Vinamrata Borwankar
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Mumbai:
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Ahead of Teacher's Day , the education department has changed the parameters for the state award for `ideal teacher' to include the students' performances in baseline tests and scholarship exams and whether or not the school has a hand-washing station. The new parameters have upset teachers across the state.
At the end of last year, local education officers had started nominating teachers who had displayed excellence in their work. The awardees are usually announced on August 15 every year and the awards are handed over on September 5.
However, on July 21 this year, the state issued a government resolution with new guidelines and called for fresh online applications.
According to the new guidelines, the teachers will be marked on almost 15 parameters.These include marks for recognition the teacher has received for awareness work in areas like family planning, polio and census, performance of students in the baseline tests or scholarship exams, donations collected for the school, and whether or not the school has a hand-washing station.
The new rules have not gone down well with the teachers.“Meeting infrastructure requirements is not the work of teachers. What if the school management is self-sufficient and teachers do not require to collect donations?“ asked a teacher from a school in western suburbs. For the secondary section, the teachers and principal will be eligible if the school has a 100% result in that subject or the examinations respectively . Teachers said the focus now has moved away from the teachers' contribution to education. “The focus is now on the development and achievements of the schools and not on what the teachers are doing. Also, moving the applications online is not a good thing for teachers in the rural parts of the state,“ said Muralidhar More, western region chairman of the Maharashtra Rajya Shikshak Sena.
School education minister, Vinod Tawde and principal secretary , Nandkumar remained unavailable for comment.
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