MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2024
Derek Almeida
Last week, the State government dropped a bombshell on parents with school going children. What the government essentially said is that school hours would be increased by one hour for class IX from 2024-25 which would be extended to classes VI to XII the following academic year.
The idea is to bring the education system in sync with the National Education Policy (NEP).
Technically speaking, the increase in one hour should not make too much of a difference. After all, time flies. But there is a catch. A serious one. Presently, schools run from 8 am to 1.30 pm, that’s five-and-half hours every day. The problem with increasing study hours by one hour is that this happens bang in the middle of lunch time. If one adds about an hour for lunch, it means school will not end before 3.30 pm. This is why the government is talking of switching to full-day school.
To reduce the impact of the bombshell, the government said the new rule (increased hours) would first be implemented in government schools after which it would be extended to government-aided schools. So, it’s not really a sure thing.
If it does not work, there is every chance that the whole increased hours rule will be chucked into the dust bin and the education system will go back to status quo.
The late Manohar Parrikar once made an attempt to introduce full-day school but failed because parents and school managements did not favour the same, for various reasons.
The education system in Goa and perhaps other parts of the country does not start with the child entering the school or end when the last bell is rung. It begins with waking up early, usually very early, having a quick breakfast and then being transported to school by cars, two-wheelers, buses or mini-buses. And it certainly does not end at 1.30 pm, because children are then herded for tuitions, music classes, sports coaching and whatnot, by ambitious parents who want their wards to get a head start in life. Then there is homework and assignments. It just doesn’t seem to end.
So when the government adds another two hours to the system, everything is thrown out of gear. At the same time, it wouldn’t seem right to write off the new rule as ‘impossible to implement’ without giving it a decent chance. In that sense, the cautious attempt to first introduce it in 78 government-run schools might be the guarded way to go about it.
One of the difficulties with full-day school is lunch. This is because the concept of neighbourhood schools does not exist. There was an attempt to create them, but it failed, because parents decide where they want to educate their wards, not the government. Consequently, some parents and their children undertake long trips to get to school. Since they leave early, children carry a snack. Now they will have to carry a lunch pack as well. The government provides mid-day meals and has promised to make lunch available too, but not everyone opts for this freebie.
In 1995, the central government launched the National Programme of Nutritional support to Primary Education. In 2001 this scheme was rechristened as the mid-day meal programme. Over the years, the state government has built capacities for providing mid-day meals to over 1.5 lakh children, but the outcome is far from ideal. Last year over 100 self help groups, which prepare the meals, threatened to go on strike if their dues (Rs 13 crore collectively owed to them) were not paid. Hence, those who think lunch isn’t a problem, need to re-think the matter.
The second difficulty is with transport. The 1.30 pm end to school hours coincides with the lunch break of working parents who rush to pick up their wards and head home. If school were to end at 3.30 or 3 pm, how would the trip back home be accomplished? More school buses?
I have no quarrel with the national education policy, nor do I want to wrestle with experts over the merits of adding one or two hours to the system. I do not wish to even consider how other nations educate their children. I am just talking about the logistics.
Napoleon is credited with saying, that ‘an army marches on its stomach’. There isn’t another simpler or more profound phrase that drives home the importance of ensuring that soldiers are well fed. General Omar Bradley, one of the heroes of World War II, said, ‘amateurs discuss tactics, professionals study logistics.’
Logistics, in the military world, is about transporting food and arms to the front. In the education system, logistics is not any different. And if not properly understood or taken for granted, it could become the new education system’s Achilles heel.
In the end, one is forced to examine if the extra one hour will actually bring about a fundamental change to the way we educate our children? Will it make a large enough difference to justify the stress and burden it is going to heap on parents? Can it prove to be the big game changer that would enthuse everyone to walk that extra mile to make it a success? There is a whole ecosystem of extra classes, tuitions and extra-curricular activities that exists outside school hours because of the limitations of the education system. It cannot be wished away.
It is difficult to say how full-day school will pan out. For now, all eyes will be focused on the 78 government schools where it will be implemented in the coming academic year. If it succeeds, a whole new world in education might open up. If, it doesn’t, not many will lament a lost opportunity, after all we studied under the five-and-half hour regime and did not turn out all that bad.
(Derek Almeida is a former Editor who always took the road less travelled)
