Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Directorate moots district-level matric inspectorates

R. Krishnamoorthy

MADURAI JUNE 6. With a view to strengthening its administrative structure, The Directorate of Matriculation Schools has forwarded to the Government a proposal for starting inspectorates at the district-level, according to Education department officials.

The proposal, they say, is likely to be approved at the earliest, as it requires no financial commitment.

Every month, each school is directed to pay a specified amount, based on student strength and infrastructure, towards `administration expenses' to the IMS concerned. Stressing this point, inspectors, at a recent meeting convened by the Directorate of Matriculation Schools, urged the Government to lift its policy of `freeze on appointments' in their case and help them watch closely the administration of hundreds of institutions under their purview.

An inspectorate now has to fulfil administrative responsibilities to schools located in three contiguous districts having a geographical area of hundreds of square kilometres. Even after the creation of new inspectorates — two years ago there were only three for the entire State, in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai — , the geographical distance remains to be a major deterrent to effective monitoring. Further, the newly-formed inspectorates are yet to be equipped with adequate staff or infrastructure.

In effect, each inspector is expected to perform a whole gamut of administrative tasks done by three Chief Educational Officers put together in three revenue districts, which, in turn, have segments of educational districts headed by District Educational Officers. Yet, while the CEOs are provided with jeeps, the inspectors do not enjoy the facility as, cadrewise, they are put on a par with the DEOs.

Realising the staff shortage, the Education department is contemplating requisitioning the services of assistant elementary education officers to check the records of the matriculation schools during IMS inspections, sources say.

However, a cross-section of parents and teachers feels that the IMS will not be able to function objectively if it is financially dependent on the matriculation schools.

Academics say that bringing matriculation schools under DEO purview will be a viable alternative, pointing out that it was the DEOs who were recently entrusted with tabulating the marks of Plus-Two students in matriculation and higher secondary schools in their jurisdiction.

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