The public and/or "mass" schools have an "I don't care" attitude whereas the elitist ones just jampack...no, I should say bombard a poor kid with a tonne of academic material. The elitist schools are more or less like businesses. They need a name through good results and won't hesitate to push a kid beyond reasonable means for it.
There are exceptional places like Bal-Bharathi school, but they are VERY few and can be almost counted by hand...
I remember when my Dad offered to send me to study University, I just took the money and bought a commercial bldg AND started a small biz. No regrets. Still, I'm earning more per annum than some of my collegues who've completed MBA- for which their parents took such hefty loans, sold off properties etc. I'm talking a solid 9 years not just 1 or 2.
It shouldn't end this way. Schools should encourage a child's overall development and not turn him into a compressed hard drive. Schools should instead produce innovators and problem solvers. I guess in the current state of affairs, I'm going to make my kid enter the business after he's done his +2...I can't think of a better plan as of yet.
I have read Rashmi's insights and all the other postings. Phew! We all have our own personal experiences and emotions when it comes to the Indian schooling system. No experience is the same.
Perhaps, somewhere between blaming the system and accepting the system, we as parents could take a look at the role we could play in all this.We could give our children a healthy direction to their life, a more balanced outlook towards the future. We as parents could assist our kids in assimilating the good and weeding the bad out of the system. We could understand what we want to begin with. Do we want a child who goes to IIT and IIM at any cost? If so, we need to look at ourselves and not blame it just on schools. They impart knowledge but we as parents impart everything else- values, goals,dreams. Schools teach Math, English, Science and so on. We could teach them how to cope with them without ruining their childhood. Basic foundation is the key to anything today. Having an enriched school and home life as a combination, children could thrive any where.
It is because of this present scenario and attitue of the people that everyone wants to become doctors and lawyers because those are 'respectable' careers.
How can a country survive in a situation like that?
Besides, not every child is a 'genius'. Does that make the child worthless? Shouldn't they be encouraged as well?
It all boils down to the attitude of the teachers. Tell me honestly, how many of you out there have never broken into a cold sweat thinking about that unfinished report and the stern teacher whos going to punish you in front of the whole class for it tomorrow? So, fear of reprisal is what makes the kids do homework more than a willingness to overcome a challenge or intellectual stimulation. Moreover our schools should teach us the implications and aspects of the world around us and the events that helped shape it to where it is now.
The Vedas contain a great deal of science, in fact Albert Einstein is supposed to have said in his later years that all he had ever achieved in his quest for science could have been achieved a long time back had he got to know the Baghwat Gita a lot earlier in his life. He always carried a copy of the Gita with him in his later years. The greatest minds ever produced in India were definitely way before the current system of education was in place. The shining examples of the present educational system are the greedy corporate who can think of nothing but money and to make tons of it even at the cost of someones blood. What we need to understand is that Learning and Studying are two different things. You learn when theres a creative urge in you to reach out and unravel the mysteries of our world. You STUDY only out of fear or some external compulsion, some of the examples could be, getting into trouble with the teacher if you dont, parents push you to study because thats what the child next door is doing and thats what under their sadly mistaken notions would make you a better individual. A child hunched over a desk and reciting loudly from his book is not learning but studying. You study when you memorize the fine black print on the paper. You learn when you realize the implications of what that print is trying to tell you. Finally..YES, I STUDIED in school
I agree with Rashmi on her opinions and views on the Indian Educational System. Receiving a proper education should not be viewed as accomplishing a major phase on the tapestry of life. It should be instead viewed as the foundation to mould yourself as a better person. But sadly this is one aspect which is ignored in the Indian Educational system. I should know because I am a victim of it. You could say that I was the first from the last in my class. The biggest issue in this Country is not the system or the content but the manner in which all that rich content is fed to the student. Lets assume that you out to a big feast with a rich mouth watering spread lined out in front of you. You can enjoy the feast provided you sample everything in moderation. You will have a serious problem if you stuff everything down all t once. This is exactly what the teachers in the present education system are doing to children in classrooms all across India today. The Gluttonous ones (Over here the ones with the ability to cram infinitely) will do well but the lean ones (the ones with real potential) end up suffering.
As far as content goes, I would say that we are way ahead of the US or the UK
Rashmi, read your piece with interest. Though there is cause for concern, the overall picture is not that gloomy. We have the N.I.O.S. system, which isn\'t really that bad, and it is recognised by our colleges. It lets the students study their choice of subjects at their own pace and appear whenever they are ready. This is something more parents need to look into, as a viable alternative.
Rashmi, I have always read and appreciated your articles. But I don't fully agree with your views on Indian education in this article. Universal education, as implemented in US of A, is too risky for current Indian scenario, both monetarily and psychologically. Monetarily, a job with car salesman acumen doesnât pay well in a developing country with burgeoning population like India. Psychologically, we have to take example of car salesmanâs life in India and USA. In USA, the car salesman goes into oblivion and lives life on his own terms. He can choose to be single in life or get married or get into relationship without answerable to his parents or whomsoever he knows. If a car salesman in India chooses a similar life, the society outcasts him. The burden of societal and relationships pressure on car salesman is much more in Indian society. I think this will change in generations to come as India becomes more developed, thereby leading to more educated and mature society. Until then, let the Indian education tread the middle path and produce average individuals to be employed in world back office.
I have two daughters studying in an ICSE based school. I feel that education in schools these days is just to introduce the chapter (read as quickly reading the chapter once in the class), and then leaving everything (from understanding to memmorising) to the parents. This is so because the course is lengthy and there are a lot of exams. Practically there is one exam every 1.5 months!
Due to this, even when the exams are approaching from month end, the teachers are going ahead with the course of the next term! So, for the kids, they have to prepare for this term's exams, do the homework for subjects covering things which would come only in the next term, do projects, and what not!
I feel, teachers and specifically the principal should understand and properly pace the studies, so that the kids have a better life! Atleast, they should be able to manage some time to play in the evenings!
My experience to this was that when I took this point with the principal, the answer I got from her was that why am I raising Invalid points! I had only one option - to bear with this and let the system go on! I hope someday we all also understand about the kids.
We are fooling ourselves if we believe Indian edu is great if it helps us do well abroad. Our education (the mainstream school of rote) has major flaws like
1. over-inclination to English medium, thereby killing a child's link to her mother tongue and indeed native culture. Have you noticed that the mainstream English medium educated student related neither to English lit nor to his mother tongue lit. What does that say about his development as a cultured individual for future?
2. Development of the rote learning parts of a human, thereby de-emphasizing creativity, linkages between disciplines, the ability to invent, the ability to balance priorities, and repsect other individuals.
The IP Indian-educated graduates create every year is nowehere compared to that created by folks in UK, Japan, etc -- the countries you criticized.
My wife and I returned after staying in US for 7+ years. We can afford to send our son to good ICSE/CBSE schools. But we have sent him to unique Marathi medium school which emphasizes experiential learning, creativity, balance, and deliberately admits students from all economic strata while keeping the class size to 30 in any grade.
