The big gap in the quality of Education in cities and villages - we need to fix it asap!

Students fare poorly in ZP schools

Survey Reveals That Kids Can Barely Spell Marathi And English Words

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: While it may not come as a surprise that students from zilla parishad schools in the interiors of Maharahstra fare poorly in English, a recent survey found that they could barely write even Marathi.
The survey—conducted by the school education department’s Quality Improvement Cell in 17 districts spanning 1,500 schools and 50,000 students— painted an abysmal picture of education in the state.
Conducted over the last two months, the survey found that over 60% of Class II and III students surveyed in Gadchiroli could not spell the word “bhajibhakri’’ in Marathi, or write the name of a friend. And only 38.5% could add 17 and 18.
Seventy-eight per cent of class VI students surveyed in Nagpur and Aurangabad could not answer questions meant for Class III students and only 9% could spell the name of their school in English.
Of the Class II and III students surveyed, only 29.8% were up to the mark, and of the students who were surveyed from Classes IV to VII, only 30.59% were capable of studying in the standard they were in.
Of the students surveyed in Nagpur and Aurangabad, no one could frame a sentence in English using the word “table’’. And only 13.33% could write the word “garden’’.
“The situation is bleak across the state. We found that very little teaching took place during class hours. Teaching hours were not properly utilised,’’ said J Abhyankar, who heads the Quality Improvement Cell.
He added that workbooks that were meant to be solved by students at home, were being solved by the teacher in class. “Instead of creating a lively, energetic environment inside the classroom, lessons were dull and boring,’’ he added.
While the survey mentions that it was not possible for the department to visit all schools in a particular area, and only a handful were surveyed, it was likely that conditions at most schools would be the same as those in the schools surveyed.
toireporter@timesgroup.com