During the recent ‘chintan shivir-cum-education conclave’ organised by the education department, some very pertinent issues were touched on. Chief Minister Pema Khandu in his address called upon the MLAs, panchayat leaders, district administrations and deputy directors of school education to review the status of all government-run schools in their respective jurisdiction and finalise a roadmap for reformation by 15 September. He further said that all finalised roadmaps must be submitted to the education department by 20 October. Education minister PD Sona raised a very important issue about how government schools fail to perform in comparison to private schools despite the teachers working in government schools being paid handsome salaries.
Hopefully, the roadmap that the CM spoke about will be implemented in true spirit. In the past also such meetings on improving the education department have been conducted, but when it comes to implementing the policies, the department always fails. Therefore, people always remain wary when such announcements are made. The education minister has correctly pointed out that, despite government school teachers being paid handsome salaries, the performance of government schools is very poor in the CBSE examinations. The teachers need to seriously ponder on this matter. Hopes are pinned on the new education minister to bring much-needed reform in the education department. It will be a Herculean task, but a beginning has to be made.