With SSC exams just a month away, it is not the students, but teachers who are facing the blues. They have been told in no uncertain terms - perform or perish.
This rider is for government school teachers in the State capital. The district administration expects the instructors to go the extra mile to improve the pass percentage in the tenth class exam scheduled to commence from March 27. Government teachers were told to raise the bar and push the pass percentage to at least 90 per cent. Those meeting the target will get rewarded by way of special entries in their confidential reports while the non-performers will attract disciplinary action. The pass percentage of government schools in Hyderabad is gradually rising over the years, still it compares poorly with the rest of the districts. During 2009-10 the pass percentage was 57.3, in 2010-11 it was 65 per cent, in 2011-12 it was 74.5 per cent and 2012-13 it was 77 per cent. “There is good scope for improving the results if teachers take the extra responsibility,” says Hyderabad Collector Mukesh Kumar Meena.
As per the action plan given by the District Educational Officer (DEO), teachers have to identify the capabilities of students through internal assessment. The students are to be categorised as bright, average and borderline cases and the last two have to be paid more attention.
However, the High Court ruling about functioning of schools between 9 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. is coming in the way of holding special classes beyond school hours. “We have convinced parents and holding classes unofficially up to 6 p.m.,” a teacher said. Many headmasters feel the district administration ought to provide some refreshment for the students who stay back.
Come next academic year and there will be no unrecognised school in the city. There are close to 2,000 private schools of which 400 odd are unrecognised. Notices have been issued to them and the schools are supposed to get approval from the civic body, traffic police and fire service department. This month authorities plan to publish the final list of unrecognised schools. “We want parents to know which school is recognised and which is not,” Mr. Meena said.
