Determined to bring quality education in the state, director of education, Shridhar Salunkhe, who recently took charge of the post, spoke about his plans to Manasi Saraf Joshi. Salunkhe feels that the education system needs to be improved right from the grass-roots level, when the child begins schooling.What steps will you take to improve the education system?I believe that schooling is the foundation for any human being. If we provide quality education, then certainly the rate of failures in life will reduce considerably. Primary teachers are the ones who have the power to make or break a student. Thus, we need to ensure that the teachers work hard to shape the future of the kids. After taking over, the first thing I did was to conduct informal meetings with all the education officers and block officers. I learnt about their challenges and issues. I will first fix these problems and hope this will reduce their burden and increase efficiency.What are the difficulties faced by the teachers?Teachers from government-aided schools don’t have problems regarding salaries. But the major issues are that schools are not in good shape and are located in remote rural areas, which discourage students to enroll in schools. The state government has started a course for teachers to help them become stress-free. I believe that this will help them to solve minor issues and at the same time, enjoy the work they do.What are the loopholes in the education system?The major loopholes are lack of inspection and malpractices in the examination system. Due to lack of inspection, there are schools which have not bothered to improve the standard of education.

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The students are not disciplined and there is no record maintained regarding the number of teachers and whether they attend school and take classes regularly. Thus, the block officers have been given strict instructions to inspect the schools regularly. Secondly, a student from standard IV during the middle-school scholarship examination was caught copying. If children at such a tender age resort to wrong practices, then think of the country’s future. Thus, to fix this loophole, I have instructed block officers to conduct examinations in a strict manner.What kind of education should be imparted?I know a person who is an engineer. He was a fine student who could fix and tackle problems pertaining to his field, but when it came to family problems, he was unable to handle it. This shows that the education system failed to make him an able citizen. I believe that education should not create people who are just job-oriented, but such citizens who are  knowledgeable and able to tackle problems both at personal and professional fronts.