Dehumanising Gurus While We Grandstand as a Vishwaguru
Anita Rampal | 5 September 2023 | The Wire
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
Today, September 5, is celebrated as Teachers’ Day in India.
The Bihar government recently came out with a detailed Request For Proposal (RFP) for the ‘Empanelment of Professional Educational Institutes for Academic Support in Government Senior Secondary School.’
This is for its 9,000 senior secondary schools, in all districts divided into four zones, for the effective implementation of the programme.
However, the ‘academic’ gloss quickly wears off, beginning with listing the expected tasks of providing academic support, taking ‘academic sessions’, to bidding with the ‘lowest cost method’, for taking regular physical or virtual classes during the school time. Moreover the bidding rate is separately asked for physical or virtual classes, and for each of the listed subjects – Science (Physics, Chemistry, Botany and Zoology), Math, Computer Science, Hindi or English. The monthly progress report requires the syllabus covered, the number and duration of lectures taken, and the attendance of lecturers and students.