Education for our Children has Become A Gold Mine
Written by: Gowher Bhat
The quality of Kashmir’s government education system leaves much to be desired. There are over 14,000 schools in Jammu-Kashmir, whether they are private or government-run. However, the literacy rate is rising, in the public schools, and parents are removing their children and paying for private learning facilities. Even the teachers of government schools who have children do not have faith in the government school system. They, too, are putting siblings into private learning institutions. Education is the spine of any society, but the government schools in Kashmir are failing to provide the enriched curriculums to advance our students to college level.
It’s sad to see that in the past the government schools have accommodated the poor, who could not pay private tuition. The government schools are getting unacceptable test scores due to overcrowded classrooms, disruption in school days, and not enough individual attention is given to the students. A teacher working for government schools earns decent salaries, and we need to search for a better solution to improve our education system In Jammu-Kashmir.
Now parents are placing their children in coaching centers, not even private schools. These coaching center literary hand feeds the students. The popularity of these private coaching centers loot the students’ families and have made this teaching profession become a lucrative business. It is a money minting factory, and people are recommending this to their neighbors and friends.
I visited many areas where I saw the coaching centers filled to the brim with students. It cost as much as Rs.15,000 to send their child to one of these coaching centers. What’s even worse the families that are hitting hard times can not afford this, but they feel they have no choice, their children need an education.
The government has applied some guidelines, but there’s no reinforcement. I have also learned that many tuition centers are not registered and operating illegally.
On a personal note, I need to make some recommendations. Children should not be packed into classrooms like cattle. Teachers should give incentives to their students to work harder, and curriculums need guidelines and carried out. The government should come down on those illegal coaching centers with hefty fines and close them down. Becoming a teacher is a noble profession, and they have the responsibility of holding your child’s future in their hands. They need to ban together as educators to help our children instead of getting rich off of them.
