IN a bizarre decision by the Education Department of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), 25 senior administrators have been heavily penalised and held responsible for the poor results of the last matriculation examinations. The list includes headmasters who have dedicated their lives to the department in the most challenging areas of GB. They have become scapegoats for a failure that is more systemic than individualistic.

The government action seems more like a political stunt to give the illusion of accountability. The fact is that it is nothing but an insane move that has been widely rejected by civil society, teachers` associations, and various otherfactions.

In civilised societies, the focus is first on holistic education, which is not limited to marks and grades. Systemic evaluation is adopted to address any obstacles that are hindering the desired educational outcomes. However, in our context, the educational landscape is complex, andpinpointing a single cause is quite illogical.

The challenges facing the education system are multifaceted. If the bureaucrats in the GB secretariat and Education Department are truly serious about improving educational outcomes, they should conduct a thorough evaluation of all the barriers within the system, and chart out a holistic policy solution to get the system back on track.

Instead,theyhave optedtotarget a few headmasters and celebrate it as a reform in education. While the world is progressing with advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and is exploring new horizons, the GB government is degrading and forcibly retiring teachers.

It is time the people of the region demanded systemic reforms, rather than settling for shallow slogans about educational transformation. Let students have access to adequate resources, competent teachers, an updated curriculum as well as a peaceful environment that may together foster quality education.

Saif`Ali Skardu