Much has been written about how the Indian education system is hopelessly out of times and needs to be changed drastically. Its another matter that whenever some radical change is introduced, parents and schools are the first ones to protest.
So what do Indian parents really want? To stuff their children with as much academic knowledge as possible, in the hope of making them mathematical or scientific wizards, or brilliant historians, economists or geologists? Or to make them successful politicians by teaching everything that is there to be learnt in political science?
Coming to political science, the way most of our parliamentarians behave in the House, does it make any sense to teach youngsters about constitutional requirements, and functions and duties of our administrators?
No one is following the rules, least of all our politicians ,who didn't allow even a single working day in the latest session of Lok Sabha. What kind of example are they setting for students who rigorously study the details of the Indian constitution, the Indian democratic structure, benefits of parliamentary system, electoral system, etc.? Election processes are being sabotaged on a regular basis, and strong arm tactics win the votes.
And what about the financial scams that rocked the country recently? Are our students not aware that banks and other haloed institutions (that bulldoze and harass ordinary citizens regularly) allowed business honchos to get away with multi millions without completing formalities?
All around the society, examples of corruption and rotten behaviour abound. With internet on his/her fingertips, the Indian student is far more aware than earlier. So why teach them theories and principles that no one follows?
This is the age of artificial intelligence. With computers and robots taking over our jobs, what will our children gain by learning outdated mathematical formulae and theorems? And doing long equations that can be easily done by a machine?
And for heavens sake, who writes long letters and essays these days? Why does English grammar need to be taught in so much detail, when thesaurus and dictionaries are available at one's fingertips?
Why do we cram our children's minds with unnecessary, irrelevant stuff?
What a child needs to learn is life skills to survive in this fast changing, dynamic world. Emotional intelligence, inter-personal effectiveness, communication, problem solving, adjustment, keeping cool in crises, these are the skills that will stand a child in good stead. Life has become unimaginably complicated and fluid. A child needs to adapt to this changing world in the best manner possible.
So parents, let us put these requirements to the CBSE, ICSE, regional boards and all educational policy makers. The days of mugging up theoretical and bookish knowledge are long over. Google and Wikipedia teach better than classrooms. So let us teach our children what cannot be taught through machines.
Humaneness, kindness, adaptability, acceptance, appreciation of diversity, let these become the new syllabii of the Indian student.
Like the time when CBSE made Higher Secondary Board exams optional, parents of teenage children were up in arms. Why such a move? What about standardized exam system? Why continuous assessment of students, etc.etc. Currently, the CBSE proposal to make sports compulsory in classes 9-12 is similarly being hotly debated, and given a thumbs down by most Indian parents.
So what do Indian parents really want? To stuff their children with as much academic knowledge as possible, in the hope of making them mathematical or scientific wizards, or brilliant historians, economists or geologists? Or to make them successful politicians by teaching everything that is there to be learnt in political science?
Coming to political science, the way most of our parliamentarians behave in the House, does it make any sense to teach youngsters about constitutional requirements, and functions and duties of our administrators?
No one is following the rules, least of all our politicians ,who didn't allow even a single working day in the latest session of Lok Sabha. What kind of example are they setting for students who rigorously study the details of the Indian constitution, the Indian democratic structure, benefits of parliamentary system, electoral system, etc.? Election processes are being sabotaged on a regular basis, and strong arm tactics win the votes.
And what about the financial scams that rocked the country recently? Are our students not aware that banks and other haloed institutions (that bulldoze and harass ordinary citizens regularly) allowed business honchos to get away with multi millions without completing formalities?
All around the society, examples of corruption and rotten behaviour abound. With internet on his/her fingertips, the Indian student is far more aware than earlier. So why teach them theories and principles that no one follows?
This is the age of artificial intelligence. With computers and robots taking over our jobs, what will our children gain by learning outdated mathematical formulae and theorems? And doing long equations that can be easily done by a machine?
And for heavens sake, who writes long letters and essays these days? Why does English grammar need to be taught in so much detail, when thesaurus and dictionaries are available at one's fingertips?
Why do we cram our children's minds with unnecessary, irrelevant stuff?
What a child needs to learn is life skills to survive in this fast changing, dynamic world. Emotional intelligence, inter-personal effectiveness, communication, problem solving, adjustment, keeping cool in crises, these are the skills that will stand a child in good stead. Life has become unimaginably complicated and fluid. A child needs to adapt to this changing world in the best manner possible.
So parents, let us put these requirements to the CBSE, ICSE, regional boards and all educational policy makers. The days of mugging up theoretical and bookish knowledge are long over. Google and Wikipedia teach better than classrooms. So let us teach our children what cannot be taught through machines.
Humaneness, kindness, adaptability, acceptance, appreciation of diversity, let these become the new syllabii of the Indian student.
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