Strong Steps taken by Uttarakhand Governemnt to Improve Education Sector

Uttarakhand state was established on 9^th November 2000. It is carved out of Uttar Pradesh state. Uttarakhand is one of the famous education hub in the country. The state has many renowned educational institutions. There are large numbers of public & private colleges such as IIT Roorkee, NIT, IIMT Kashipur, GBPUAT, etc. On the other hand, state government has established industrial estates like Kashipur, Dehradun, Haridwar, Pantnagar, Selaqui Kotdwar, Sitarganj, etc. In Uttarakhand, there are more than 15,331 primary schools with approx 1 Lakh students & 22 thousand working teachers. The literarcy rate of the state is 79.63% as per census 2011. The language instructions in the schools are in Hindi & English.

Education Scenario in Uttarakhand

In Uttarakhand government schools, only 22.8% students could read sentences in English and around 53.3% students of Class 8^th could read simple sentences of English. Due to lack of basic English education the government has drawn up an ambitious plan to change the medium of instruction from Hindi to English in the state-government-run schools in the hill state.

The education minister of state, Arvind Pandey said that from the year 2018, Class 1^st students will be taught all subjects in English. The government is hiring the new teaching staff & training the existing staff to teach in English. The government has taken several small & reliable steps to ensure students in government school excel in English speaking & understanding. A template of 75 common English sentences has been handed out to schools to incorporate in their daily class routine. New books in English will be arranged for the students from the session 2018-19.

The education minister also said that he will come up with an Act soon to regulate private schools in Uttarakhand. The Act could tight noose over several schools in Dehradun, Nainital, Mussoorie & other districts where a number of schools are operational. Many private schools have raised the fee by 50 to 100%.The minister said the government is consulting the district magistrates over these issues and will soon come up with a solution favoring students & their parents.

Why the paradigm shift from Hindi to English?

In North India, government schools are synonymous with Hindi as the medium of instruction. This has lead to face challenges in competitive exams or while studying higher studies. That’s why, the state government is willing to change the medium of instruction from Hindi to English.

Replace Graduation Robes

The BJP government is now looking at ancient hindu religious texts to find a replacement for the ceremonial robe worn by the students during graduation. Uttarakhand’s higher education minister Dhan Singh Rawat said the government will form a form a committee that would give suggestions on a suitable dress for convocations.

The black robe and cap has been seen as a colonial relic and doing away with it has become a bit of a trend since the Modi government came into power. The minister says that “We are finding out about the dresses that were sported in “Takshila”.

Dress Code for Teachers

The state Directorate of Education has issued the notice that government school teachers follow the dress code strictly from 1^st August 2017. This rule is followed by all the government school teachers in state. The Directorate has issued instructions to all schools in both Garhwal and Kumaon regions to strictly apply the dress code.

Major Successes of BJP Government

The new government has also announced more substantive education reforms. The state government has gotten approval for the establishment of five institutes of higher learning: a NIFT, a Hospitality University, an Institute of Plastic Engineering, and two IT academies.

Uttarakhand governor KK Paul appeals the universities to contribute in national programs & adopt the villages in order to ensure better rural development in Uttarakhand state. The state government also said that strong measures have been taken in this direction and the education quality system will improve for a better future of students.

The dress code for government teachers is latest in a series of actions by the state BJP government to apparently instill patriotism nationalism & Indian values amongst the students as well as teachers of state schools, universities & colleges.

The minister also ordered to install the national flag on 100 feet tall poles in all the colleges & university. It also followed by compulsory singing of the National Anthem in the morning and ‘Vande Mataram’ in the evening. He also ordered to install photo gallery in universities of army heroes who won the Param Vir Chakra.