Ministry of Education needs a complete overhaul [Archives:2004/713/Education]
By Mohammed Mohisin Shatubi
English Teacher
Education, especially at the secondary level suffers from a deep crisis. Almost 90% of the schools in the country have shortage of teachers:- specially secondary & preparatory schools for the following subjects Maths, Physics, biology chemistry and English. In Sana'a alone more than 30 schools are without teachers. It's a pity that the ministry can't solve it before the academic session starts.
Books are not distributed according to the requirement of the schools almost 30% of the schools in Sana'a are without complete texts. The rest of the provinces might presumably be without any books at all.
Inspectors from academic, financial, materials, administration are almost one third of the total number of teachers. And most of them are basically teachers and are unfit to be inspectors or supervisors. They have little professionalism.
In this ministry and at the local administration office (MOE), positions are in dozens, but non-of them solves the problems of schools, teachers, book, etc. they are just there for nothing. In some local adm-office (MOE) even don't have office sogn papers on the corner or inside the compound.
In some schools the number of administrative staff is more than the teachers, some of them hired directly by the school directors, and some of them relatives for officials at the head office or local administration office. Many schools have many deputy directors, clerks, controller and so on.
There is no standard promotion policy for students to the next higher class. Every school director. Even teachers don't know what's happening after the exam.
Frequent transfers of teachers from one school to another jeopardises their morale and forces them to opt for private schools.
Many new schools have added new classrooms, but almost all of them are without furniture, teaching materials and teachers.
The so-called Teachers' Associations create confusions for the poor teachers by putting forth often contradictory agenda of action, and demands.
Teachers' salary should be paid through the bank or by some more scientific and expedient means.
These facts and circumstances call for a complete overhaul of the ministry and its modes of operation from the grass-root level. The Ministries of Local Administration, Finance, should also be involved in the whole exercise. Human resorce development is the most important part for any country's development, without which the wheel of progress will be halted. If there is no development, the final result will be a morally degenerated and intellectually impoverished generation. Let's fight corruption and corrupt officials. Especially at Ministry of Education.
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