ET Report
jammu, Oct 1: Instead of concentrating on ground work and seriously implementing the policies for improvement in the standard of education, the Department of School Education in Jammu seems to be concerned more on ritualistic moves and kite flying only.
This is evident from a direction to all the Chief Education Officers in Jammu province to ensure that birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, which falls on October 2, is celebrated in all the schools.
Even as celebration of Gandhi Jayanti every year by the schools is a normal affair, this is for the first time that the education authorities have issued such a direction with special instruction that photographs of such functions should be uploaded on the official website of Directorate of School Education Jammu (DSEJ).
On the instruction of higher authorities (Minister), the DSEJ, Smita Sethi has issued order to all the Chief Education Officers to direct all the government as well as private schools under their jurisdiction to pay tributes to Bapu on October 2. "The celebration movement in the shape of photographs be emailed to this Directorate for uploading in the website," says the order number DSEJ/Gen/40040-49, dated 29-09-2016.
In compliance of the direction, the Chief Education Officers have further instructed all the Principals, ZEOs, and Headmasters of their respective district to treat the matter as urgent and organize Gandhi Jayanti programmes with paying floral tributes to Bapu.
Ironically, in the government orders by the Director and CEOs, there is no mention of birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, which also falls on October 2 and majority schools also pay tributes to this great son of India.
Further, issuing such directions to the schools has no meaning when the education authorities have miserably failed to implement its own policies, particularly much talked about transfer policy and shamelessly violated its norms, against which teachers are sitting on chain hunger strike for the last five days.
According to a senior officer in the Department, it seems that the Education Minister believes only in making propaganda and kite flying. Had he been serious, an inquiry would have been initiated into corrupt practices adopted in recent transfers of Teachers, Masters and Lecturers. |
