Manju Chutia
Inequalities between Government and Private sectors
are not new. They have always existed and in the present times it has become a
vital problem of the society. Though the world has become a small village in
this Era of Globalization this type of disparities still exist in our society.
The present study has tried to trace out one of the important disparities in
the field of School Education that is the government- private disparity between
two pioneering schools of the state Assam, Cotton Collegiate Government Higher
Secondary School and the Assam Jatiya Bidyalay. Present study considered these
two secondary schools for a comparative study in some of the specific aspects
like academic achievement of the students, Innovative practices,
Infrastructural facilities and Provision for extra-curricular activities.
Keywords- Disparity,
Government schools, Private schools, Academic achievement, innovative
practices, extra-curricular activties
Introduction- Inequalities between Government and
Private sectors are not new. They have always existed and in the present times
it has become a vital problem of the society. Though the world has become a
small village in this Era of Globalization this type of disparities still exist
in our society. The present study has tried to trace out one of the important
disparities in the field of School Education that is the government- private
disparity between two pioneering schools of the state Assam, Cotton Collegiate
Government Higher Secondary School and the Assam Jatiya Bidyalay. These two
schools are considered as the pioneering schools as the government school is
the first Assamese medium secondary school of the state which was established
in 1834 and which has completed its 178 glorious years. On the other hand the
Assam Jatiya Bidyalay is considered as the another pioneering school of the
state which was established in the year1994 and which had opened the path for
establishing quality private Assamese medium secondary schools in the state
with very nominal fees from the students and give 100% results each year from
the very beginning. After Assam Jatiya Bidyalay a number of private Assamese
medium secondary schools were established though they are not maintaining the quality
output.
In Assam the
first modern school came into existence in 1834, with approval of the proposal
of General Committee of public instruction, by the Govt. of India, to the
establishment of an English school at Gauhati (Guwahati). And that is the Cotton
Collegiate Government Higher Secondary School, though this is not the original
name. Towards the end of the same year the school was started with an enrolment
of fifty-eight which rose to one hundred and fifty in 1838.
At present in
Assam there are six different types of secondary schools from the management of
the schools point of view which are classified by the Board of Secondary
Education Assam. These schools are-
1. Government
schools: The government schools are fully managed and maintained by the
government.
2. Provincialised schools: Provincialised
schools are not directly maintained and managed by the government, but receive
maintenance grants from the government.
3. Recognized Non-Provincialised Public
schools: This type of schools is recognized by the Board of Secondary
Education Assam and the state government but they are not provincialised by the
government of Assam.
4. Recognized Non-Provincialised Private
schools: This type of schools is recognized by the Board of Secondary
Education Assam but they do not get provincialization by the government as
these schools are not established with the hope to get its provincialization.
5. Unrecognized Non-Provincialised Public
schools: This type of schools is established by the public with a hope for
its provincialization but they do not get recognition from SEBA. This type of
public schools does not get any financial aid from the government.
6. Unrecognized Non-Provincialised Private
schools: These schools are established by the private bodies which do not
get recognition from the Board of Secondary Education, Assam and which do not
get provincialization by the government of Assam. This type of schools are
owned run and managed by the private bodies or the private agencies.
Present study considered two secondary schools
one is government school and the other is the recognised non-provincialised
private school for a comparative study in some of the specific aspects like-
academic achievement of the students, Innovative practices, Infrastructural facilities
and Provision for Extra-curricular activities. One is government school and the
other is the recognised non-provincialised private school.
Need and justification of the study- Present study has been
justified on the ground that no such exploratory work has been done giving
emphasis on government private disparity of the secondary schools especially
these two pioneering schools of the state.
Statement of the problem- The present study is entitled as
“Government Private disparity in two pioneering secondary schools of Assam”
which provides the necessary information in the light of the justification
given in this study.
Objectives
·
To make a comparative study
between these two secondary schools in respect of the academic achievement of
the students.
·
To make a comparative study
between these two schools in respect of the innovative approaches adopted by
the schools.
·
To make a comparative study
between these two schools in respect of the infrastructural facility.
·
To make a comparative study
between these two schools in respect of the extra-curricular activities.
Research Design:
Method used- For the present study
Normative Survey method has been adopted.
