Daytime Prisons

A young 7-year old student was brutally murdered in a school in Gurugram. So far, reports suggest it was the school-bus conductor or driver who tried to sexually molest him that did it. This is hard to believe but time will tell and it’s best to let the police bring out the facts. In another incident in Noida, a boy slaps another for camera. The principal calls it “Peer slap bet”. Fancy term indeed. In another incident in Lucknow, a Class-3 student was slapped 40 times by the teacher for not responding to the roll-call. Elsewhere, a kid was detained in school for long for non-payment of fees. Another young girl was also detained in another school for dress code. I’m sure it makes us all wonder what our schools and teachers have come to. Of course, these are hopefully stray incidents and one hopes these aren’t that common across the country.

Childhood and early teens are the most joyful years in life. Our schools are the ones that make it absolutely miserable for children. Most children hate schools. Cannot blame schools by themselves but also our governments that have made them daytime prisons for kids. Despite a lot of efforts by courts, some govts and other activists, our schools have remained a painful experience for students, teachers, management and parents. Almost every school is a centre of chaos. I am not even going to discuss the discriminatory RTE legislation in this post.

PM Modi talks of a “New India”. Much appreciate, but you certainly cannot build a new India with the dilapidated structure of our school education. Our schools don’t teach for learning outcomes and thinking. They teach to TEST. Period! Every classroom act is designed to pour information into children’s heads to ready them for the next test. I cannot believe there are schools that run “unit tests” for Class-1 children from the second week of the academic year. I know parents who are constantly preparing their kids for the next test. With such backwardness and lack of innovation of any kind, our schools are way behind civilisation and modernisation and not equipped for any New India:

What to teach is an important question. What to test is also an important question. Not everything that is taught needs to be tested. And even the method of testing can be simplified without inflicting pain for some lower level subjects. The three key subjects to be taught and tested are English (Or the medium of instruction), Math and Science. All other subjects are secondary and need not be tested so stringently. What purpose in hell does it serve in memorising nonsense about history, geography or civics? A general reading of these subjects in class followed by Q&A would be enough.

That apart, I sympathise with teachers too. Not much investment is made in them. I have seen the poorest of poor people appearing for B.Ed exams in worn out clothes and slippers just because they cannot find any other work. Teachers are supposed to create geniuses for the country but the investment in them is almost zero and a peon in a private company or an Uber driver earns more than most teachers. Therefore, they too teach to complete a task. They don’t teach to seek learning outcomes.

Trends in International Maths & Science Study (TIMSS) is an international study across countries that is being conducted for many years across the world. These are mostly for Class-4 onward in schools. India has not participated in these studies except a stray exception. Consistently, in these studies, Singapore, Korea and Japan perform dramatically well. Yet, our Delhi minister goes to Finland to discover magic in education. All one has to do is compare text books of Singapore and NCERT to see the dramatic difference and why their students find it more interesting to understand and learn.

Let us also keep in mind that there is not a single course in India that certifies and qualifies someone to be a Principal. There are professional certifications for doctors, lawyers, CAs, architects but none for Principals. ZERO! What stops the GOI from starting prominent institutes across the country to train and certify principals? Our pathetic HRD ministry is concerned only with IITs and IIMs when the roots of our “New India” are formed in schools, not in higher institutes. Therefore, a separate ministry and minister focused on school education is a must. Although education is a state subject, there must be every effort to standardise curriculum and methods of instruction.

Because education is a state matter, our states exploit kids in areas like history. In Bengal the Mughals are gods. In Maharashtra Shivaji becomes most important. In UP again Mughals. In Rajasthan it’s Rana Pratap. And there are moronic SS books that teach RahulG, Barkha or Teesta as heroes? What history is being taught and why even test this subject with so much pain inflicted on children and parents to cram facts and vomit in answer sheets? What is the purpose in this day and age of facts being available at fingertips on mobiles and internet? If we want a “New India” a dramatic change is needed in school education. This means – what we teach, what we test and how we test. When schools are not enjoyable for any stake-holder, students in particular, some of them, turn to deranged behaviour. We get juvenile jerks who form gangs in schools, bully, and get violent. We also get perverted teachers and principals and lower end staff that results in painful incidents like these:

Unless we unburden our students, teachers and principals there is no way we will produce great innovators or thinkers. Our schools are mass-manufacturing units of mediocrity. You cannot build a “New India” with a moth-eaten structure. And the problem is too huge to explain in one single post. Therefore, this series on school education, something I am passionate about, will continue in multiple parts.

To be continued…