Mending the education system
Now that Bill Gates has said it, here's where we must start
In
the last three years, I have been meeting school principals and headmasters,
educationists, academics, teachers and the like. And here’s a short summary of
what I’d like to see the government begin to do.
Do
away with the existing school boards. Abolish ICSE and
CBSE and
start from scratch. Let’s design at least two-three brand new boards (the UK,
which is the size of Uttar Pradesh, has a host of boards for students to choose
from) with content relevant to today’s world. A student in Alwar or Gorakhpur
may not need to be fed the same content as one in Ahmedabad and Gurugram.
In
general, the focus should be on thinking instead of rote learning. Let’s stop
boring students to death. If the bureaucracy is not up to to the task, involve
people from outside. There is a profusion of individual-led initiatives that
have plunged into trying to solve India’s education woes after they have
realised the extent of the crisis. Central Square Foundation, Katha Lab School,
Indus Action, foreign NGOs like ARK and The Education Alliance — the list is
long. Let them do the needful.
But
above all, we need to work together to rebuild the trust and respect between
teacher and pupil. A bit like doctors and patients, there’s been some kind of
inversion of the relationship between students and teachers. More than one
senior teacher tells me that most teachers — under pressure from the school and
management — tread on eggshells and shy away from serious disciplining even
when it is the need of the hour. Why should students be allowed to display
disregard towards their teachers as is often the case in the urban private
school system? Parents cannot get away by treating education and learning as a
commodity bought and sold in the market. It isn’t a common good governed by
demand, supply and a price.
Full Article @ Business Standard | 26th
December 2017 (Page No 10)
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior Manager @
Knowledge Repository
Khaitan &
Co
Twitter Handle | @Pralhad161978
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