Sample- The sample for the present
study has been selected in two different strata. In the first strata two target
schools were selected and in the second strata 400 students were selected
randomly from the target schools. From each school 200 students were selected
in order to collect data related to academic achievement of the students.
Tools used- Tools used for the present
study were-
·
Data gathering schedule
·
Structured and unstructured
Interviews
Statistical techniques used- For the
quantitative analysis of the present study the statistical techniques used are-
Tables, Graphical representations, Mean, Standard
Deviation
Delimitation
of the study
The study is delimited to-
- Only two
secondary schools of Guwahati are considered for the present study
- Only two
Assamese medium secondary schools are considered for the study
- Only four
aspects of these schools are considered for the study and these are-
academic achievements, innovative approaches, infrastructural facilities
and extra- curricular activities.
- For academic
achievement average pass percentage of the students in HSLC examination
was taken as the index.
Analysis and discussions - Objective
no 1 To make a comparative study between these two secondary schools in respect
of the academic achievement of the students.
For this objective the investigator collected the average
pass percentage of the students in HSLC examination in five consecutive years
from 2007 to 2011 from both the schools. From these two set of academic
achievement scores mean and standard deviations were calculated separately
which is presented in table-1.
Table-1
Mean and standard deviation
of the academic achievement scores of the sample schools
|
Name of the schools
|
N
|
Academic achievement (%)
|
|
Cotton Collegiate HSS
|
200
|
78%
|
|
Assam Jatiya Bidyalay
|
200
|
100%
|
|
Total
|
400
|
89%
|
Figure-1
Pie diagram
Academic achievement of the
two sample schools
From Table-1 and Figure-1
it is observed that the academic achievement of the students in government
school that is Cotton Collegiate HSS is found to be 78% and the private school
it is 100%. Here it can be interpreted that the academic achievement of the
students in the private school that is Assam Jatiya Bidyalay is found to be
better than the government school that is Cotton Collegiate HSS.
Objective
no. 2 To make a comparative study between these two schools in respect of the
innovative approaches adopted by the schools.
In order to serve the need of this study the investigator
collected data from the respective schools with the help of the data gathering
schedule and the interviews. The collected data for this objective is presented
in Table-2.
Table-2
Innovative approaches adopted
by the sample schools
|
Sl.
no.
|
Private School (AJB)
|
Government School (CCGHSS)
|
||||
|
1.
|
Field work as the method of teaching the subjects
like Social Science, History and Geography
|
No such provisions are there
|
||||
|
2.
|
Compulsory laboratory classes each day for students
from class IV to X in the subject General Science
|
Only the students of class VIII, IX and X use the
laboratory which.
|
||||
|
3.
|
Compulsory spoken English classes for students each
day from class V to X.
|
No spoken English classes are there
|
||||
|
4.
|
Special guest teachers for the students once in a
month
|
No such provisions are there
|
||||
|
5.
|
Out of total 36 sections (of 10 classes) 14
compulsory library classes in two libraries available in the school, Junior
Library for class I-IV and Senior Library for class V-X
|
Single library is available but the quality and the
use of this library is very poor
|
||||
|
6.
|
Class teachers maintain Class Libraries in each
class.
|
No such step is taken there
|
||||
|
7.
|
Provision of ‘Student Teacher’ is available
|
No such provisions are there
|
||||
|
8.
|
Provision for Audio-Visual classroom and specific
teacher for that classroom is also appointed. Every day seven proxy classes
take place in the Audio-Visual Classroom.
|
Not available
|
||||
|
9.
|
Use of LCD projectors in classroom transaction
|
Not available
|
||||
|
10.
|
Provision for ‘HOME VISIT’. Every year the respective
class teacher is to take feedback of the student’s academic as well as other
developments by visiting their houses. In class X before the Pre Board
Examination and Board Examination, the group of respective subject teachers
have to visit the students’ home twice.
|
No such provision is available
|
||||
|
11.
|
“Abhigyan Shibir”, A constructive and ideal farewell
ceremony for the HSLC appeared students. This is a two days camp for the
students. It is organised in the school on the immediate Saturday and Sunday
just after the completion of the HSLC examination. The students have to come
to the school on Saturday afternoon and stay the Saturday night there in the
school with some of the selected teacher. In the evening they organise a
function and feast. Sunday morning they have to attend two counselling
sessions, one is on career counselling and the other is on Physical and mental
health. Specialists for these sessions are invited. In the Sunday afternoon
final farewell meeting is organised where all the parent and the teachers are
invited and the camp is concluded.
