Akanksha Attri, Ludhiana
Mission Samarth, an initiative aimed at driving students’ growth trajectory is being criticised by the parents and the teachers of the students at government schools.
The second phase of the mission had started on April 3 for the students of Class 2 to 8. Under this, the students are assessed on the basis of their learning power, further divided into groups for their improvement in order to cater the learning deficiencies among them.
However, many parents believe that their children are lagging behind due to the curriculum of this mission. Veena Bala, a parent of Class 4 student said, “Continuously for two months, the students would be taught the same thing. My daughter is one of the class toppers and she is not being taught anything apart from the basics included under the mission.” Students of Class 2 to 5 are made to focus only on the curriculum guidelines of the mission. The regular academic syllabus will not be followed till that time.
Democratic teachers front district president Daljit Singh criticised the mission and said, “Teachers are well aware of the potential and level of their students. We should be allowed to work independently.” Teachers have been receiving complaints from the parents who feel that their children are lagging behind as compared to the ones studying in private schools, he added.
Deputy district education officer (secondary) Jaswinder Singh Virk said, “These are the personal views of teachers, but if we talk about the ground reality, there are many students of Class 4 and 5 who find it difficult in reading sentences, that is why the motive of this project is to make each and every student capable of reading, writing and comprehending. We cannot just think about the bright students, our responsibility is to bring all of them at the same level.” A number of students are making a shift from private schools to the government schools due to ongoing infrastructure developments and academic achievements, he added.
A government senior secondary school principal claimed the mission to be unreasonable and said the mission does not serve the purpose of equipping children with quality education. “An entirely separate project to level the students is not required at all. Teachers are themselves ‘samrath’ to cater to the needs of each student,” he added.
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