Do we need urgent education reform in India?

For a country to be able to blossom, register growth in the economy and also assess sufficient overall progress, a reliably structured education system is the first need. In fact, only education can make the above-mentioned happen smoothly. Whenever one attempts to review India regarding improvement, big frustration greets them. Our education system has unsatisfactory reputation and this is actually demoralizing. To become a completely developed nation, we need to focus on this aspect.

We have not been able to detect precisely what incorrect is situated in our education system even as we’ve done enough of introspection. It’s just about reaching very good reason for why an education system operated by highly intelligent people has imperfections, and we’re good to go. To be accurate, it is years-long embarrassment of not being able to fetch something worthwhile out, in terms of clearly definable causes for flaws in our education system, and,, of course, ways to do away with them. Then every time we remember all this, we find ourselves badly wanting to honestly do it, again. 

Let’s this time begins right from the beginning and hope we get our thought and time’s worth. First of all, we need to and should admit that the education pattern we follow is extremely exam-oriented. In addition, naturally for this reason our own pupils believe that it is difficult to carry out it without a huge pressure that it automatically builds up. Actually we inspire our little ones to be able to merely memorize the theoretical principles under the syllabi we’ve set.

What adds to the worries is the truth that we haven’t considered to make changes to our education system. The changes that already-changed time is desperately asking for.  May be it’s time design curricula in that way that our kids not only study their books but also become able to  practically do it in daily life. Even more importantly, they ought to learn how to give appropriate expression to whatever they are taught in schools. After all, why are we educating them if it doesn’t happen soon? 

The first thing now we should do is pass on such structure of education to our young generation that they not only stud, learn and compile degrees, but become successful in getting effective communicative abilities instilled inside them. So that they, and we obviously, can stay assured of secure futures, and, by the time, achieve whatever they want to. Let's call for education reform!

Education in India- 2011

Before coming on the topic, “Education in India- 2011”, let us talk about some of the general facts of education scenario in India. India has one of the largest numbers of higher education institutions in the world comprising at least 490 universities and 20,769 colleges. Also, there are at least 100 foreign educational institutions in the country, mostly offering programmes that are vocational or technical. Though the figures of these institutions are good yet the quality of education in India remains poor. Some of the graduate skills are so poor they are unemployable. Every year, more than 160,000 students leave Indian shores to study at universities abroad.

Now, let us talk about the scenario of education in India in 2011. Firstly, 2011 saw a little unconventional trend on the part of students in selecting courses. While medicine and engineering ruled above the other educational sectors in 2010, in 2011 it was previously unheard of- professional courses that the students opted to study was different from their peers.

Other tha this, the year of 2011 saw the revival of the importance of subjects from pure science that had completely lost their value. This can also be seen as an achievement of the education sector in the year 2011. The revival has happened due to the growing popularity of engineering and technology studies.

Not only the subjects of science but there was also a rise in the subjects related to humanities and liberal arts. It was Indian Institute of Technology- Madras (IITM) which first introduced a master’s programme in social sciences in the beginning of the year. After that many others followed IITM’s path. It is a good thing that happened in 2011 as a combination of pure sciences and social sciences not only lead to profitable jobs, they also place students in a field where they can extend a hand of benefit to the society.  

2011 was also a year when talent and creativity captured a higher place rather than merits and ranks. Visual communication as a subject of study was encouraged when renowned designer of cars, Dilip Chhabria opened the Center for Automotive Design in the city of Pune.

With these achievements in the education sector in 2011 there are still many things to do in order to improve the education system of India. A very important bill that seeks to allow foreign university campuses in India is still to be tabled in Parliament. The move will open a huge market for both Indian and foreign universities. By the end of the next year, the education pattern followed in India is expected to become more student friendly and oriented towards rare career choices. 

Old IITs vs New IITs

While earlier there were just seven IITs, namely, Kharagpur, Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Kanpur, Roorkee and Guwahati; in 2008, government added eight more IITs to the list, namely, Hyderabad, Ropar, Patna, Gandhinagar, Indore, Bhubaneswar, Mandi and Kota. The institutes were set up with a view to make the access of such institutes of excellence to larger number students. However, the government’s this aim seem to go in vain as these new IITs are really struggling to match up with the excellence of old IITs.

These new IITs are struggling with their classes operating out of makeshift campuses, faculty shortages and unfilled seats. Last year, more than 500 students rejected the admission offer to study in one of these institutes. Many reasons are being drawn for it which vary from not getting one's choice discipline to being hesitant about 'new IITs' and temporary campuses. This rejection from students show that how severely these new IITs are struggling in order to survive among and with the old and reputed IITs.

According to Surendra Prasad, director of IIT-Delhi, “People are suspicious of the effectiveness of the new IITs. The sudden expansion has led to this kind of a situation. However, though the pace could be a little slow, the need for an expansion was always there.”         