|
Not available
|
||||
|
12.
|
Arrangements are made for continuous and comprehensive
teachers’ training programs, orientation courses, refresher courses for the
teachers.
|
In the school level no such provisions are made.
|
||||
|
13.
|
For better administration of the school along with
the Principal, two vice principals, administrative officer, academic officer,
Departments for each subject is set with one Head of the Department with the
tenure of 3 years. Total six departments are there- Assamese, English,
Science and Mathematics, Social Science, Hindi, Extra-curricular subjects.
|
Principal and the vice- principal are the main
authority of the school. Class teachers are given responsibility to some
extent.
|
||||
From table-2 it is
observed that being a private so many innovative approaches are adopted in the
school for better educational output of the school. Assam Jatiya Bidyalay is
the lone school where such approaches are made. Guest teacher, well utilization
of the proxy classes, regular spoken English classes, compulsion in use of
laboratory and libraries, well equipped audio-visual classroom, use of LCD
projectors, high standard teachers’ trainings and better administrative set up,
these are the important approaches adopted by a private secondary school which
result better academic outcome of the school. On the other hand the government
school is following the same traditional methods of teaching and other
approaches.
Objective no. 3 To make a
comparative study between these two schools in respect of the infrastructural
facility.
In
order to serve this objective the investigator collected data and information
from the respective schools and the same is presented in Table-3
Table-3
Infrastructural
facility available in the sample schools
|
Sl.no
|
Private School (AJB)
|
Government School (CCGHSS)
|
|
1.
|
Well
equipped classrooms
|
Simple
classrooms are available
|
|
2.
|
Well
equipped and hygienic toilet and washroom facilities
|
Toilet
facility is not sufficient and hygienic
|
|
3.
|
Two rich
Libraries. Both the libraries have well equipped furniture where 40 students
can sit and read together
|
Single
library is there but use of it is not regular and compulsory
|
|
4.
|
High
standard laboratories (senior and junior laboratory)
|
Laboratory
is available but not well equipped and rich
|
|
5.
|
Air-conditioned
two numbers of Computer science laboratories
|
No Computers
laboratory is there.
|
|
6.
|
Sufficient
drinking water facilities
|
Not
sufficient
|
|
7.
|
For nearly
hundred teachers 5 teachers’ common rooms or the sitting rooms with well
furnished furniture. Separate pairs of table chair and almira for each
teacher.
|
Only two
sitting rooms are there where the teachers are to share the big tables and
some common almirahs are available
|
|
8.
|
Two separate
Recreation rooms for the teachers one for male teachers and the other for the
female
|
Not
available
|
|
9
|
Well
equipped Auditorium
|
Not available
|
|
10
|
Rich
Teaching Learning Material (TLM) room where TLM for each subject are kept
which are prepared by the respective subject teachers in some workshops
organised in the school from time to time.
|
Not
available
|
From
table-3 it is observed that in comparison to the Cotton Collegiate Government
Higher Secondary School the private school is highly equipped and have a good
infrastructural facilities.
Objective no. 3 To make a
comparative study between these two schools in respect of the extra-curricular
activities.
To meet the need of this objective the
investigator collected data and information from the respective schools with
the help of the interviews and the data gathering schedule and the result is
presented in Table-4.
Table-4
Provisions for extra-curricular
activities in the sample schools.
|
S.
n.
|
Private School
(AJB)
|
Government School
(CCGHSS)
|
|
1.
|
Separate department for
Extra-curricular subjects is there with one head of the department and 36
subject teachers. Extra-curricular classes take place only on Saturday. And
hence the teaching stuff for extra-curricular is appointed as part time
basis, but the head of the department is the permanent teacher of the school.
