Gone are the days when the teachers used to take things for granted after getting appointed in government schools. It is good that the School Education Department has started mulling on the issue of tightening the noose around the delinquent teachers, especially the faculty imparting education to higher secondary classes by evaluating their performance on the basis of the results of their students.

          Earlier, except for a few higher secondary schools in the region that brought good results, the situation was dismal as contribution of the faculty was minimal as only a small number of students came out with impressive results. This phlegmatic attitude of government teachers has traditionally helped the private institutions to thrive as people used to prefer these over their government counterparts.

          It is astonishing that despite the teachers appointed by the government schools having the highest qualifications due to tough competition during the recruitment process, the performance of these schools in general is pathetic forcing the people to go for private institutions where often the teachers with minimum desirable qualifications have been appointed to impart education but the results are phenomenal. For long, successive governments have not taken care of this issue but now the people sitting at helm have shown interest and if things are rolled right it could be anticipated that there might be some positive change on ground.

          Reportedly,    the School Education Department has sought a list of all those lecturers in government educational institutes who have failed to deliver satisfactory results in the 12th standard exams. Earlier also in one such case in June, the School Education Department had attached a principal of Higher Secondary School to the CEO office for poor performance of students in class 12.

          Albeit, it is difficult to say why the School Education Department has sought the list of poor performing lecturers because in J&K there are various factors which stop authorities from taking befitting actions including political pressure, hobnobbing, and in some cases corruption also.

          It is however hoped that the SED will toe the right path this time and take necessary initiatives to set things right in the higher secondary schools so that people revisit their decision to opt for private institutions instead of government schools having the highly qualified staff and best edifice.