As far as the hesitation of parents and students is concerned, Prasad says, “It is important to disseminate information and we are trying our best. What parents and students need to know is that all these new IITs have an established IIT as their mentor. Besides, quality will not be compromised in any of these new institutes. But then in the initial years, the dilemma is likely to persist because one has to choose between an established IIT and a new one. That's a tough choice to make.”

According to Gautam Barua, director of IIT-Guwahati, “There are issues when any new IIT starts. We started out 15 years ago, but when we moved to the campus in 2000, within time, everything had become smooth.”

“The rationale was that some parts of the country don’t have an IIT. There are so many good candidates who don’t get through the JEE (Joint Entrance Examination),” said Bhaskar Ramamurthi, director of IIT-Madras.

The most important point to keep in mind is that these added seats has not reduced the competition at all which means that the demand for an IIT education is as high as ever, despite an array of other options now available. This year, 4.85 lakh students competed for 7563 seats. This means one student had to compete with 63 other students in order to get into an IIT.

Lastly, Pravin Tyagi, director, IITian Space, a coaching institute, says, “I have received good feedback about the new IITs from former students. What they say is that the syllabus remains the same, and only the infrastructure is not at par with the other IITs. That will take time.”What they say is that the syllabus remains the same, and only the infrastructure is not at par with the other IITs. That will take time.” 

Social Networking Sites- merits and demerits

In this era of technology, social networking sites have become extremely popular among the youth as well as the professional people, whether it is a metropolitan city like Delhi or a small city like Bhopal. They took hardly any time in getting popular among millions and billions of people all over the world when they arrived just a few years back. While sites like Facebook and MySpace are for the people who want to share common interests and passions; sites like Twitter and LinkedIn are more professional and help the businessmen promote their businesses. Keeping in mind, the growing popularity of these sites and the effect it has and the benefits that it brings along, it can be easily predicted that its popularity is sure to grow much more.

However, everything has its merits and de-merits and so do social networking sites have. You must be aware of the recent Delhi High Court summon to 21 social networking sites including Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and YouTube to face trial for allegedly webcasting ‘objectionable’ content. This summon signifies that these sites do have such content which is objectionable to many people. So let’s now look at the various merits and de-merits of social networking sites.

Merits

·         It has made the world compact: Social networking sites have significantly made the world compact. Today, you can connect and talk to people sitting miles away from you; you can be friends with people who have other friends, and so on. There is potential in such a common situation. By using a social networking site, you can do what you can and get connected with these people to form a web of connections. All these connections through social networking sites have made the world compact.

·         It is cheap: Certainly, it's cheaper to use online social networking for both personal and business use because most of it is usually free. Its low cost to connect with people, both on the personal and professional front, is also one of the reasons of such wide popularity of social networking sites.

·         Increases awareness among people: These days, social networking sites play a very significant role in creating social awareness among people about many ill practices that take place in our society, for instance, awareness about Anna Hazare’s agitation and awareness about empowerment of women.

De-merits

·         Security: Security is one of the topmost concerns of social networking sites. This is mainly because the social networking sites allow you to display your personal information such as name, location, and email address. There are some people who always in search of a fake identity. If they get all the information about you on internet, they may use your identity for different type of illegal activities, which may cause you problems in future.

·         A little time consuming: Keeping up with social networking can be a full time job. You have to make sure that you respond to people in a reasonable time. That is not always 100% possible.

·         Objectionable content: Social networking sites have been blamed to put obscene and objectionable content on their sites which is not good for young children. As mentioned above, the sites have also been summoned due to this. 

Cheating- a common phenomenon of a student’s life

These days, cheating has become a common phenomenon of a student’s life. Whether it is school or college, a student cheats either by peeping in someone else’s paper or by making chits or by hiding the content in mobile etc. Every student has a different technique of cheating these days. According to the statistics available, more than 75% of college undergraduates had cheated at least once - an all-time high - and 20-30 % regularly.

But the question is that what is the reason behind this cheating of students? Why is it that they find it so hard to clear a paper without peeping in someone else’s paper? A career counsellor and columnist, Usha Albuquerque says, “The learning process suffers in the rush for grades and for degrees from a select set of institutions. The problem in our country is that we are spending too much time chasing marks and degrees. By hook or by crook, ‘I must get that degree’. It’s not so much about what you learn to get that degree.” This shows that how quickly the relevance of ethics is evading from the youth of India.

However, a former professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Dipanker Gupta, puts forward three main reasons of cheating by people. He says, “People cheat for three reasons; a) they are natural cheats; b) they know they will not be caught; and c) they feel the rule is ridiculous and therefore cheating is justified.”

Besides these, one other major reason of cheating by students is the mindset that the students are developing due to the tough competition and that is ‘I have to get into that college. If I don’t, I’ll destroy my career.’ This thinking leads students to cross all their limits and go to the extent of forging mark sheets and bribing officials. Also, the thinking that money can buy everything and anything is also destroying all the ethics from the younger generation of our country. The former dean of IIM Ahmedabad and president of Foundation for Liberal and Management Education, Pune, Indira J Parikh, says, “We have good rules and regulations but nothing is implemented. So everybody believes that if you have money, you can get away with it.”

