THINGS look vague when viewed from a distance or with spite. Public schools and teachers are derided by armchair critics who never try to see the actual picture; the larger picture. Both internal and external factors contribute to the falling standard of public schools.

For starters, public school teachers are utilised by various boards for conducting examinations, leaving the schools understaffed. Teaching periods go untaught, and it leads to non-serious attitude among students and the remaining teachers.

I always wonder why these boards do not conduct examinations after school timings like the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) in Islamabad does. The AIOU conducts examinations on a large scale at secondary, higher secondary and graduation levels. It employs public teachers and utilises public school buildings as its examination centres without disturbing the academic process at all.

Teachers of private schools do not perform examination duties during school hours. They stay put to ensure continuity of the learning process at their schools. Why does the system force the public teachers to undertake examination duties during school hours?

The majority of students at public schools belonging to lower strata of society do part-time jobs to support their families. Their parents cannot eke out time from their coercive labour to attend parent-teacher meetings, which is a productive and constructive activity at private schools duly and positively attended by parents belonging to the upper strata of society. Parents’ participation is totally missing in public schools.

Teachers at public schools are overburdened with clerical duties. From enrolling students to collecting monthly Farogh-i-Taleem Fund (FTF), board registration fee and then board admission fee, keeping their record, collecting B-forms, filling up school information system proforma, giving staff statement every now and then, maintaining health profiles of students, filling annual confidential reports (ACRs). Where is the time for the teachers to focus on their primary task; teaching the students?

They are made to become parts of walks, rallies and non-teaching trainings and duties for elections, census taking and even for administering polio drops. They have to attend inaugurations of various government projects. Recently, computer teachers were deputed at Covid vaccination centres. This has disrupted computer classes and all digital correspondence. Do teachers of private schools have to face all this?

A simple task of replacing a faulty faucet at a public school requires a tedious procedure of record-keeping. First, a requisition is written to the principal, the payment receipt is signed by the members of school’s FTF council, and a copy of the receipt is pasted in the record. To avoid this time-killing practice, the faulty tap is ignored until other taps break down as well to make the paperwork a little more worthwhile! This is just an example and, indeed, the tip of the iceberg. The principal of a private school is mostly its owner, who easily handles such matters on his/her own then and there.

If we compare a public school principal with that of a private school, the former is all the time busy in reading and replying to emails, issuing orders regarding proforma, maintaining financial records, attending meetings, dealing with office correspondence, supervising school tab data, and anxiously waiting for monitoring evaluation assistant’s visit.

In short, teachers and principals at public schools do everything except teaching. Does the system provide them the milieu wherein they can perform what they are basically employed for? They must not be run down for poor performance. What they are accomplishing under the prevailing conditions is, in fact, praiseworthy. The armchair critics need to wake up to the reality.

M. Nadeem Nadir
Kasur

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2021