Nashik official’s decision lauded

Organisations representing parents have lauded the decision of the deputy director of education at Nashik to keep a check on schools so that they do not fail or keep back students in Class 9 to achieve 100 per cent results in the SSC board exams. The deputy director has asked schools to get the Class 9 results approved by the local education office before announcing them. Organisations have said that the initiative by the Nashik education office should be emulated and implemented across the state to curb the high-handed attitude of the schools.

Since the past few years, parents and parent-teachers organisations have been trying to expose the practice of schools of sieving weak students or asking them to appear for the board exams privately so that their Secondary School Certificate (SSC) board exam results do not suffer.

“For many years schools have been using this method without any fear, as a result of which many students are being forced to leave school prematurely. This leaves a negative impact on the minds of the students and also leads to some of them giving up on education,” said Suresh Lad of Jagrut Palak Sangh.

But with the circular, issued by the Nashik deputy directors’ office asking schools in its jurisdiction to submit the class 9 results before handing it over to the students, Mr Lad said that it could deter schools from sieving out students.

According to an education department official, “The department has enrolment details of all schools and know how many students are studying in each school. In the event of the school sieving out students or failing them in large numbers the education officer can ask the school to undertake remedial coaching for the weaker students and ensure that they continue studying in the school itself. The approval process will go a long way in identifying the errant schools and also deter them from discouraging students from studying further,” said the official.

Arundhati Chavan of Parent Teacher Association welcomed the move and said that it would be beneficial to the students and also serve as a check on schools that fail weaker students on purpose or ask them to appear privately. “The initiative is very nice and should be implemented across the state for all schools,” said Ms Chavan.