Considering these various reasons and the high ratio of cheating among students, something needs to be done to stop such practices of cheating. Students need to realize that they are not the marks that lead to one’s success but the actual learning. In order to stop cheating practices, firstly strong laws are needed to be introduced and implemented. Secondly, parents and teachers should try to reduce the pressure from the students and should try to comfort them and thirdly, some small sessions should be introduced in classrooms to give some lessons on ethics and morals to students.

At the end, Usha Albuquerque says, “Just be open to alternatives. The world doesn’t come to an end if you don’t get into an IIT or an SRCC. Yes, these institutions “open doors” but employers are looking for talent irrespective of where you come from. If you are a good student from any college, you can do just as well.”

Ways to clear Group Discussions (GDs)

Group Discussions (GDs), today, are considered one of the most important aspects of getting into some reputed college or institute. It is a process where exchange of ideas and opinions are debated upon. GDs are mostly used as a part of entrance examination for admission into Masters of Business Administration (MBA).

Now, there are mainly four areas that are tested in your GD, namely, Content, Communication skills, Group dynamics and Leadership.

Content: Content is a combination of two things, knowledge and making logical arguments based on that knowledge. Merely cramming some facts is useless. You need to have an in-depth understanding of issues as well as an ability to analyse and make arguments on that issue. You can get both general and specific topic. Example: Kashmir Conflict or just a phrase saying "Where there's a will there's a way".

Communication skills: Communication skills are very important these days and GDs are the best medium to judge one’s communication skills. Thus, always take care of expressing your ideas in a clear and concise manner. Build on others' points and sum up the discussion made by the entire group.

Group Dynamics: In a GD formal language and mutual respect are obvious requirements. Also, you must take care of some other points like willingness to listen and discuss various points of view, learn to disagree politely, if required and show appreciation for good points made by others.

Leadership: In a GD, leadership does not mean controlling the group but giving the group a direction in terms of content. A good leader is one who allows others to express their views and channels the discussion to a probable decision or conclusion on the given topic.

Other than these four main areas, some other points that you should keep in mind while preparing for GDs are:

·         Read as much as you can: Last minute preparations of GD are generally of no use. You should read over a period of time. This will ensure that you have in-depth knowledge on the subject. Reading not only adds to your knowledge database, but enhances your vocabulary skills as well. Plus reading over a period of time, helps in your understanding of a particular subject/ topic better.

·         Always try to keep the discussion on the track: If by any means group is distracting from the topic or goal then simply take initiative to bring the discussion on the track. Make all group members aware that you all need to come to some conclusion at the end of the discussion. So stick to the topic.

·         Prepare some common topics in advance: There are certain topics which always repeat in GDs with some minor changes like issues of terrorism, gender inequality, poverty, Ayodhya conflict, liberalization and privatization, reservations in educational institutions etc. Make sure that you prepare these topics well.

·         Be positive: Be positive and be confident. Do not try to dominate anyone. Keep positive body language. Show interest in discussion.

Education and Values

The school in a child’s life is a first step where he/she gets to learn about values. The student often receives massive doses of “moral science” and informal advice on “how to be good” from teachers and parents.

Recently, a study named, Quality Education study (QES) was conducted by Educational Initiatives and Wipro Applying Thought in top schools where it was found that the value education in India in not quite effective. In the study it was found that many students have bias and ignorant opinions over issues that are crucial to social and personal life. For instance, 43% students of class IV, VI and VIII feel that education for girls is not that important as it is for boys. About half of the students on whom the study was conducted believe that religious differences matter and should be violently defended.

Now, the question is that why is it that schools are unable to nurture the moral values in these little kids? Is it because our top schools emphasize just on academics, examinations and marks and not on values and attitudes of students? According to the report of the study, students in “top schools” depend more on rote learning and less on understanding. It appears that they study too much and learn little.

This failure is due to the fundamental weakness of our ideas about learning and how to bring it about. True learning happens when the student builds, often gradually, coherent conceptual schemes about how the world works and is able to use these concepts to understand, explain and act in unfamiliar situations. Our schools, particularly the elite ones are yet to go a long way in order to bring about this transition.

Now, the question arises that why are values so important? What has education to do with it? Values are important as one’s values affect the overall personality of a person and education is certainly the best way to impart right values among kids at the right age which is the school going age. For instance, gender and religious bias is very likely to influence a student’s thoughts and actions. It is clear, therefore, that values, if they have to add to personal and social well-being must help students think and judge sensitively and help them understand and respond to novel challenges.

In the conclusion, learning about values is not a matter of teaching the good ones. It is about helping students explore and understand the consequences of holding particular values. Discovering the consequences of bias and prejudice must be part of our curriculum. The Constitution urges us to respect others’ rights, and to participate peacefully in the democratic process. These civic values need to be discovered and nurtured.