After receiving numerous complaints concerning the district magistrates’ operations last month, the education department of Bihar requested reports from them.
The state education department suspended Suraj Kumar Jha, the district programme officer (DPO) in Kishanganj, Bihar, on Monday after an inspection team led by the district development commissioner (DDC) found egregious irregularities in the execution of various government schemes, completely disobeying established guidelines.
The purchases of desks and benches, the building of a prefabricated structure and renovations to the school, the establishment of ICT labs, the hiring of night watchmen, the drinking water program, and the choice and payment of housekeeping vendors are among the inconsistencies in question.
“On the surface, the DPO appears to be guilty and faces heavy accusations. “Md. Tufail, the coordinator of the program who was also implicated in the financial irregularities, has been terminated from his employment,” stated the Department of Education’s statement from Subodh Kumar Choudhary, director of administration.
Notably, after receiving numerous complaints over the way government programs were being implemented, Bihar’s education department requested reports from district magistrates last month regarding the actual conditions in schools and the state of those initiatives’ implementation.
“There shouldn’t have been as many complaints received at the department’s command and control centers, even after extensive inspection and monitoring.” This indicates inconsistencies in the methods used for monitoring and inspection. As a result, the district magistrate level review is becoming necessary. The education department personnel would not be included, according to a letter sent to the district magistrates by Additional Chief Secretary S Siddharth.
In his letter, Siddharth promised to provide the DMs with access to grievances from state residents and stakeholders for review by way of the nodal officials he had established. He said, “You are asked to designate one nodal officer for an independent investigation in each district, and the reports would be submitted directly to the ACS.”
Misuse of government funds intended for infrastructure development and low student attendance in Bihar’s government schools despite high enrollment and numerous initiatives have long been serious concerns.
A school’s unexpected inspection uncovers a depressing truth.
The scenario was personally experienced by ACS S Siddharth, the principal secretary to the chief minister, on Monday when he went on an unexpected tour to the slums inside the catchment area of a Patna school.
The senior official had to deal with a variety of experiences with the harsh reality on its outskirts by the time he arrived at the primary school in the Adalatganj Slum in the Gardanibagh neighborhood, which was only two kilometers away from the corridors of power.
Even though the school was open and the teachers were there, the student-teacher ratio was low. Numerous pupils were not present.
Siddharth even addressed a small group of students in an attempt to convey the value of education, but the students’ arguments fell flat.
Unexpectedly, a teacher claimed that the school’s gates were there to “prevent students from escaping classes.”
When it comes to classrooms, there have been cases where a few pupils from two different classes have sat together, while others in a different class have not been wearing their correct uniforms.
According to a teacher, parents embezzle money intended for their kids’ uniforms but fail to purchase them.
In the meantime, the “Tola Sevaks,” who volunteered to drive kids to school, described how they made every effort to persuade parents to send their kids to school but were unsuccessful.
If Patna’s predicament is any indication, consider the state of education in the interior, where resources are scarcer and absenteeism is common.
A few months ago, the department stirred up controversy when it ordered the names of more than 20 lakh kids to be struck from the school records after Siddharth’s predecessor, KK Pathak, conducted inspections and discovered that they had a pattern of prolonged absences. Additionally, he chastised the Bihar State Educational Infrastructure construction Corporation (BSEIDC) and the Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC) for their heedless infrastructure construction projects in schools.
The issue of dropouts and absenteeism is caused by a number of factors, including socioeconomic factors and a decline in system trust brought on by stakeholders’ long-term apathy. The responsibility for the schools in which their children are taught to read must fall on society. In the classroom, establishing trust and expecting results takes consistent work over an extended length of time. There is no silver bullet that will instantly enhance education since all parties concerned must take part. According to DM Diwakar, a former director of the AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies, “the initiative is good, as the officer went there with the right intent, without any pomp and show, and tried to instill confidence by talking to them in their language.”