At every point in our lives, we are taught to work hard. Hard work they say is the only way to success and I choose to stand by that saying.Yet, there is a difference, a difference between struggle and hard work.I choose to see it this way – struggle is when you need to work hard for something which isn’t going to yield promised fruits, whilst hard work is the price we pay for the benefits we shall acquire out of undertaking the activities we do.
Having drawn the line between struggle and hard work, I’d like to set off with my perspective of education and what I believe it should be. Education is developing rationality, inquisitiveness and the desire to solve problems in a social manner. I do accept that in order to apply the aforementioned qualities one needs to have a base knowledge of the field in which he chooses to solve problems and that’s something undeniable. At this juncture, I would like to re-emphasize that all the aforementioned qualities along with facts must be inculcated in everyday education in the fields chosen by the subject to these programs, in this case, the student. Can we have education without any of the above qualities? No.They are all quintessential.
Now I’d like to address the issues that our education system has. Every year lakhs and lakhs if students graduate from Indian schools, both within and outside India. They all rant about how the education system requires them only to “mug up” and vomit the syllabus.That’s where the problem starts.The key problem is the volume of the subjects, lack of depth in topics and above all the lack of INVOLVEMENT of the subjects. Besides, the teachers who are given the task of educating these children are by themselves victims of this horrendous practice of asking children to memorize facts and worse -concepts and theories. In most cases, the teachers by themselves are incapable of handling subjects and lack understanding.
Besides, the teachers who are given the task of educating these children are by themselves victims of this horrendous practice of asking children to memorize facts and worse -concepts and theories. In most cases, the teachers by themselves are incapable of handling subjects and lack understanding.Teachers as Einstein said are required to gain the attention of students through respect and not through fear. Sadly the latter is more common. Again Einstein clearly says that a teacher be given every right to choose his materials to educate a child in any given syllabus sadly something which isn’t bound to happen owing to scalar chains and HODS that schools impose.The last issue is the infrastructure.Infrastructure is a pre-requisite for any activity.Inadequate infrastructure always
The last issue is the infrastructure.Infrastructure is a pre-requisite for any activity. Inadequate infrastructure always
remains a barrier to proper bonding of the teachers and students. It’s almost impossible to have sweat trickling down your back and suffocation owing to overpopulated classes to pay attention lest involve yourself in any educational activity. Sadly, inadequate ventilation, overpopulated classes, uncomfortable and broken furniture act as a huge
deterrent to involvement in education.
So what’s the overall picture?
An agitated student, helpless teacher and unplanned (in many cases unsafe) infrastructures. Add to this menace the ever existing problems of reservations and donations. These are the most important factors for any educational activity.In many countries, these factors are paid keen attention to and are maintained in top notch conditions.They then have gone beyond these and developed higher facilities to help education progress.Take any top ranked university in the world and you are sure to witness the difference between our universities and theirs.How then can we expect any change?.
Here’s the solution.
What we need is a mental revolution. A revolution which will take time but will bear fruits right from the start.I will split this into four sections.Whereby the prevailing issues of Syllabus, methodology, lack of teachers and inadequate infrastructure shall be addressed.Why not address problems with the students? Because developing these three areas should automatically fix any issues whatsoever from the student’s part.The job of the student will be acceptance.
- Revising syllabus and teaching methodology.
The syllabus must be relevant to what happens in the real world. An outdated syllabus is pointless and simply a waste of time because it simply imparts in a student facts which he will never use. A simple example would be teaching a person how to use windows 2000 when the world is using 8.1. Although 2000 is tougher and harder to learn it remains useless as he will never be able to apply his knowledge in the modern world. So a university must consult companies who are involved in the line of production similar to that of the line of training of the University. Simply speaking an engineering college which produces civil engineers, for example, can consult an MNC like Larsen and Toubro and ask them what they expect of their recruits.This gives us a fresh syllabus to work on and will be more relevant than earlier. - Teaching Methodology
The teaching methodologies should involve a lot of practical exposures. When I say this I don’t mean things get easier for students.Rather make the syllabus constricted but make sure it is in-depth. A theory test should require students to apply concepts and principles learned. A very simple example would be CBSE’s business studies pattern. Children are taught principles of management and in the question paper, real life situations are given.A child who understands his theory well will be able to identify the situation and apply the apt solution. This procedure must be repeated frequently.Schools accordingly must tune their syllabus to prepare children for college.This process isn’t absent.All it requires is fine tuning. - Lack of teachers
The position of teachers in our system is pathetic.They have long working hours, inadequate facilities, awful pay and unspecified work.They are literally ill-treated in most cases.They are stressed physically and mentally.They are
not brought to teach bit simply to “COMPLETE PORTIONS”.Teachers who don’t understand the importance of practical and modern education shall forever be a hindrance to developing our education system.- We need to recruit teachers with a strong knowledge base and pay them adequately for starters.
- Give the teacher sufficient time and resources to engage in educating children.
- Rid them of unnecessary formalities like filling report cards or taking attendance or serving meals. They are teachers, not data entry machines.
- What teachers need are better-working conditions.This change by itself will attract talented graduates to the teaching profession.
- They must be broad-minded, then the students will automatically find their way around their interests with guidance.
- Inadequate and unsafe infrastructure
Providing education at affordable costs is essential. But this cost cutting shouldnt be done on tools used in the process of education. Horrific reminders of incidents of innocent souls charred to death because of improper safety measures reemphasize this point. Many a times uncomfortable infrastructure by itself hampers a child’s interest in attending school. This is an issue that needs immediate addressing. How far this is tackled will alwaays be upto the discretion of the
authorities of the concerned school.Yet, setting the standards of safety and regular inspection of facilities is quintessential.Many of the world’s top ranked schools and universities have the best maintained campuses and that is something that we need to draw upon.
To conclude I would say that if the education sector needs to see any change whatsoever, it requires a mental revolution backed by strong governmental policies – Policies of reform and standards. A willing teacher and eager student backed by supportive infrastructure will follow.
GANESHRAM RAJAGOPALAN (Student)
SpeakEducation 