The Himachal Pradesh education ministry stands at the juncture, with the dismal student enrolment downtrend hand-in-hand marching parallel side by side the need for multi-faceted reforms in the governance and examination process. State also dons the dual cap of reversing admissions dip and reconsidering the mass board exam system as per new education goals. Remedy to these ills lies in a robust overview of the present governance mechanisms as well as a wholesome master plan towards fruitful reforms. Decrease in the admissions by the students, especially to the government schools, is impossible.
The 2023-24 UDISE+ report indicates that the government schools in the primary stage, i.e., with 80% of all schools, have just 54% of the state students enrolled with them up till now. This is a sharp decline from 89% of students in the year 2003-04. This is also witnessed at upper primary, secondary, and senior secondary levels with a trend towards attendance at private schools as being of better quality. Enabling factors would be increasing numbers of persons of school-going age, out-migration of government to private schools, and socio-economic change. The state's Total Fertility Rate (TFR) decreased from 1.9 in 2008 to 1.7 in 2021 and that is equivalent to fewer school children. Besides this, there is a need for private schools because of the perceived quality of education that they offer, placing pressure on government school intake.
Declining enrollments are a governance concern. Inefficient use of resources is the most serious concern. More than half of the schools are running below capacity. The inefficiency leads to the rise in cost per pupil without a corresponding rise in learning achievement. Even at the low pupil-teacher ratio (PTR)--11.70 government and 14.33 private--learning outcome has improved by a narrow margin. School building maintenance is another problem. Small schools lack resources to fund school building maintenance.
The policy is coming when the state cannot match education problems it already faces, as suggested by the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) released recently.
The statistics also reveal huge disparity in student enrollments in schools, pupil-teacher ratios, and student enrollments rates among districts. Government primary schools, for example, are disproportionately small, with some having fewer than 10 children. Apart from that, government schools and private schools also vary greatly in the ways that they can access, particularly in rural and backward areas. The government attempts to create institutions of quality education that will achieve new heights of learning and teaching by creating Schools of Excellence. These schools will focus on providing quality education by better pedagogy, better teachers, and a curriculum with strong focus on problem-solving skills, creativity, and critical thinking.
As a part of a record-breaking mission to improve the educational quality in Himachal Pradesh, the state government has presented proposals to set up Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding Schools and Schools of Excellence in the state. The action is to create a sustainable and integrated education system to touch every section of students, especially rural and rural-fringe-based students.
Concrete proposals for establishing these new schools were put on the backburner following extensive consultation and planning meetings, a clear indication of the government's resolve to enhance learning. The schools would be enhanced schools in an academic sense, where healthy learning in the form of scholarly education and also co-curricular activities, games, and vocational training would be provided.
The Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding Schools will provide an integrated school life in which the children would have longer school hours. The model would be a middle way between the rural school and urban school by providing equal opportunities to the students. The boarding schools will be adequately provided with infrastructure, advanced laboratories, library halls, and sports facilities such that the students get complete education.
"Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu once again reiterated the government's resolve towards ensuring quality and equal education to all children of the state. All such reforms like Schools of Excellence, Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding Schools, and cluster scheme are steps in a vision of grand design to place the education system in the modern age and enhance the learning outcomes."
In addition to governance change, Himachal Pradesh needs its board examination system priority re-designed along with. Beyond the type of rote-memorize and learn examination system adopted today, nothing can ever be beneficial to shape emerging educational requirements of students. Instead of blocks of writing, the rigidity of the system is bound to suppress innovative abilities as well as thinking powers and lead to boredom as well as student alienation.
Its revamp is central to making education aspirational and relevant. Adjustments can include:
Shift from traditional tests to competence tests that measure students' knowledge, application of their knowledge, and thinking critically. The framework promotes more learning and better prepares students to deal with real issues.
By Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation throughout the whole academic year, lowering board exam stress year by year. It would evaluate the student against different sets of abilities like academics, co-curricular, and behavior towards others.
Application of technology during tests to facilitate adaptive testing that responds to varying learning rates and learning styles. This can subsequently customize an interactive learning session and determine what areas require more support for students.
Board exam reform would involve the mass training of teachers in a manner that teachers are adequately prepared to employ novel examination methods optimally. Teachers should be trained in a manner that students would be encouraged to think innovatively and logically.
Himachal Pradesh's emphasis on quality education is not on constructing new schools; it's reengineering the whole school system. The state emphasis in making school excellent and inclusive also shows up in its policy to enhance the proportion of the children going for secondary and senior secondary schooling. The government agenda is massive investment in teacher training, class-room technology, and physical infrastructure.
Its funds are at a price as most of the education budget is used in the salaries, training, and adding schools of the teachers. For that to take precedence when it comes to management of resources translates to the fact that the schools will be in a position to stand on their own and provide quality education in the long term.
Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding Schools and Schools of Excellence, in their own right, herald a new dawn in the face of education in Himachal Pradesh. This action can be anticipated to not only usher in a change for better standards of education but also socio-economic development of the state. Himachal Pradesh, through these actions, is poised to be the pace-setter of educational reform and model for other Indian states to emulate.
As such schools dig deeper roots, the government will also keep an eye on it so that it's ensuring that it's keeping a check on the pace and making necessary changes to provide the children of Himachal Pradesh with quality education that they deserve. The fate of the state literally depends on its ability to change the life of thousands of students and create a better tomorrow for generations to come.
