In an introductory system of accountability in the government setup, the state Education Department has launched an Education Assessment and Evaluation programme, whereby government school teachers will be graded on the basis of their performance.

Though the state Education Department rubbishes penalties and preventive measures, schoolteachers across Gujarat are bracing up for a likely increment cut with the start of the education Quality Assessment and Evaluation Programme scheduled for November 12, 13 and 14 following feelers from the municipal corporations.

The equality assessment drive was first announced by Chief Minister Narendra Modi after a brainstorming session with the District Primary Education Officers (DPEOs) this June.

Though 33,000 government schools will be self-assessing their performance on the basis of pre-defined formats, 9,000 schools will be covered under the assessment programme.

A total of 3,000 IAS, IPS, Secretary level Class I and Class II officers will be deputed for covering these 9,000 schools.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) School Board on Tuesday called a briefing session of 4,500 teachers. Board Chairperson Lagdhir Desai said: “We debriefed the teachers on how to conduct morning prayers, National Anthem, what they should speak and how they should conduct themselves, as they will face punishment if they receive poor grades.”

R P Gupta, Secretary, Primary Education, said: “Nine thousand schools will be randomly picked up by 3,000 officers and will be cross-checked on the self assessment done by the school on usage of library, computers and laboratory. Teachers and students will be picked up randomly and will be asked to demonstrate how they use these.”

... contd.