REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE
- By Ramanuj Dutta Choudhury
Guwahati, Feb 20: More than five lakh fake students have been identified after the launching of the Shiksha Setu App by the State Government, while, the App brought other revolutionary changes in the school education system as the presence of teachers in schools can be monitored from Guwahati.
Education Adviser to the State Government, Dr Nani Gopal Mahanta told The Assam Tribune that some schools showed an inflated number of students because of several reasons. The teachers were apprehensive that they might be transferred to other schools if the enrolment was less. But that is only one of the reasons.
Mahanta pointed out that the Government provides mid-day meals, uniforms, textbooks, sports kits, etc for the school students and a handful of principals, in collusion with the school management committees, inflated the number of students to siphon off Government funds. This practice was going on for quite some time and in some areas, people of localities even held elections to the posts of management committees. But the launching of the Shiksha Setu App detected such bogus enrolments and so far more than five lakh fake students have been identified and the number can go higher.
Some teachers had the habit of reaching schools very late and going out early. There were instances where teachers were absent from duty without permission and the students were the sufferers. As the State has more than 45,000 schools and over two lakh teachers, the Education Department couldn't keep a tab on the presence of teachers. But after the launching of the App, the teachers have to mark their presence digitally and they have to be present in schools.
The school dropout rates in some areas are also very high, which is an area of concern. But now through the App, the Government can identify the schools where the dropout rate is high and can take corrective steps.
The App also helped the Government to start the process of rationalisation of teachers based on the number of students, while, vacancies can be identified and Government can plan accordingly. Mahanta said that in the town areas, the number of teachers is higher than required, while, the village areas have less number of teachers. The Government has already started the process of rationalization of teachers, but the process will take some time.
Replying to a question about opposition to the App by some teachers, Mahanta said that there is no reason for the teachers to oppose the App. He admitted that there are internet issues in some remote areas, but that is not a big issue.