What is the issue?
- Holding teachers accountable for student test scores enhancing is being vigorously advocated.
- While test scores are not the only parameter for quality education, neither are teachers the only stakeholders responsible.
What are the findings of UNESCO?
- Ensuring inclusive and quality education for all, and to promote lifelong learning is one of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
- As part of that effort, UNESCO’s new Global Education Monitoring Report 2017/18 made a comprehensive analysis in global education systems.
- The report points out that providing quality education depends on many stakeholders.
- Governments, schools, teachers, parents, media and civil society, international organisations and the private sector – all have a shared responsibility.
Why is test scores oriented approach bad?
- Using test scores as landmarks is also a bad idea as, ‘teaching to test’ might become the norm.
- Teaching to the test is bad way as scores by themselves are an inadequate way of assessing the complex process of learning.
- Such exclusive focus on test scores has the risk of leaving weaker students behind.
- It also leaves academically better-performing students with a narrow understanding of what education is all about.
Are teachers the main cause for underperformance?
- Teachers are one of the many stakeholders, they tend to be disproportionately targeted for systemic underperformance.
- It is both unfair and short-sighted to target teachers as the primary reason for poor test scores.
- While teacher absence, is indeed a problem, very often the reasons for this are beyond the teacher’s own control.
- The overall percentage of teachers not in school was estimated at 18.5% by Azim Premji Foundation.
- But most of these were due to other official duties or on bonafide leave and absenteeism due to bunking was a mere 2.5%.
- Hence the larger problem is one of teacher shortage needs to be fixed first.
Source: The Hindu
