Not just uniforms

The Assam education department’s decision to inspect the quality of free uniforms supplied to students from Class I to Class VIII in government and provincialized schools is a welcome move. Education Minister Ranoj Pegu, while chairing a meeting of the education department on Friday, directed the inclusion of a marking system for the quality of uniforms in the next round of Gunotsav. According to him, this will help ascertain whether “the best quality” free uniforms have been provided or not to the school students. According to Assam government guidelines, each pupil is to be provided two pairs of good-quality uniforms. Out of these two pairs, one will be a normal pair whose colour, pattern, specification, etc. would be as per the guidelines. The second pair consists of one coloured T-shirt with a collar, one skirt for girls, and a half pant for boys, and is meant for wearing to school on Saturdays. Moreover, the guidelines say that schools are free to choose the colour of the T-shirt and skirt/pant. But the most crucial part of the guidelines is that the two pairs of uniforms to be provided to each child have to be within the Government of India ceiling rate of Rs 600. While the maximum price fixed for two sets of school uniforms at Rs 600 is in itself inadequate, contractors selected to supply them at this price will also have to make a profit of at least ten percent, which means they will have to procure two sets of uniforms at a maximum cost of Rs 540. It is an open secret that there are certainly some “hidden” costs too, especially when a contractor is engaged by a government department. Given this reality, a contractor would, at the most, spend Rs 500 for two pairs of school uniforms. The most important thing is that these two sets of school uniforms will have to last for one full academic year. While the education minister has done well to make inspection of uniform quality mandatory during Gunotsav, it would also be imperative to find out the quality of teachers who are engaged in shaping the future generation. A quality check of teachers does not mean just their educational qualifications. It also means their teaching ability, their ability to understand the psychology of young children, their ability to speak the language or medium of instruction correctly, their understanding of child rights, health, and hygiene, and above all, their moral character. Most teachers, whether working in schools or colleges, are suspected to have very poor or inadequate knowledge and understanding of child rights, including the rights of specially-abled children. While a thorough quality check of teachers may be included in Gunotsav, it will also be a very important investment for the future to impart various soft skills to the teaching community.