By issuing show-cause notices to the heads of five government schools for poor academic results, the Assam education department may have done something symbolic—but tragically misplaced. The notices, dated April 11 and sent by the Inspector of Schools, Kamrup (Metro), to Barsojai High School, Maligaon High School, NPME High School, Pillingkata High School, and Dispur Government Higher Secondary School, note that these schools recorded pass percentages below 25% in the latest High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) examination. The notices claim these results reflect “a lack of commitment” and “lapses in administration and supervision.”
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But to suggest that school heads alone are responsible for a systemic rot is not only short-sighted—it may be deeply counterproductive.
This follows an embarrassing slump in this year’s HSLC results—just 63% students passed, down from 75% in 2024 and 72.69% in 2023. The dip has understandably caused concern, particularly as many government schools lag behind private counterparts. But a failure of this magnitude is not the failure of five individuals—it is the symptom of a deeper institutional malaise.
It is imperative to frame this not as an aberration, but as a trajectory. A decade-long analysis of enrolment and pass percentage data is necessary to understand how we arrived at this juncture. Which districts saw early signs of decline? Did interventions—if any—arrest or exacerbate the fall? A granular, school-wise analysis must precede any corrective action.
Second, no system can deliver results when it is starved of essential resources. Assam’s government schools face a staggering staffing crisis. As per data disclosed in the Legislative Assembly, 2,295 schools are being run by a single teacher. Worse still, three primary schools function with no teachers at all. Nearly 7,014 schools lack a permanent headmaster. In the Sixth Schedule districts, higher secondary schools are facing acute shortages—317 Science, 322 Arts, and 246 Hindi teacher posts remain vacant. At the senior secondary level, Mathematics, English, and Hindi are severely under-served, with dozens of vacancies yet to be filled.
How, then, are schools expected to perform?
These gaps are not just numerical—they are pedagogical. When a single teacher is made responsible for an entire school, the learning needs of students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, are simply not met. Poor results, in this context, are not a surprise. They are inevitable.
The accountability lens must also be turned around. If headmasters are being questioned, what about the education department's own role? Take academic inspections—a core function of the system to ensure quality education. According to UDISE data, Barsojai High School has had no academic inspections since 2021. Maligaon High School hasn’t been inspected in 2023–24. NPME High School has also not seen an inspection since 2021. While Pillingkata and Dispur High Schools had two inspections each in 2023–24, what did those inspections achieve? Were red flags raised? Were any support mechanisms deployed?
That three of the five schools received no inspections, and two received ineffective ones, is telling. If oversight itself is absent or cursory, how can accountability be one-sided?
The show-cause notices also create a perverse incentive—placing optics above outcomes. If a school head knows they will be penalised for low pass rates, they may be driven to push students to cheat, fudge records, or game the system. In other states, we have seen the consequences of this mindset: children promoted without real learning, and a bureaucracy more invested in numbers than in knowledge.
This is not an abstract concern. When punishment becomes the primary policy tool, it stifles honesty, initiative, and reform. Instead of building a culture where school leaders feel empowered to ask for help—to identify learning gaps, request training, or flag administrative bottlenecks—we create a climate of fear. The price is paid not just in job security, but in the erosion of trust between institutions and individuals.
None of this is to argue against accountability. Principals and teachers must be held to standards. But true accountability demands shared responsibility. It requires the department to ask tough questions of itself. When were textbooks delivered? Was teacher recruitment prioritised? Were schools equipped with adequate infrastructure? Was there regular pedagogical support?
Blaming principals alone is scapegoating. It is also profoundly unfair.
Assam’s public education crisis is not new, but this year’s HSLC results have made it undeniable. What we need now is not just a round of bureaucratic finger-pointing, but an honest, data-driven diagnosis—and a commitment to long-term reform. That means investing in human capital, revamping teacher training, improving inspections, and creating school ecosystems where learning, not just passing, is the priority.
Only then can we hope to rewrite the narrative—not just for five schools, but for five million children who depend on the public education system for their future.
(The writer is a Delhi-based Advocate and works as a Research Fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. All views and opinions expressed are author’s own)