On Saturday no other classes take place. From class II onwards the students
have to select any one of the extra-curricular subject and on each Saturday
they have to attend that compulsory classes.
|
Not
available
|
|
2.
|
Extra-curricular subjects available in
the school are-Drawing and Fine Arts, Music, Bharat Natyam, Satriya, Scout and Guide, Yoga, Tabla,
Behela,
|
Not
available
|
|
3.
|
In these extra-curricular subjects the
students have to appear examinations under different institutes and
universities where they get degrees and diplomas.
|
Not
available
|
School stage is the right time to
explore the potentials of the students and this particular school is adopting
one of the best ways to channelize their innate capacities. The private school
is adopting such steps with their best possible capacities, where the
government schools have better capacity to adopt such steps but not
initializing and adopting.
Findings
- The private
school Assam Jatiya Bidyalay has a better academic performance than the
government school that is Cotton Collegiate GHS School. Since the
establishing year 1994 Assam Jaiya Bidyalay has been performing 100% pass
percentage each year in HSLC examination.
- Innovative
approaches adopted by the private school is very appreciating where the
government schools is lagging far behind.
- In respect
of the infrastructural facilities the private school if found to be better
than that of the government school. The government school considered for
the present study is fully managed and maintained by the state government
yet it does not have rich infrastructure in comparison to the private
school.
- Provisions
for extra-curricular education is available in the private school where in
the government school such provision is not found
Suggestions
1)
Efforts should be made to improve
the infrastructure facilities like library, laboratory equipments, and
classrooms, teaching technology, teaching aids for academic and professional
development of the teachers which results in better academic performance of the
students.
2)
Necessary efforts from concerned
authorities are required to introduce new schemes and modifications of the
existing institutional plans and policies. To increase academic performance of
the students it is very important to adopt innovative approaches in teaching
and the other activities in the school. Like the private school provisions
should be made in the government schools.
3)
Provisions should be made for extra-curricular
activities in the government schools and it should be made compulsory.
4)
Arrangement to be made at the
institutional level for job enrichment, job variation among the teachers in
academic and related activities to break the monotony of work and to bring innovation.
5)
Involvement of the teachers in
various institutional and social work, recreational clubs, NSS, computer
learning centre and centre of continuous
and distance education, where the teachers can spend their leisure time
effectively, purposefully.
6)
There was a news in an Assamese
News Channel “NEWS LIVE” on dated 7TH February 2012 about one
Private Assamese medium secondary school that is Assam Jatiya Bidyalay,
Noonmati, which is also one of the sample schools of the present study. The
news was about an innovative approach in teaching by the Social Science
teachers of the school. The Social Science department of the school organised a
field study programme with the theme “NIJOK SINO AHA” (Lets Know Ourselves). It
was a study on the tribes of Assam and their culture. They organised six
different camps in tribal populated areas of Assam with six different groups of
teachers and students (class eight students). They stayed there in the houses
of the tribal people. The students involved in every activity of village people
and tried to learn things practically. In this field work programme they
gathered maximum primary data from nearly 15 tribes of Assam. After these camps
all the experiences were shared in the whole school. So this was a unique step
taken by one private school. This type of approaches will certainly help to
uplift the academic environment of the schools.
7)
Both pre-service and in-service
teachers’ training is necessary for quality education in secondary level. The
teachers should be given in-service training and as far as possible it should
be made compulsory and mandatory in the government schools.
8)
Except the pedagogical training
which prepares teachers for effective classroom training, training in
communication and management aspects of the school is quite unknown in our
educational system. So the provisions should be made to organise training
programs in communication and management of persons and training for
professional growth of the teachers.
9)
As there is a common belief that
all the students of Assamese medium secondary schools cannot speak English
properly so it is very important to make arrangements for regular compulsory
spoken classes in the Assamese medium schools.
10)
Like the college teachers the
Short Term Teachers’ Training Programs, Orientation Programmes, Refreshers
Courses should be introduced for academic as well as personal development of
the secondary schools teachers.
11)
Group activities among the school
teachers should be encouraged. Management of the school should be based on more
scientific principle which lay emphasis on group dynamics.
Conclusions
Government-Private
disparity in school education is obvious but it is very important to bridge the
gap between these two in order to get quality education from the educational
institutions where the future citizens of our country are built. It is expected
that the findings and the suggestions of this study will be helpful to the
concerned authorities and the policy makers to bring sustainable developments
and improvements in the field of school education as a whole.
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Dr. Manju Chutia
Lecturer, Department of
Foundation Education,
DIET, Nalbari, Assam
