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THE demand of All Nagaland School Teachers Association and Nagaland Secondary School Field Officers Forum for total bifurcation of secondary/elementary teachers has reached a point where all teachers will be availing mass casual leave from started from 24th May 2016. Their demand for a reply from the government ended on 17th May 2016. Going by the reports and the reasons cited by the two organisations, it will be better for them to demand the government for smooth implementation for integrating the Higher Secondary and the Elementary Schools. As stated by the two organisations, schools with high enrolment where it will be difficult for the Principal and the Vice Principal to manage all classes from class 5-12. But other than reasons cited to the media are more of problem of coordination with the Higher Secondary and the Elementary/Secondary sections.
Due to the inability of the schools to maintain the 10 plus 2 classes, all over India it were the Colleges that conducted these two years of course before a student is admitted into the university. It’s known by names of Pre University, Intermediate etc. The primary reason was that, in India other than the problem of infrastructure the teachers were also not qualified to teach the higher secondary classes and so had to rely on the colleges to teach the two 10+2 classes. Gradually as high schools started upgrading to higher secondary classes it is facing operational and coordination issues. Along with it the other issue is of students who are unnecessarily made to work hard for two exit examinations within a span of just 2 years.
In almost all the developed countries a high school graduate is someone who have completed 12 grade. Secondary school usually is from grade 9 to grade 12. But in India high schools are only till grade 10 and the additional two grades are higher secondary schools. Moreover since the 10+2 were earlier with colleges there is an unwritten rule and understanding that the higher secondary carries the status of being higher. Higher in class and the teaching no doubt, but should not be a deterrent to work together. But the decades of separating the secondary school and the higher secondary classes in India have cultivated this trend and it has affected even the attitudinal aspects of the teaching staffs. The fault may also lie with the Government wherein it tried to equate the rank of the higher secondary teachers to that of professors of a university. On the other hand as per the grievances of the two organisation go, the issue of “my student is now my boss” should not be an issue. It in one way indicates that the teacher had taught the student well and the student was able to get better qualified.
However, these are all teething problems of a new system and it might be also be due to some wrong implementation of the process of integration where some details were ignored. But it should not be the sole reason for the bifurcation of the elementary/secondary with the Higher Secondary schools. The amount of financial mobilisation required will also be a huge exercise if the government agrees to it. Moreover it will be a waste of resources, especially to run the support/admin staffs just for two classes of higher secondary schools. For the future of the students it will be better if the teaching community will shed their differences and instead demand the abolition of HSLC and have only one exit examination the HSSLC and both parties meet in the middle where their professional pride and attitudinal aspects are concerned.