Updated on: Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Private and aided schools can forget about taking a shortcut to success at the Class X results by forcing academically weak students to seek admissions post Class IX in government schools. The directorate of education has issued a circular prohibiting schools from issuing transfer certificates after Class IX.
Schools have been asked to close Class X admissions from now on with the exception of students coming in from other states due to job transfer of their parents and other unavoidable circumstances. The education department has followed similar directives in force in regions like Delhi and UP.
"During an inspection, it was noticed that in a class of 16 students in a government school, four had been transferred from neighbouring privately managed government aided schools. On inquiry, similar examples were found across the state. In some cases, students were promoted to Class X on the condition that they will seek transfer to government institutes," a state education official said.
Last year's Class X results saw an exceptionally poor performance by government schools.
"Most of the times, the transfer is from government aided schools to government schools. Such transfer in Class X changes the atmosphere for the students, making it more difficult for them to cope up with studies. It has been decided by the government that schools will not take admissions in Class X and students admitted in Class IX will continue in the same school till Class X," the education department circular to schools reads.
Officials believe that the circular will force teachers in aided schools to work harder towards attaining better results, rather than taking the damaging shortcut.
"In states like UP and Delhi, where schools are disallowed from transferring students after Class IX, there have been cases where the institutes seek to transfer the students in Class VIII itself. This will ensure that the student has at least a year to adjust to the new environment before entering the crucial Class X," the official said.
Margao's Shishu Vikas High School headmaster Vithoba Dessai said that transfer of weak students does take place after Class IX, but it is only one of the reasons for the poor performance of government schools at the Class X public exam.
"For all these years, government school authorities have blamed aided schools for transferring weak students from Class IX to government institutes. Now, the government has sought remedy on this. Government schools shall have no opportunity to blame others for their weak results. We welcome the remedial measure by the education department," he said.