Education Reforms In India

I assume that you have heard about the decision of the Government making 10th standard examinations optional. However, students are required to appear for the same in their respective schools. Students and examiners must have heaved a sigh of relief. We might tend to support this decision only considering the the fact that students would now be relieved from being subject to the pressures of competition at least for one more year. But does this make sense? No.

As a matter of fact, students would now have to face significant competition, not just after two years from this event (10th standard examinations), and that too, not just for one examination but too several and for years thereafter. The greatest fear that I, as a concerned observer have in mind, is that Schools will now mechanically pass students in the examination whether or not they possess the necessary competence. Instead of moving to such an extreme situation in a single step, the Government could have opted for a step-by-step approach and opted for a format with objective-type examination format in the first phase. My concern arises from the premise that if the system is unable to throw up truly meritorious student to start with, it is unlikely that the same students can bear the pressure after 12th standard which defines the direction to the career of a Student, when she/he is required to opt for a particular stream, viz., Arts, Commerce or Science.

Since I have initiated a discussion on this topic I would like to suggest some changes in the education system and teaching methods in the country.

First and foremost, we should move away from making “Pariksharthi”(parrots) to “Vidyarthi”(learners) students and this can be achieved as follows:

1) Introduction of subjects that add moral values and self-discipline in students could be made compulsory.

2) Monthly guest lectures involving lecturers from outside the teaching community and from the real world must be invited to interact with students on at least a monthly basis. This would make students aware about the common problems/issues and also will help them in gaining practical knowledge outside the education world.

3) There should be a motivational lecture every month to avoid boredom and depression amongst students. Such lectures from a motivational expert would also help guide them in pursuing their career goals and in personality building.

4) Sports should be important part of the curriculum with special emphasis on creating future sportsmen. After all, real business can only thrive on good sportsman spirit.

5) Subjects such as History, Geography, Physics, Biology and Chemistry should be taught with the aid of audio-visuals and clay models so as to create a real “see-touch-feel” experience and a sense of curiosity and quicker learning among students. Also, there should be only objective-type question papers for these subjects.

6) Every student should be encouraged to give at least 5 minute speech in any language in front of all students of a class.

7) Assessment should be in terms of grades and not percentage marks.

The main theme is to simplify the teaching pattern & assessment of the students. Technology has improved a long ago, but still we are practicing the same old tradition of teaching. The Board (Maharashtra Board) has only taken efforts to liberalize the marking system and increasing the percentage of marks scored by the students. But, “Can we think for changing the pattern of teaching to nourish and create the future of India?” as we all know that there is dearth of students in Science specialisation to carry out research in different fields.