Govt schools hold mother-teacher meet for first time
JAIPUR: We discussed with the mothers today how important education is and how they can monitor their children’s progress. From the feedback we got, it appears that they were very concerned
NATHMAL DIDEL, secondary education director
Mother-teacher meetings were organised for the first time in about 14,000 government schools of Rajasthan on Saturday, a move aimed at making mothers stakeholders in their children’s education.
Achildspendsmaximumtime with his/her mother, and it’s important to sensitise the mother towards kid’s education, secondary education director Nathmal Didel said, explaining the idea behind the move.
“We discussed with the mothers today how important education is and how they can monitor their children’s progress. From the feedback we got, it appears that they were very concerned,” saidDidel.“Mostofthemwanted their kids to become qualified enough for a job. Some also expressed concerns regarding security of their children.”
He said the attendance of mothers or female guardians was roughly 50%, whereas in the parent-teacher meetings, it’s usually 70-80%. “The turnout is still encouraging, and we’ll work hard to have a better turnout next time.”
On the pattern of private schools, the education department introduced this year parent-teacher meetings in government schools.
The schools have to hold four parent-teacher meetings in a year and the third meeting, slated for Saturday, was turned into one exclusively for mothers. Thetwopreviousparent-teacher meetings of this year were held in May and September.
The mother-teacher meet is being organised so that mother power gets adequate representation in the academic and co-curricular activities of the child, school education minister Vasudev Devnani said in a press note on Friday.
Anorderfromthedepartment said the mother’s (or female guardian’s) link with the child’s learning progress is crucial for overall academicdevelopmentof the child. The order gives the example of Maratha ruler Shivaji andhismotherJijaBai, under whose tutelage he grew up.
The schools were earlier instructed to invite the mothers (or female guardians) 10 days ahead of the meeting. They were also told to publicise the meet andgodoor-to-doorencouraging the mothers to attend it.
The decision to hold parentteacher meeting in government schools is one of the many reforms steered by Devnani. The others include school mergers, staff rationalisation, roping in philanthropists and creation of Adarsh schools.