Education - An act of making a
nation better; an attempt to build a nation for the future; a sincere and honest
effort to achieve the vision of a nation!
As any other turf, even education
in India has evolved over the years. From Gurukuls to foreign-influenced
methodologies to the modern day education system - India has seen it all. The
kids getting associated with the whole system have grown to be smarter as ever.
The whole education system, policies, investment & traction around it has
evolved to add more value to the people associated with it and has matured to
be result oriented. The increased concentration on the rural part of India
which is close to 70% of the nation has helped the nation grow in a holistic
manner.
Even though there has been a
tremendous improvement in the thought process and the efforts involved in
building the system, even today there are a lot of gaps in the system which is
hampering the speed at which these changes are being implemented. This article
aims at communicating honest plans which can be practically implemented rather
than saying the same old politically correct statements. Please note that the
political angle is not covered in the article. It is a pure set of ideas which
needs to be imbibed in the system.
The basic problems which the
current education system is facing can be categorized as below:
- Moral values diminishing as an output from the system
- With the intake to the system being smarter every year, there is a lack of smarter people who can guide the young blood
- Even though there is a proper reach to the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP - Villages) of the nation, the constraints of the kid having to prove his knowledge via ‘marks’ is disorienting the kids from the practicality of ‘having to exist’ in this world
- Education institutions are becoming money making organizations rather than concentrating on implementing ideas which will strike a balance become making money and spreading the right knowledge among the right set of people
Among the many other problems
which exist in making the system succeed in its ultimate goal of making India a
better place to live, the ones above are highlighted as these parameters
contribute most to the vision of the system.
Moral values:
With the emergence of the modern
day education, the importance to result orientation has increased. It sure is a
very good thing to be implemented as the people who execute it on the ground
will be driven to succeed in the goal. But, the implication of this is that the
children are losing their moral values. There are more reports of social
disruption by children these days. The basic ingredient of development of the
mind of a child to live, to respect, to have common sense, patience etc is being
missed in the rat race of achieving the results.
The moral values should be
imbibed in a progressive manner. The first step is for the teacher to gain respect
from kids. The way he presents himself, the way he talks, handles queries, situations
and even the way he dresses have an impact on the image on the teacher on the
kids. This should be set right at the first place. Kids should be involved in
activities which will uplift the society & it’s thought process apart from
the regular curriculum. They need to be made to experience the reality on the
ground rather than showcasing the rosy A/C classrooms. The ancient stories of
the mythological heroes are told to the kids but they don’t make sense in the
minds of these innocents. The implications, morals and adaption need to be
emphasized instead of it being told just as another story!
Get Smarter:
Knowledge is the basic reason why
the kids these days do not respect the teachers when compared to the earlier
days. With the introduction of internet in the ecosystem, the accessibility of information
is no more a problem. Every kid knows what is happening around and has access
to all the latest happenings around. The teacher needs to be more updated than
a kid. Let me give you a simple example - A kid reads n update about a
satellite launch. If the teacher just tells about the information or even skips
that information, he is not doing any good in gaining trust & respect from
the student community. He has to add value to that information. He needs to
explain the reason behind the launch, the complexities involved, the science involved
and all the other angles. This information is not readily available for a 10
year old kid.
The teacher should get acquainted
with the latest trends and technologies in the market which can make a
difference to the life of a student. There may be a counter argument for this
that there will be an immense amount of support required from the management to
do this and they do not have funds for this year etc. They will need to be
pushed via the policies & policing of the government.
Does ‘marks’ really matter?
This is a classic problem of the
education system which each one of us has faced and probably the most debated
topic as well. We don’t get a good score and hence parent pressure, peer
pressure, unhealthy habits and what not! Is the score of a kid a representation
of his knowledge? Does it really matter? We thought about all these and came up
with a grade based system for evaluation. But how is it working on the ground?
The basic problem here is the
drive to learn. As teachers, the basic responsibility / target should be to
inculcate the habit of learning in students and not aim at better score /
grade. This is the basic flaw in the system. Does it mean that the teachers shouldn’t
be result oriented? - Definitely not! They need to be - but just that the expectations
need to be re-looked at. If the habit of learning is there, marks & grades really
doesn’t matter for the kid to grow in the industry sector later during his
career.
How do we inculcate this habit?
It isn’t magic right? The approach must be more of activity based teaching
rather than it being theoretical & amidst the four walls called ‘classroom’.
Their creativity needs to be appreciated and encouraged; there should be no
caps to the thoughts. Teachers should accept & appreciate & encourage
these thoughts. A few thoughts which have a real value associated can be looked
at being funded in a big way - look at negotiating with the education
department or raising funds for it and implement it as a project. This will
give the student a whole new outlook and perspective.
Money matters…
At the end of the day, institutes
can’t run on ideals. Let us get practical! A management requires fund. All the
above said activities come at a cost. So, the biggest question here is - can a
middle man afford it? Probably not… In which case, not all the kids are
provided with an equal level of education. There are a couple of ways in which
this can be implemented:
- The government can provide subsidies to the various schools who cannot afford it. As we have the definition of a BoP to issue a ration card, we can have a definition for a middle-man who can avail this subsidy in educating his children.
- Policies by the government to make a common level of schooling till class 5. Every kid need to undergo a class apart from the normal schooling. Have a common area in a locality which can act as an arena for schools around to come together and learn. This common area need to be facilitated with the models much needed for experimenting.
- Government can look at appointing education consultants to visit all the schools. The job of these guys is to induce the fire of innovation in the kids & provide them a platform to perform.
These are a few steps which need
to be made a part of the expectations from any school which registers for
approval. The concerned policies need to be amended & well thought policies
need to be introduced. The teachers should be motivated to deliver better.
Orientation workshops, quarterly review, audits & revisions need to be made
an essential part of the routine activities. The bottom line is, this can be achieved
only through a collaborative effort of the society, educationists and the
government. It is definitely not right to just blame the government because it
can’t speak out. The society should realize that education is not a status symbol!
The educationists should realize that they are the catalysts at the grass route
level...
