THE 'BURDEN' OF EDUCATION
“Who was the first President of India? In which year did the first Indo-Pak war take place? Where in India is the Meenakshi temple? What is the name of the first astronaut who went to moon?” are few questions, unanswerable even for many a well educated adults, are actually asked to students who have just passed K.G.2 and are appearing for the interviews in various schools for admission. And it’s not only the students who have to be extra-ordinarily prepared, but it’s also their parents who have to undergo a grueling test and interview to ensure the best of education for their wards in the best and costliest of schools. Earlier students generally started taking coaching from pre-board classes (i.e.) 9th or 10th but now, it’s as early as at pre-school level to prepare the students for the toughest of questions that might be asked during the school admission tests. But disappointingly enough, even the best of coaching and preparation won’t guarantee the student a seat in one of the premium educational institutes if he lacks exam temperament, and inspite of knowing all messes everything up. Worst is, if one’s ward figures in the waiting list, as then it’s further difficult to decide whether to stick to one’s hope or take admission in a lower ranked school.
Once in school, to cope up with the ‘burden’ of the ever increasing syllabus is also an ordeal for students as well as the parents, and also the teachers. The level of subject matter is getting tougher and tougher with each passing year. I remember having studied about ‘vernier caliper’ in physics in class 9th which my father was shocked to see as he had studied it at graduation level, and who knows, at this rate, it might be that my children will have physics as a subject in class 2 or 3 with the difficult numericals of ‘calorimetry’ and ‘specific gravity’ in their syllabus. Many of the most difficult questions on geography, history and science which forced the contestants to quit or lose most of their already won fortune in Kaun Banega Crorepati and the likes, did find an answer with the school going kids as they are infused and ingested with so much information about anything and everything at such an early age, and strikingly, most of it is present in their syllabus or curriculum books and they need not even look the encyclopedia or internet to find answers to such difficult questions.
Moreover, it’s not just about the high level of information and study material being taught to young kids at tender ages but also the relevance of it all. Sadly, education in our country is not at all job oriented. Till class 10th, a person wanting to do engineering has to unwillingly study social studies (that too things like – in whose reign did invaders like Chenghiz Khan and Tamur Lang invade India, the various pilgrims sent to India in different eras, the soil and climate conducive to the growth of cotton and coffee, the type of vegetation found in the northern half of deccan plateau, and the number of permanent and rotating members in the General Assembly of the United Nations). Similarly, a person wanting to pursue a career in arts or commerce is forced to do the difficult sums of physics and maths, and to cram the innumerable molecular reactions of chemistry till class 10th. Because of the study material and subjects not suiting the students aptitude and liking, his/her performance in exams is adversely affected and then he/she is under further pressure and stress to work even harder for securing just in 60’s or 70’s.
The format of present day education is such, that students don’t study with the view and intention to gain long term knowledge and to have a better understanding of things around them, but just to somehow cram up the study material in their syllabus only to vomit it out verbatim on the answer sheets in the examination to secure good marks. And once the exam is over, not even one percent of the things learnt and studied for an entire year is retained or implemented constructively. Haven’t we all studied ‘Sanskrit’ or some other ‘regional language’ quite extensively for three long years from 5th to 8th with it’s several dhaatu roops and kaals, but is there a single person who can claim to remember even a bit of all that was taught and put that knowledge to constructive use.
Once in school, to cope up with the ‘burden’ of the ever increasing syllabus is also an ordeal for students as well as the parents, and also the teachers. The level of subject matter is getting tougher and tougher with each passing year. I remember having studied about ‘vernier caliper’ in physics in class 9th which my father was shocked to see as he had studied it at graduation level, and who knows, at this rate, it might be that my children will have physics as a subject in class 2 or 3 with the difficult numericals of ‘calorimetry’ and ‘specific gravity’ in their syllabus. Many of the most difficult questions on geography, history and science which forced the contestants to quit or lose most of their already won fortune in Kaun Banega Crorepati and the likes, did find an answer with the school going kids as they are infused and ingested with so much information about anything and everything at such an early age, and strikingly, most of it is present in their syllabus or curriculum books and they need not even look the encyclopedia or internet to find answers to such difficult questions.
Moreover, it’s not just about the high level of information and study material being taught to young kids at tender ages but also the relevance of it all. Sadly, education in our country is not at all job oriented. Till class 10th, a person wanting to do engineering has to unwillingly study social studies (that too things like – in whose reign did invaders like Chenghiz Khan and Tamur Lang invade India, the various pilgrims sent to India in different eras, the soil and climate conducive to the growth of cotton and coffee, the type of vegetation found in the northern half of deccan plateau, and the number of permanent and rotating members in the General Assembly of the United Nations). Similarly, a person wanting to pursue a career in arts or commerce is forced to do the difficult sums of physics and maths, and to cram the innumerable molecular reactions of chemistry till class 10th. Because of the study material and subjects not suiting the students aptitude and liking, his/her performance in exams is adversely affected and then he/she is under further pressure and stress to work even harder for securing just in 60’s or 70’s.
The format of present day education is such, that students don’t study with the view and intention to gain long term knowledge and to have a better understanding of things around them, but just to somehow cram up the study material in their syllabus only to vomit it out verbatim on the answer sheets in the examination to secure good marks. And once the exam is over, not even one percent of the things learnt and studied for an entire year is retained or implemented constructively. Haven’t we all studied ‘Sanskrit’ or some other ‘regional language’ quite extensively for three long years from 5th to 8th with it’s several dhaatu roops and kaals, but is there a single person who can claim to remember even a bit of all that was taught and put that knowledge to constructive use.
