Educational facilities and hidden costs of inequitable distribution
The Care of Children - 5
August 23, 2012, 7:23 pm , The Island
Significantly, I am rarely told about shortages of teachers for computing, but this does not mean that they are available. This was brought home to me graphically when I was discussing plans for use of some of my decentralized budget for education in Rideegama in Kurunagala. While I have over the last few years used part of the budget in the North, for entrepreneurship training for former combatants and this year for Vocational Training in Mullaitivu, and the rest in Ratnapura, where we concentrated on school education and English, I thought I should also more further afield, given that the Liberal Party has a couple of Pradeshiya Sabha members in Rideegama.
By Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha
I
have been deeply upset in recent months, at meetings of Divisional
Secretariat Reconciliation Committee meetings in the North, at the
continuing failure to address the problem of teacher shortages in key
subjects. While there is heartening appreciation of the rebuilding of
schools, at much better levels than ever before, I am constantly told
that there are insufficient teachers for English and Maths and Science.
Of course I know this is a problem elsewhere in the country too, but
that is no excuse. Given that it is those in rural communities who
suffer most, I can only hope that those concerned with basic rights
will at some stage institute legal action to ensure equity in
education, and force government to look at alternative systems of
teacher training and teacher supply, instead of sticking with the
statist centralized model that has so signally failed for so long.
Significantly,
I am rarely told about shortages of teachers for computing, but this
does not mean that they are available. This was brought home to me
graphically when I was discussing plans for use of some of my
decentralized budget for education in Rideegama in Kurunagala. While I
have over the last few years used part of the budget in the North, for
entrepreneurship training for former combatants and this year for
Vocational Training in Mullaitivu, and the rest in Ratnapura, where we
concentrated on school education and English, I thought I should also
more further afield, given that the Liberal Party has a couple of
Pradeshiya Sabha members in Rideegama.
I had
wanted to do English classes, and these will now be conducted in three
GN divisions, through the Sabaragamuwa English Language Teaching
Department, which had done the teacher training in Sabaragamuwa. But to
my surprise I was also asked for computer training, in particular for
Ordinary Level students, since there are hardly any computer teachers
in the schools in the area.
I cannot believe
this is true, and I am sure there is some exaggeration involved. But if
this is the perception, then clearly there must be shortages,
suggesting that the effort to enhance opportunities for all our
children will come to naught. Ironically, I was told about the shortage
on the very day that I heard, over the wireless, of a government plan
to provide laptops to all school children.
In
theory this is a good idea, but I was reminded about what my father
told me about the ambitions of all Members of Parliament, first to
become Ministers, and then to get Ministries which involve procurement.
I don’t think this is entirely fair, because my experience is that,
where commissions are involved in procurement, it is often not the
Minister who benefits but various officials. But it is a pity that
Ministers promote such projects, and make much of distribution of such
equipment, when they should realize that the development of human
resources is much more important than supplying equipment that may lie
unused for lack of training in its use.
Unfortunately,
when statistics are compiled about what has been done, it is much
easier to record tangible benefits. These are of course vital, and the
need for adequate infrastructure in areas that have been neglected is
obvious. But in concentrating on these we sometimes miss the need for
ensuring human development too.
One reason for
this is that, at the higher levels at which monitoring is done,
counting up constructions is much easier. Counting what has been done
in terms of training requires monitoring at much lower levels, and that
happens rarely.
It is for this reason that, at
the Divisional meetings, we have suggested regular consultations that
will assess local situations. Parents must be encouraged to note
teacher shortages and deficiencies in basic facilities such as toilets
and water supply and space for playing, and bring these to the
attention of those responsible for education in the fullest sense. And
responsibility for providing these should be allocated to manageable
units, not as happens at present in terms of large educational Zones,
where the shortages in rural areas are masked by excess supply in the
towns.
I had no idea this happened, but I was
told in Cheddikulam in Vavuniya that they could not get sufficient
teachers because the Zone as a whole had more than enough. The problem
was that they were stationed in Vavuniya, and refused to move to
distant areas. I suspect this is true elsewhere in the country too,
which is why Rideegama suffers even though Kurunegala is supposed to be
relatively well equipped educationally. And one shudders to think of
the deprivation in the slum schools of Colombo, with their close
neighbours having more than enough of everything.
Unfortunately
government does not seem to realize how many problems would be solved
if they ensured equity in education, by introducing a school based
system of teacher recruitment and monitoring. Now hours of time, and
thus money too, is wasted in efforts to get children into prestigious
schools, and then transporting them there through lengthy journeys.
Given that this results in unwieldy classroom sizes, little teaching is
done properly in class, which is why tuition has become essential even
for students in prestigious schools. Meanwhile in rural areas students
don’t even have teachers who do not teach, which means they have to do
without tuition, or else they have to travel miles to urban centres to
have at least a hope of getting through public examinations.
Radical
reforms are needed, but the vested interests are too strong for this
to be possible. I suspect it is only when fundamental rights cases are
taken out that we might see some change. But since the plight of rural
children is not a fashionable cause, this is unlikely to happen, and we
will continue to fight over the few who manage to move on to striking
distance of university – even though, as the recent recruitment of a
vast number of graduates has made clear, getting into university no
longer helps the vast majority with becoming employable.
