What’s wrong with us?
By Jawahar Muthu
What can we do to improve the Indian education system?
"I was born intelligent, but education ruined me." -Benjamin Franklin
Not only Franklin, most of the people in our country have suffered a lot by this. This the the current scenario of Indian education system and virtually all will, up to some extent, agree to this. But yes, there is a plethora of small but effective changes that can be implemented to improve contemporary education. My suggestions will appear as an endless list but believe me they are worth reading even if not the best. So bear with me and here it goes
Focus on "Primary Education". As this is the place where the clay is molded into the cast, this will reshape the mold itself.
Stop reciting nursery rhymes when some meaningful and worthy poems can be taught. There's a strong reason for this. Even after 50 years of their kindergarten education, our parents can still recite these stupid poems. This is because children have very sharp memories and things taught in young age are never forgotten and creates a permanent impression on the minds. If that's the case, why don't we teach kids some good thoughts in poetic verses?
Emphasize heavily on Moral Education. Of course we have moral education in every school. But how many of the schools or teachers take it seriously? In India schools reschedule the value education class to something more "important" like maths and science and teachers give question paper beforehand for students to study for exams just because this subject is "light" and not of "much importance".
This is because schools and teachers think that teaching such subjects won't create much difference in children and as it is they would teach what they want. But who decides what they want in the first place? If schools profess that subjects like maths and science should be studied seriously than these "optional" subjects, this is what the society starts believing. Reduce emphasis on marks and ranks. Parents, teachers, neighbours, society and practically the whole world consciously or unconsciously take it for granted that good grades means brilliant child. That might be true but that's not the whole picture.
He might be brilliant in the subject's syllabus and the book content but does it mean that he knows the subject in-and-out? Does it mean that he is interested in studying those subjects? I mean does he study out of passion for learning, or simply for the sake of competition or parental and peer pressure? This question can only be answered if we eradicate the objective marking system and introduce something more subjective evaluation that de-focuses on gradation and ranking of the pupil. There are many ways that can be suggested, to do it. But as now now, I leave it to the readers to ponder. Lack of practical knowledge is also a part our education. Impart practical education, having utilitarian value. We are taught history, civics, geography, etc. Good, but what are we taught in it? Year when Ashoka was born, length of the Nile river, height of mount Everest, salary of President of India, etcetera, etcetera... You see it's numbers everywhere. And out of these how many do we remember even a year later? Hardly a few. And 10 years later when we graduate? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Okay, fine, we are even ready to cram them, but what utility does it have?
If these numbers can be used somewhere, if they have any purpose in our life, I would have readily made a small reckoner of these "facts" and keep it with me as my "Bible". But alas, they have nothing to do with our life. Look at any primary school syllabus of maths and science. It has topics like linear equations, properties of triangle, number of planets in solar system, types of soil, etc. Yes, of course important, but again the same problem; it's hardly used in our day-to-day life.
Thus is what makes students bored with studies right since their primary schooling and the hatred for education begins. So what do we do? Discard it? No, but reduce it. A few teachers don’t want the students to understand why they are studying it, as it might bore them. This is an integral part of learning and it sharpens the brain, developing the "so-called IQ". Quantitative and Verbal abilities are an extremely important aspect of human intelligence that has now been acknowledged worldwide. These subjects are more stronger than general knowledge when sharpening of the brain is needed.
Enough of primary education, now let's talk something higher.
My biology textbook says that mitochondria is the power house of cell. Physics says electrons weighs 9.1X10^-31 kg. Chemistry explain Aldol Condensation and what will be the by-products, when formaldehyde is reacted with..... (leave it) Nice stuff, but again, why? For god's sake, why? Do you think I am definitely going to be a doctor or an engineer that you are so religiously teaching me all this? (anyway even they hardly need any of these, but still). I am not against teaching pure sciences, all I want to tell is these things don't help anyone let alone the common man. Not only common man, it is not useful even for students, who have decided to choose commerce or humanities Stream after class 10.
Education is what makes you competent to live and survive along with mental growth and character building.
A class 10 student knows how to solve matrices and find their determinants (that too not in all boards like CBSE), but doesn't know what is a demand draft and how to make one. He can answer to the question "Mention five functions of Indian Judiciary" but doesn't know how to file a case in court. Some might argue that these are common sense things and one should find it on his own. But isn't developing common sense the responsibility of education? Isn't that, what it is meant to do?
Conclusion:
The objectives may vary, but one must keep this goal in mind, that is well proven by the all-time synonym for “genius”:
Sachin is not a graduate. Yet he has got profound knowledge than any graduate in cricket. But this is not justified when qualification is taken into account. Here equal weight-age must be given to sorts of skills and knowledge, irrespective of his schooling and board exams. This is reason why examination and the objective evaluation must be changed so that those learning without schooling can also be at par with other educated people.
Please share this if you agree. If you don’t agree, justify through the comments box.“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” ― Albert Einstein
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