Students in Bengal's third, sixth and ninth grades are lagging behind national standards in language, mathematics and social science. However, they are on par in terms of quality in the other two science subjects (physical and life sciences). Rural students are much further behind on quality parameters, while the picture is reversed in cities. Again, while general category students are ahead of national standards in academic quality, scheduled caste-tribal and other backward class students are further behind. Government and aided school students lag behind the national average, while private school students are in much better condition in comparison.
To understand how school-level education is progressing in the country, a joint initiative by 'Parakh' and the National Council of Educational Research and Training conducted a nationwide survey of third, sixth and ninth grade students' understanding of language, mathematics, social science and science subjects. This picture emerged from that survey. 60,384 students from 2,269 government and private schools in Bengal participated in the survey. Notably, compared to other states in the country, the majority of students in West Bengal study in government schools. 89 percent of total enrollment from first to tenth grade in the state is in government schools. School dropout rates in primary and upper primary (first to eighth grade) are also zero.
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Why is the state of knowledge among students in Bengal's government and aided schools like this?
According to a senior official of the School Education Department, there are more than 70,000 government schools with third, sixth and ninth grades across 25 education districts. More than 40 lakh students study in these three classes. It would not be right to comment outright about which areas and what types of schools the students who participated in this survey came from.
Ramanuj Gangopadhyay, president of the Board of Secondary Education, says, "The picture of the Parakh national survey does not match the results of the secondary examination. Every year, students from district, subdivision and rural schools perform quite well in secondary exams. Rural Bengal students also dominate the merit lists. So it is not right to comment without knowing in detail."
According to Abhik Majumdar, former chairperson of the State Curriculum and Syllabus Committee, "It should be remembered that Bengal has a major difference from other states—education here takes place in six languages at the school level. It is also true that rural schools have been facing a shortage of adequate subject-based teachers for some time. Teachers are also having to remain engaged in various other tasks throughout the year."
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Parthapratim Baidya, headmaster of Jadavpur Vidyapith, explains, "Along with the inadequacy of teachers in schools, the pattern of questions in the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and such surveys is different compared to secondary and higher secondary examinations. As a result, there are differences. Students need to be better prepared before such national-level examinations."
Several teachers also say that the questions in these national-level examinations are mainly prepared based on the NCERT's question framework. Due to some fundamental differences with West Bengal's own curriculum, students are not accustomed to many types of questions. Again, students in Bengal have a greater tendency to memorise. They are falling behind in application-based questions or creative problem-solving.
Abhik's suggestion, "It is very important to identify the disease through analysis of such survey results and provide the necessary antidote."
