, we had a few off days during the early part of the academic session. there were two teachers of pol science..and both werent taking classes. one had just been transferred to dambuk and the other had come over as a replacement from changlang. the one for dambuk was hell bent on not leaving Roing. Roing, it seems, is a good town with all the facilities, compared to other places in AP. one fine day, i met the principal and told him of the situation. he laughingly told me: there are two teachers..take anyone of them.i told him that that its not a good precedent when students come requesting teachers to take classes when there are bunches hanging around.
this is not just about anini or roing. its an everyday reality in almost all govt. schools across the state.
now with our own unemployed youths, some deserving, others undeserving, being absorbed into the educational system through the SSA...its hard to predict which direction we are headed for.....hope those who have been entrusted with the responsibility of teaching really end up teaching.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Thursday, October 4, 2007
IAS OFFICERS...a tale of two states...
the other day...i came across two people with two different experiences...
one hailing from sikkim...and the other from arunachal.
seems like the person from sikkim was putting up in a hostel in delhi maintained by the state government....all expenses paid... there are a few more like her in the hostel....and their task...prepare for the civil services exam....and this includes the coaching expenditure in some of the best IAS coaching institutes in delhi... (no one has cleared prelims from the lot)...its a huge expenditure the state exchequer is bearing..if one considers the cost of living in delhi and the tuition fees in coaching centers...
the second part..... the guy from arunachal clears his prelims exams...works hard for the main exams...in the meantime with some others who too have cleared prelims, from AP, meet the Chief Minister. the CM promises them some financial support..and he does provide it too...Rs. 5000 each... its the officials in Arunachal Bhawan who are entrusted with the responsibility of seeing the task done... this guy who's also been pursuing his studies in delhi univ..goes to claim the amount...and he is for a shock....
he is asked whether he is receiving any financial support from the state...he admits that he's been getting his yearly stipend from the state government...now thats an amount of some 300 odd rupees per month...a measly sum when studying in delhi...( even in arunachal too...considering books are costly...and guys stay in rent houses for want of hostels).... and one that he is entitled too... he is told that he will be eligible only either for the stipend or the sum of 5 grands for clearing the prelims test....this is discouraging when one realises that in the all india test, with more than 2.5 lacs to 3 lacs...only some 8 to 9 thousand clear the prelims...and ones they clear the exams...the state stands to benefit from their service...
its a fact that not many people look at IAS officers with awe and admiration...though they would like to be one...theres a generaly tendency to criticise the bureaucracy in gen, and the IAS in particular, for being corrupt and inefficient....but the we got to realise a few things here...
not all bureaucrats are corrupt....and secondly, if the state wants a say in decision making process in delhi...we need to have some arunachalis among those. with a state thats reeling in debt, and thats being sidelined in most of the schemes thats being doled out by the center...it is pertinent that theres got to be someone from the state..bringing out the concerns of the state in the corridors of north and south block...the blocks where the decisions are taken...
an occassional demand from the CM in the meetings of all the Chief Ministers presided by the Prime Minister or in some other ministry meetings, at the most generates "15 minutes of concern".... and such 15 minutes of concerns are not good for the state demanding addl financial help or increase in grants...when the state doesnt even have the resources to pay for its teachers and doctors...or even the political clout to blackmail the center.... can two MPs in opposition, with one in Rajya Sabha, force manmohan to increase the grants...?
AND WE ARENT EVEN TALKING OF LOANS...we are talking in terms of grants...
not that IAS officers are powerful enough to direct all funds from all schemes to the state..but with the background knowledge of some of the poorest regions of the state..they might be able to squeeze out something from the center...atleast for the state..
the state's got to give some due attention on this issue...its nice to encourage students to become engineers and doctors...but then....with the no of students pursuing higher education in the state, capable enough of competing with the rest of the students from the country, including those not being able to get into some engineering or mbbs courses due to want of seats, getting lost in the way... their enthusiasm, energy and ability, if redirected well, could be a source of empowerment and development...provided they dont turn out to be corrupt..and the risk is worth taking I suppose...
one hailing from sikkim...and the other from arunachal.
seems like the person from sikkim was putting up in a hostel in delhi maintained by the state government....all expenses paid... there are a few more like her in the hostel....and their task...prepare for the civil services exam....and this includes the coaching expenditure in some of the best IAS coaching institutes in delhi... (no one has cleared prelims from the lot)...its a huge expenditure the state exchequer is bearing..if one considers the cost of living in delhi and the tuition fees in coaching centers...
the second part..... the guy from arunachal clears his prelims exams...works hard for the main exams...in the meantime with some others who too have cleared prelims, from AP, meet the Chief Minister. the CM promises them some financial support..and he does provide it too...Rs. 5000 each... its the officials in Arunachal Bhawan who are entrusted with the responsibility of seeing the task done... this guy who's also been pursuing his studies in delhi univ..goes to claim the amount...and he is for a shock....
he is asked whether he is receiving any financial support from the state...he admits that he's been getting his yearly stipend from the state government...now thats an amount of some 300 odd rupees per month...a measly sum when studying in delhi...( even in arunachal too...considering books are costly...and guys stay in rent houses for want of hostels).... and one that he is entitled too... he is told that he will be eligible only either for the stipend or the sum of 5 grands for clearing the prelims test....this is discouraging when one realises that in the all india test, with more than 2.5 lacs to 3 lacs...only some 8 to 9 thousand clear the prelims...and ones they clear the exams...the state stands to benefit from their service...
its a fact that not many people look at IAS officers with awe and admiration...though they would like to be one...theres a generaly tendency to criticise the bureaucracy in gen, and the IAS in particular, for being corrupt and inefficient....but the we got to realise a few things here...
not all bureaucrats are corrupt....and secondly, if the state wants a say in decision making process in delhi...we need to have some arunachalis among those. with a state thats reeling in debt, and thats being sidelined in most of the schemes thats being doled out by the center...it is pertinent that theres got to be someone from the state..bringing out the concerns of the state in the corridors of north and south block...the blocks where the decisions are taken...
an occassional demand from the CM in the meetings of all the Chief Ministers presided by the Prime Minister or in some other ministry meetings, at the most generates "15 minutes of concern".... and such 15 minutes of concerns are not good for the state demanding addl financial help or increase in grants...when the state doesnt even have the resources to pay for its teachers and doctors...or even the political clout to blackmail the center.... can two MPs in opposition, with one in Rajya Sabha, force manmohan to increase the grants...?
AND WE ARENT EVEN TALKING OF LOANS...we are talking in terms of grants...
not that IAS officers are powerful enough to direct all funds from all schemes to the state..but with the background knowledge of some of the poorest regions of the state..they might be able to squeeze out something from the center...atleast for the state..
the state's got to give some due attention on this issue...its nice to encourage students to become engineers and doctors...but then....with the no of students pursuing higher education in the state, capable enough of competing with the rest of the students from the country, including those not being able to get into some engineering or mbbs courses due to want of seats, getting lost in the way... their enthusiasm, energy and ability, if redirected well, could be a source of empowerment and development...provided they dont turn out to be corrupt..and the risk is worth taking I suppose...
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