Nearly half the Madhyamik examinees from one of Bengal’s largest state-aided schools have failed the exam, embarrassing the government and highlighting how grinding poverty forces schoolchildren to work instead of studying.
Arjunpur High School in Farakka, Murshidabad, has seen 448 of its 914 examinees fail the Madhyamik, recording a pass rate of 51 per cent, far below the statewide average of 86.56 per cent.
Conversations with the examinees revealed that most of them work in the construction and bidi industries, which left them with little time to prepare for their exams.
“District officials have been asked to look into the matter and send a detailed report immediately,” a senior state government official said.
“If any support or intervention is required for improving infrastructure at the school, the government will provide it.”
Jangipur SDO Ekam J. Singh said: “I shall hold a meeting with the head teachers of the schools in the area to ascertain the reasons behind the situation.”
A senior bureaucrat said the poor exam results showed that welfare schemes alone were not enough.
“The guardians in the area get the benefits of Lakshmir Bhandar and other welfare schemes. But this is not helping the students. The government has to think about the situation in a different way,” he said.
The results are particularly embarrassing for the government since Arjunpur High School happens to be one of the state’s biggest state-aided schools, with more than 9,000 students enrolled between Classes V and XII.
Unlike many other state-aided schools, it hasn’t witnessed a fall in students despite the increasing popularity of the ICSE andCBSE curricula.
Teachers said this year’s performance had been worse compared with previous years.
“We will soon conduct a scrutiny of the results. But the overall results of schools in the area are not up to the mark,” Md Sohrab Ali, the teacher-in-charge at Arjunpur High School, said.
He blamed “the socioeconomic condition of the area”.
Mahfuzur Rahaman, a student of Arjunpur High School who cleared the Madhyamik with 38 per cent marks this year, said he could not study well before the exam as he often worked as a day labourer to support his family.
“During the summer and Puja vacations, I go to Howrah, where my elder brother works, to earn some money as a day labourer,” he said.
“Every Saturday and Sunday, I work in nearby areas as a labourer. As my father cannot work, my elder brother and I have to sustain the family.”
Many local schoolgirls roll bidis outside school hours.
“I earn ₹800 to ₹1,000 a week by rolling bidis. I work in the mornings and evenings,” said a girl who failed the Madhyamik this year.
Local social workers suggested that poverty often prompted the families to force the children to work even if they wanted to prioritisetheir studies.
“Many students are leaving to work outside the state as migrant labourers…. Those still going to school cannot focus on their studies as they have to work to help their families out,” Julfikar Ali, a retired headmaster and social worker, said.
Mafizul Islam, an Arjunpur High School student who passed the Madhyamik this year, said he worked at a sweets shop in Farakka from 4pm till midnight.
“I did not score good marks but passed somehow. I could not focus on my studies as I had to work eight hours every day,” he said.
Local people said that several other schools in the area had performed poorly inthe Madhyamik.
Chachanda BJ High School in Samserganj saw 195 examinees fail out of 776; Nishindra High School in Farakka witnessed 73 failures out of 200; and Bhasaipikor High School in Samserganj saw 150 students fail out of 450.
“It’s the same for all the schools. The guardians cannot afford to let their children focus on their studies instead of earning,” a district official said, seeking anonymity.
“The only industry in the area are the bidi factories where one can earn a maximum of ₹150 a day, which is not good enough to run a family.”
A teacher at Arjunpur High School said: “A student earns ₹15,000 a month if he works as a construction labourer. The girls earn between ₹4,000 and ₹4,500 a month rolling bidis. Their income is crucial to the survival of their families, and education becomes a casualty.”
He added: “The government should look into it.”
Calls by this newspaper to education minister Bratya Basu went unanswered.