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To know what ails Uttarakhand, babus go back to schools
Satpal, a class 6 student of the government upper primary school, Rajpur Road, left principal secretary Radha Raturi speechless when he asked her about corruption and how the people in Janusar believe in having big families because of more breadwinners
Satpal, a class 6 student of the government upper primary school, Rajpur Road, left principal secretary Radha Raturi speechless when he asked her about corruption and how the people in Janusar believe in having big families because of more breadwinners.
On Monday, Raturi visited the school as part of the Uttarakhand State Foundation Day celebration that began on November 5. Raturi was not alone. Twenty four bureaucrats, including Dehradun district magistrate SA Murugesan, visited various schools and interacted with students. Murugesan inspected the government school
in Sahaspur.
“I asked her about corruption due to which neither funds nor projects reach the common people,” Satpal told Hindustan Times. He asked Raturi whether she likes a big or a small family. Raturi told the child that small families are best and how the state government was trying to check corruption.
Those in the know of schools and their functioning felt that high-profile visits were not enough. Schools are in need of infrastructure and funds, they asserted. “Movement of bureaucrats here will help them in understanding the poor state of schools. But, the change can only be achieved if they provide financial assistance,” Hukum Singh Uniyal, principal of the school, said.
Raturi accepted that government schools were in a sorry state. “Community participation is needed to strengthen government schools. The condition is not good, but yes it’s improving.” “The remote areas are struggling with conflict due to which migration is happening. We need a policy to deal with all these issues so as we can give better facilities to students.”
Additional chief secretary Om Prakash became emotional on reaching the Hathibarkala government primary school. Recalling his teachers and father, Prakash mentioned how cooperation in the society was lost due to which the government education system became weak.
“There was a bond shared between teachers and students and their families in old days, which is no more. Today, the onus of imparting fair education rest on teachers. It’s important they realise responsibility and carve out a better future for students,” Prakash said. His wife Deepa Prakash was also present with him.
Prakash held Physics class for students who asked him questions related to the subject.
