Dhumal castigates state govt for falling education standards

Former chief minister and leader of opposition in the Himachal Pradesh assembly, P K Dhumal today claimed the education system in the state had been "ruined" and blamed the state's Congress dispensation for poor results in government schools.
"The results ofclass X and class XII examinations conducted by Board of School Education were zero per cent in 19 government schools while pass percentage was less than 20 in 126 other schools," Dhumal said in a statement issued here today.
Accusing the Virbhadra Singh government of opening institutions to gain popularity, Dhumal said that it was a criminal act to open schools without proper infrastructure and staff and amounted to playing with the career of the students.

Alleging that during the past three years, teachers have been unable to concentrate on their job due to transfers, Dhumal said it has resulted in lower standards of education and dip in results.
Dhumal called for a review of schools which have shown poor results. Responsibility should be fixed and effective steps taken to improve the quality of education to secure better results in future, he said.
"Playing with education for political gains is a criminal act as opening new institutions sans basic facilities and teaching staff may help the government gain temporary popularity, but is harmful for the future of the students," he said.