Jharkhand govt school walls to have names of PM, CM, national anthem

Government schools in Jharkhand will soon feature the national anthem, names of the Prime Minister and chief minister among others on classroom walls in a bid to improve the students’ general knowledge and also instil patriotism in them.

Government schools in Jharkhand will soon feature the national anthem, names of the Prime Minister and chief minister among others on classroom walls in a bid to improve the students’ general knowledge and also instil patriotism in them.

The quality of education in the state’s government schools lags behind as compared to private institutes. (Parwaz Khan/HT File Photo)

The state school education and literacy department recently issued a directive to all district education officials asking them to paint the outer walls of the classrooms of Class 1 to 8 with such facts.

As per the guidelines, photographs of national heroes and freedom fighters will also be painted on school walls.

“When the students will pass these walls and see them every day, it will get registered in their minds and will help develop their general awareness and a well-rounded knowledge about their state as well as the country,” Ranchi district education officer (DEO) Ratan Kumar Mahawar said.

Mahawar added that the painting work according to the new directive will begin soon.

They will also be able to identify the national bird, national animal, governor’s name, along with the names of the respective block and district, said an official from the state education and literacy department.

As per the Annual Survey of Education, as many as 55.7% of Class 1 students in rural areas are unable to recognise the English alphabet while 53.7% cannot recognise the single-digit numbers. It said that 0.6% of Class 8 students are unable to recognise single digit numbers while 1% of them cannot recognise a single letter of the alphabet.

Officials hope to improve the prevailing situation of education, especially in rural Jharkhand, with this move.

Earlier, chief minister Raghubar Das had directed all deputy commissioners to put up photocopies of Aadhaar cards of teachers in all classrooms in government schools. The CM had said that this would help students and their parents identify their teachers.

He added that it would also check teacher absenteeism as in many schools they deploy others to take classes on their behalf.

There are 45,680 state-run schools in Jharkhand imparting education to nearly 52.50 lakh children.