Working days in schools and colleges

Working days in schools and colleges

          It is generally felt that the number of working days in schools and colleges should be increased in an academic year. It is a fact that the teaching community has been benefitted in terms of salary and other service allowances. But their work load in the form of working hours, periods or days have not increased. Strikes, elections, agitations may also cause reduction in their work load. It is a pity that the teachers are not able to complete the total syllabus prescribed for examination. Then extra-curricular activities are also undertaken during the working days. Therefore, there must be increase in the working days in schools and colleges. At present there is hardly any time left for the students to devote time for sports and other mental activities. Completion of syllabus of study is not the concept of healthy education. Traditional kind of teaching should be replaced by new methodology of teaching. However the teaching community is not prepared to tolerate an increase even by a few minutes. When Delhi University proposed to increase the time of a class period the whole teaching community rose in agitation. The compromise was reached by increasing the time of a period by 5 minutes only. Even the proposal that teaching staff should sit in schools or colleges as is required of a government servant has been shelved. Their working time should be fixed. If teachers remain present in college, the students can approach them and solve their problems. It will definitely help in reducing tuition culture that has become one of the major curse for students. Tutorial system should be encouraged at school and college level. But teaching community is in no mood to adopt new system of education. They thrive on private tuitions and are not going to forgo their lucrative practice.