Golden Words Only Sound Great

It was 2009 december and i happened to switch on the tv to get a review of 3 "idiots" .I generally switch the tv off on an annoying channel and as expected it was india tv .And to my surprise the headlines said 'Amir Khan's view on Indian education ' ......... I rubbed my eyes..... No it was true... india tv was talking of education!!! I wonder was rakhi sawant's swamwar over or there were no more failed attempts tof bombing India tv's national heritage rated headquarters at dharavi.

Later I watched the movie...truly enjoyed it .... it was a laugh riot. And as a week passed by the social networking sites were flooded with social messages on education SYSTEM . Even the guy who used to pass exams courtesy grace marks writes " The WHOLE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION IS TO TURN MIRRORS INTO WINDOWS"..... well i guessed his interpretation :developing a technology for reflective window glasses. People did a postmortem of Amir's khan's movie.

Soon the news channels were flooded with debates. Some accused the system of making students view science as Newton viewed and put an end to their own creativity. People said that the Indian education system emphasizes more on rote learning and even alleged that Indian industries don't promote R&D because of such a flaw full system . People from all spheres of life put all their energy in bringing out the ills of the system. They spoke about how the existing system has been unable to produce enough Nobel laureates despite of having such a large population. Some quoted it responsible for the BRAIN DRAIN. And when the nation comes into such a state of severe crisis, which we happen to realize only after the release of three idiots, even my dhobi talks grade system and common exam board .

No doubts on the fact that these problems cost a lot to the society. But are the golden solutions actually practical. Is it possible to integrate NCERT with Harvard.

Better reforms include better utilization of teaching hours at school. More interactive sessions where students are made to learn through observation and visualize for themselves well established concepts at primary and early secondary level of schooling. at the secondary level students should be asked to refer to number of books to get to know many viewpoints and develop one of his/her own. Even better textbook designing committees can help in this regard. In a nutshell it's syllabus redesigning . But to bring about such a change we need a much more trained teaching force. But with the Mayawati government slashing down the B Ed. enrolment requirements to 45% from 50, it seems less probable to change the scene. However I don't blame Mayawati completely for this. The reality is IF YOU PAY PEANUTS YOU GET MONKEYS . Only a few private IB schools and some fees-ed schools in urban areas can afford to pay high salaries to teachers. Where from will we be able to pay such high salaries to a village primary school teacher??

Keeping in mind the present economic condition of India, organizing short term motivational camps in schools across the country. Even private sector can help us by advertising with us like...........' Colgate presents young Einstein' ..... these camps would also educate the students about the various options they have after school. Only when more students take interest in unconventional fields, such fields could be enhanced .

Another aspect of quality education is the freedom of an individual to choose a stream for himself. The biggest hindrance that arises here is pressure from parents. The government should take steps to educate the parents about different streams available through advertisements on tv and street banners. This will ALSO help increasing literacy rates in India ; this is how:-

Many poverty stricken parents don't send their children to school as they feel that school and university education will be of no good to people who eventually end up working in workshops and factories. The central government run ITIs for producing skilled working force to boast the evergrowing manufacturing sector of india. Now many parents are not even aware of such reforms.

The ills of our education system that we are following for the past 60 years have now setteled down in the very hearts of the society and needs to be removed from the grass root level.

Slogans of removing extra academic burden on students do attract public attention. But the reality is that in a globalized economy with so much competition , a developing economy cannot afford to compromise on quality for comfort. Though the cirricullum shouldn't be reduced in volume but should be better structured and made interesting.