Radical changes in elementary education in the offing

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Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com/2009/10/27/stories/2009102751800300.htm)
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Radical changes in elementary education in the offing


Staff Reporter

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act-2009 to be implemented from next year

Teachers have to put in nine additional hours a weekRoles and responsibilities of teachers will undergo massive change
BHUBANESWAR: Teachers in government-run primary schools may have to pull up their socks to ensure good results because the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RCFCE)-2009 will be implemented in the State from the next financial year.
Under the new Act, teachers who now work for 36 hours per week will be asked to put in 45 minimum teaching hours including preparation hours in a week. It is now uncertain as to how to adjust these additional nine hours. Top officials of education department do not rule out the possibility of teachers working even on Sundays to meet the minimum working hours in principle.
Moreover, there will be 200 minimum working days for first class to fifth class and 220 working days for six to eight class students. Similarly, 800 minimum instructional hours for first to fifth class have been fixed per academic year while for six to eight class it would be 1000 hours.
Sensing that new guidelines could unsettle the teachers’ community, School and Mass Education department is contemplating disseminating the information among teachers even before the law is notified in the State for its implementation.
Spelling out the roadmap to implement the historic Act that guarantees free and compulsory education to children between the age of six and 14, School and Mass Education Secretary Vandana Jena said various departments would be asked not to engage teachers in non-academic duties other than the decennial population census, disaster relief duties or duties relating to elections.
“Roles and responsibilities of teachers under the new Act would undergo massive change. They will now be judging students’ strong points in continuous assessment system since class examinations will no longer exist,” Ms. Jena said.
Teachers will have to complete entire curriculum within specified time and assess the learning ability of each child and accordingly supplement additional instructions. They have to hold regular meetings with parents and guardians and apprise them of regularity in attendance, ability to learn, progress made in learning and any other relevant information about such teacher.
The Mass Education Secretary admitted that there was a huge gap between infrastructure required and existing. “We have to take up the issues regarding building of specified classrooms or toilets in every school within the next six months,” Ms. Jena said.
She informed that of the 17500 teachers to be recruited soon to improve pupil-teacher ratio in the State, more than 11,000 would be science and mathematics teachers. Ms. Jena said existing Acts related to primary education would be amended to make it compatible with the RCFCE.
The State government has estimated an expenditure of Rs. 14,000 crores over the next five years to implement the Act.


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