In such a scenario, where students are not keen to learn what they are being taught, it becomes the onus of the teachers to try to make the subject as interesting as possible. As it is, out of twelve months in an academic year, the schools remain open only for about eight months as the rest four comprise two months of summer holidays, twenty days of winter vacations, numerous festivals and national and regional holidays throughout the year, exam preparation leave, half yearly and annual exams, and the year ending gap. Therefore, the teachers get extremely worked up because of the immense pressure on them to finish the vast syllabus and also save sufficient time for revision within the stipulated date. This affects the quality of teaching as teachers cannot devote sufficient time that is required to properly explain a particular topic, and it’s the students who really have to bear the brunt of the situation. Often, the burden of the mammoth syllabus and other worries combined, make the teachers lose their self-control, and it’s then that we hear incidents of students being admitted to hospitals because of a teacher’s unrestrained assault.
The burden of studies is so much that the teachers, students and parents cannot bear it even collectively, and hence they turn to home tutors or coaching institutes. These days, even coaching institutes take admission on merit basis, therefore, providing guidance only to the crème de la crème of the students. This deprives the average and below average from the best of guidance and therefore, on one hand the good performs better, the bad performs worse. But it’s not that the not-so-good students are the only ones bearing the ‘burden’ to somehow pass, as even the good students are under an immense ‘burden’ to maintain their position/rank in class.
Tough competition, peer pressure, parent’s expectations, teacher’s fear, the vast and difficult syllabus, and insecurity of the future are leading to nervous break down and chronic depression among school going children, which was totally unheard of even ten years ago. Passing or failing in an exam has become a matter of life and death for today’s generation. Students are so very terrified of the consequences of failing that they are committing suicide before even the results are out, just out of fear and dread of a faint chance of failing. The numerous incidents of students caught cheating in exams and so many competitive exam question papers being leaked have their root cause in this very desperation of student’s mindset to pass, and only PASS. The emphasis is not on gaining knowledge or wisdom, but on passing a particular exam, even if it requires them to resort to illegal and unethical means. And the perpetuators of this line of thought is not the student’s notorious group of friends or conscienceless family, but the “faulty education system” itself.
The solution to this problem is neither setting up multitudinous ‘helplines’ once every year during annual exams which are accessible only to a limited few, nor holding periodic counseling sessions throughout which most students either sleep or are uncomfortable to share their innermost anxieties and dilemmas. The only solution to this is revising judiciously the whole format and subject matter of the entire Indian Education System. If simplified relevant subject matter is taught as per the personal choice of subject made by each student, then nobody will fell the pressure of studies as students will understand fast and do their homework regularly, teachers won’t have to try too hard to get the subject matter into the student’s head, and since most of the learning process will be complete in the class itself, the parents will also be relaxed. Student’s liking for the subjects will definitely translate in their performance and therefore, the overall results in exams would be much superior. Thus, the students, teachers and parents will all be spared from exam anxiety, and study or education will no longer remain a ‘burden’. It is the hour’s need for us to give more importance and weightage to the journey (i.e.) the interactive process of learning, questioning and understanding, than the mere destination (i.e.) passing an exam.
The burden of studies is so much that the teachers, students and parents cannot bear it even collectively, and hence they turn to home tutors or coaching institutes. These days, even coaching institutes take admission on merit basis, therefore, providing guidance only to the crème de la crème of the students. This deprives the average and below average from the best of guidance and therefore, on one hand the good performs better, the bad performs worse. But it’s not that the not-so-good students are the only ones bearing the ‘burden’ to somehow pass, as even the good students are under an immense ‘burden’ to maintain their position/rank in class.
Tough competition, peer pressure, parent’s expectations, teacher’s fear, the vast and difficult syllabus, and insecurity of the future are leading to nervous break down and chronic depression among school going children, which was totally unheard of even ten years ago. Passing or failing in an exam has become a matter of life and death for today’s generation. Students are so very terrified of the consequences of failing that they are committing suicide before even the results are out, just out of fear and dread of a faint chance of failing. The numerous incidents of students caught cheating in exams and so many competitive exam question papers being leaked have their root cause in this very desperation of student’s mindset to pass, and only PASS. The emphasis is not on gaining knowledge or wisdom, but on passing a particular exam, even if it requires them to resort to illegal and unethical means. And the perpetuators of this line of thought is not the student’s notorious group of friends or conscienceless family, but the “faulty education system” itself.
The solution to this problem is neither setting up multitudinous ‘helplines’ once every year during annual exams which are accessible only to a limited few, nor holding periodic counseling sessions throughout which most students either sleep or are uncomfortable to share their innermost anxieties and dilemmas. The only solution to this is revising judiciously the whole format and subject matter of the entire Indian Education System. If simplified relevant subject matter is taught as per the personal choice of subject made by each student, then nobody will fell the pressure of studies as students will understand fast and do their homework regularly, teachers won’t have to try too hard to get the subject matter into the student’s head, and since most of the learning process will be complete in the class itself, the parents will also be relaxed. Student’s liking for the subjects will definitely translate in their performance and therefore, the overall results in exams would be much superior. Thus, the students, teachers and parents will all be spared from exam anxiety, and study or education will no longer remain a ‘burden’. It is the hour’s need for us to give more importance and weightage to the journey (i.e.) the interactive process of learning, questioning and understanding, than the mere destination (i.e.) passing an exam.
BY : SHUBHRO SEN
Labels: Was carried by 'THE STATESMAN' newspaper on SEP 12 '06.
posted by Shubhro at 2:08 AM
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