School Education: How It Is and How It Should Be (A Personal Perspective) Vijay Kumar Agrahari “Alok” M A (Eng) (Alld.), M Ed. (Himachal), PG Certificate in Teaching of Eng. (CIEFL-Hydra.), PG Diploma in Edl. Management (UPRTOU-Alld.) TGT (Eng.), KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA, RDSO, Lucknow (UP) RTE, CCE and Grading system; all this could be good and beneficial but only if the intention behind these had been pious. These indubitable concepts were but introduced with an evil intention that was and still is being less voiced in national perspective at public debates and journals, but is vigorously being implemented among the schools vide the circulars sent aftermath by CBSE. CBSE designed a system of evaluation which makes Indian students totally incapable and inefficient commodity in the present day competitive world. Excuse me for being harsh, but reality is a reality. Ask any worthy teacher or conscious parent, he will definitely speak against this new system. Let me now tell you the ways that were introduced to paralyze our education system. This took place after that often quoted first speech of Barak Obama in US in which he had warned Americans to equip themselves to face the Indian brains at schools and colleges. (So even with the good schools, we have got to pick up the pace, because the world has gotten competitive. The Chinese, the Indians, they are coming at us and theyre coming at us hard, and theyre hungry, and theyre really buckling down, Obama said.) archive.indianexpress/news/buckle-up-indians-are-coming-obama-to-americans/475324/ 1. At elementary level of schooling i.e. class 6th to 10th, where students are gradually made strong enough to face the greater challenges of tomorrow; they introduced semester system. At this level curriculum in any subject is of so wholesome, uniform and binding nature that you can not break them in two semesters where student is asked to forget the lessons taught in the first half (3½ months) to prepare the second half afresh. I remember my days when 2 years course was asked at final (Board) exams. That was too much but this is too less. 2. Class X board has been taken over by school exams. This has resulted in further slackening the seriousness which is very essential for education. 3. The students cannot be failed for whatever marks they get up to class X. The concept of CCE is misutilized here to pass them. Refer marks sheet of class X. Academics are given so less weightage that the child has stopped studying. The student failing in 2 subjects can pass with the weightage in non academics. Here non-academics is a non entity as grading in it is so complicated, time consuming and expertise oriented that they cannot be implemented foolproof and hence has become a tool to pass students. The teachers are asked to examine a student as many times to finally pass them. 4. The admission tests at all levels up to class X have been banned. Now the student from whatever medium or condition can come and take admission in any school. This has jeopardized the whole system. To me it looks like a running washing machine and a homely lady putting every dirty cloth of any fabric at any point of time. The buzzer goes and the result is all amiss. 5. The concept of grading system is to ease the student from cut throat competition of achieving marks and CCE is to make study a game by making it more activity oriented. But we are using them as instruments for promoting students to next class. CCE activities are introduced without making desirable changes in syllabus and curricula. Teacher today is perplexed whether to do the time consuming but fruitful activities with an overcrowded class of 50 or complete the huge syllabus within the time frame. Today theories and innovations about teaching and learning are at a flood. But teaching, to my mind, is an art and it cannot be broken into fragmentary formulas. No one from outside can make plans about what I have to teach and how I have to teach to my stock of students. Geographical situation, the cultural and economic background, the family background and individual differences do not permit to regulate a uniform course for the whole nation. Now the question is how to equate the outcome for national statistics for further jobs and skill competitions. The solution lies in the old pattern of board examination system in which I and the people of my age were taught. Actually we went on changing our old system in the name of innovations and personal whims. A quite many good customs which were propagated on experience and practicality are now lost and the result is obvious. There should be uniform, standardized exams at class V, VIII, X and XII as it was done in our time. But a teacher should not be disturbed in between these classes for the strategy, course completion and methodology that he adopts to equip his stock of students. Same teacher should be continued from VI to VIII and vice versa to teach a particular subject for his targeted lot. The achievements at board exams conducted at these terminal levels i.e. V, VIII, X and XII can be taken as parameter for granting incentives, increments and promotions to the teachers. The teacher should be given autonomy to redesign, improve or modify the course material at the intermediate (in between) classes to equip his lot of students for the designated board exams. To my mind there should be two levels of educations. One, for those who are below average in academics and are not so studious and the other, for the studious and inquisitive brains. (Here, when I call them ‘below average’ I do not mean undermine their importance. They are no doubt good, but at some other faculties like dancing, singing, drawing and manual work – i.e. game etc) It is not right to depute manpower, resources and precious time for educating a musical brain the tedious intricacies of trigonometry. For the below average students focus is to be given on educating them in 3 Rs only and softly diverting them towards skill development as per their hobbies. A wait for 10 years or 12 years is a sheer waste of child’s time. Skill practice should be initiated as early as possible and channelized skill practice should be started after 8th year of his schooling at the most. Today course material is being slackened and further slackened to accommodate the average students. Knowledge explosion is at its boom. The syllabus content should accordingly be more challenging and vast. But on the contrary we find it deteriorating day by day. The chapters in mathematics which I was taught in class VIII, do not find place even at class X today. Despite this relaxation majority of the students today in my establishment are studying in two stages higher than they actually deserve for. The main reason behind this upheaval is the rising crowd of students who are really substandard but are promoted because of certain compulsions. Channelization of students to their respective skill oriented courses and leaving the main course (here the word ‘course’ has been used to mean other than the ‘course’ in academics) for really studious students can improve situation. This is very vital if India has to emerge as a global power. Today good students are not getting enough mental exercise. They are limited to rote learning. Multimedia and Interactive-Board are some of the new concepts and much can be milked from these resources for all branches and sects of students, provided we have our Principals inclined towards these new concepts and devices. I have seen many Principals who still believe that ‘chalk and talk’ is the best method of teaching. No doubt for some lessons this can be more fruitful but technology should not be discarded just because of our personal dislike. ‘A mobile phone is for talking’- is an old thinking now. The smart phone today is being used more for other usages than merely for talking. There should be two wings, one for academic activities other for non academic activities. To the best possible, non academics should not hamper academics. As such, time table and schedules should be so designed that academic activities may not suffer. There is a suggestion that Vidyalaya may run in two shifts. First shift should be assigned to academic and the other can be for games and like activities. My personal experience is that whenever I have my class after a games period I find students taking long to come to class, moreover they are over- sweating and exhausted and it takes long to bring them back to learning mode. I have an easy solution. Crudely speaking, students can be divided in two groups (Sections) - Brights and low achievers. Academics to the brights can be taught in first half and low achievers in the second half. Non academic activities for the low achievers can be arranged in the first half and for brights they can be arranged in the second half. The old concept of intermingling teaching (academic) and non-teaching (non academic) subjects in time table is now an old concept. With the inception of new multimedia devices and interactive-board learning has become so interesting that in-between synergy is not that necessary. One more fashion very much pinching is the school timing. I am at pains to see young students starting at 5.30 or 6 in the morning to reach their school. What wrong will occur if schools begin at 9.30 am in winter and 8.30 am in summer? I was posted at Maunath Bhanjan in UP . I found a student of class 3 starting at 4.30 in the morning to reach Kendriya Vidyalaya at city from his nearby village. In big cities there are number of schools but in many districts one Kendriya Vidyalaya or reputed Private School is thought to be a big asset and students come from nooks and corners. Even in metropolis the schools start at 7 am where people don’t go to bed before 11 pm. To reach school child has to wake up at 5 am. O.K, ‘early to bed and early to wake’ is a good habit. But let the child do some physical exercises and yoga at home with grandpa than to torture him to run for school bus. My next concern is the unnecessary repetitive paperwork that the teacher today has to do. Once, a visiting speaker at an in service course at ZEIT Mumbai said, “in India government education institute are running either with Zet Plane engine and Passenger Train bogies or vice versa”. With so much innovations and techniques at hand our teachers are yet sticking to that old fashioned absurd Teachers’ Diary. This teachers’ diary is nothing but a bundle of so called lesson plan with 3 columns which never and can never plan a lesson. Teachers do not know what to write in these non sense columns. One draws colourful diagrams in it to attract the attention of principals/inspecting team, the other writes many questions in it and third just fills it with something that he himself does not know as how to relate that with the lesson. But our establishment thinks it to be the Koran of teachers. Teachers also just keep on filling pages copying them from previous years diary thinking it to be their religious duty. Could they just found time to see the plans made by foreign teachers? Their planning is for how they will pace-up the lesson, an action plan, a real course of action for a particular lesson and not ‘gist of lesson’, ‘additional information’ and ‘source of additional plan’ of ours. Mr Chouhan, Hon DC KVS RO Patna evolved a digital plan which to an extent really plans a lesson but this too is like jet plane engine fitted with passenger train bogies. His idea is great provided our classrooms are equipped with interactive-board with internet facility. Besides this teachers’ diary, a teacher in KV has to fill up many other diaries and registers - students’ daily attendance Register, CCE Activity Register, Result Register etc. There is one Daily Diary in which he has to write the topic taught in the class after every period duly signed by class monitor to verify whether teacher is written right. There are further two diaries one for daily endorsement of school work done at home other for keeping daily record of the copies checked in school. I don’t understand how these ensure that the teaching was really done. I can say but bluntly that a teacher will teach when he wants to teach. You can take a horse to water, but drinking is his choice. To avoid all these exercise we should give the teacher full autonomy. And link his promotions and incentive to the results he gives at the terminal level as I stated in previous paragraphs. Many of the Registers and Diaries can be made digital to avoid the repetitive work. Like Students’ Daily Attendance Register can be prepared in excel sheet to avoid the manual and drudgery task at the end of every months. I have prepared one, which automatically counts the attendance whenever we mark a ‘P’ (present) or ‘A’ (absent). It keeps accounts of huge fees money and updated status of students’ admission categories and cast categories. I sent it to DC for approval but no interest was shown. In the whole school I am the only one to make my Result Register on computers. I am trying to convince fruitlessly my friends that it is making my job very easy. Digitalization has to be propagated and made compulsory. This not only ensures neat work it also ensures correctness and accuracy. It is very natural work to avoid many repetitive works which unnecessary consumes time and energy. Today, the way, computer instructors are utilized in Kendriya Vidyalayas and in many private schools is pains-giving. They are paid by students’ fees but they are engaged for doing office work. Students are only asked to draw sketches on MS paint or type something on Word Pad. Up to X they are taught nothing in computers because there is no formal exam in it. That is why students are at dread in studying computer science at XI. I am also not happy the way English is being taught in school. But this is big subject and should be dealt separately. *****************
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 17:12:12 +0000
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