GUWAHATI: Assam schools performed better overall in this year’s Gunotsav, the results of which were declared recently.
As per the results, the number of government-run schools which got the highest A+ grade in their evaluation has increased by 11 percent and has crossed the 10,500 mark. Out of the total schools surveyed, 23 per cent of the schools received the A+ grade. In 2017, this number was merely 12 per cent.
The quality of education in government-run schools has been a cause of concern for a long time now and proves to be a deterrent for a majority of people when they think of sending their children to government schools.
In order to improve the the overall quality of education in primary schools, the state government had undertaken Gunotsav. Students between classes 2 to 8 of all primary schools of the district were assessed under the initiative.
Under the scheme, external evaluators consisting of the chief minister, other state ministers and officials visited and marked the schools. The overall assessment was based on academic achievements of students and co-curricular activities comprising the morning assembly, formation of student parliaments, use of library books by students, conduct of physical education classes, availability and utilisation of school infrastructure and other facilities, and participation of school management committees in school activities were a few criteria taken into consideration for the evaluation.
Students of class II-IX across 46,404 schools in Assam were assessed by ministers, MLAs, IAS, IPS officers along with senior government officials during the exercise.
The officials were hoping for a better performance in this round of the evaluation exercise as compared to the previous round.
However, around 75 per cent primary schools in the Kamrup (Metro) district scored low grades during the first phase of Gunotsav. According to data provided by the Assam Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Mission (ASSAM), a total of 708 elementary schools in the district were evaluated under the scheme, out of which 534 schools scored C and D grades.
In Kamrup (Metro), only 18 schools were graded as A+, while 14 scored the A grade and 142 schools were given B grade. As many as 54,837 students were evaluated in the district on their academic as well as extra-curricular performance.
District education officials said that this form of evaluation proved beneficial for them as they were now aware of the shortcomings and are already working towards improving them.
Taking another step to ensure better quality of education, the state education department has merged a total of 40 schools in Kamrup (Metro) district recently since several schools witnessed low enrolment of students during the past year. Apart from low enrolment, there were also many such schools across the state in which not even a single student took admission during the last academic year.
These schools with zero and low enrolment mostly included Assamese and Bengali medium schools in the city as well as the state, informed officials.
Apart from the 40 schools which have already been merged in Kamrup (Metro), education department officials are planning to further merge more schools together.
