Op-Ed

At a time when the country is rejoicing over Indian education system’s freedom from the regressive marks based evaluation system, bang comes an announcement from one of the country’s top institutes to offset the jubilant mood. It is a reiteration of their known stand that it will still take us time before we change our mindset to let go of percentages and marks while tapping future talent.

It is that time of the year when students start taking stock of their studies. As examinations approach, every student gets into a routine where studies suddenly become a focal point of all their activities. Eating, playing, praying, exercises etc. all this routine is carried out with ritualistic discipline keeping the exams in mind.

Round-the-clock TV channels had already turned homes into virtual theatres. Children, as young as 2-year old, could be seen mimicking dialogues and singing and dancing to the tunes of Bollywood numbers. Reality TV programmes opened up a Pandora’s Box by providing young artistes with a platform for the outlet of their inherent talent, while igniting the urge to perform among hundreds of thousands others.

The facelift of Indian education system it seems is not over yet; for, going by what it appears on the outset, things have started to take shape and there’s no stopping just now. As brainstorming churns out new and better ideas by the day, there are education makeover coupons flying all around, with the latest one falling in the kitty of the Council for Board of Secondary Education (COBSE). With a great new plan to introduce a core curriculum for all state boards across the nation, the board is poised to bring in a big time change.

The word fashion takes a person into the dreamland glamour. Fashion design is the world of colour, costumes and life, a world of movement where nothing is constant, everything changes and only change is constant. To enter the field of fashion, there are lots of options to study with lots of different subjects.

The word student originates from Latin verb studēre which denotes “to direct one's zeal at". In this definition, a student is one "one who directs zeal at a subject". In its widest use, student is described as anyone who is learning. 

Traditionally, it was taken to mean that a student is one who ‘receives’ knowledge from teachers/tutors/trainers/gurus and the like.

 Not any longer. The students today is doesn’t like to be perceived as a mere ‘receiver or taker’ of learning from teachers and certainly not a passive one. What is worse, such description will seriously disrespect the role of a student and trivialize the very educating system without a comeback. Finally, it unwittingly underutilizes the resource that students really are.

If you flip through school text books, one thing that strikes you at the very first glance is gender stereotypes. At a time when the nation is proud of its women citizens for conquering every male bastion one after another in almost every field, the writers and illustrators of these school text books seem to be oblivious of the reality or who knows they are votaries of male supremacy.

That education system in the country is afflicted with myriad ailments is known to everybody. Crass commercialization of education brought in its wake many undesirable elements in the system. The market axiom: ‘the one, who pays the piper, calls the tune’ best sums up the prevailing education scene. That people with resources would exploit the situation taking advantage of the new changed atmosphere was a foregone conclusion. Yet the government with no means to meet the educational requirement of the country had taken a calculated risk by going for the privatisation of education. 

The Apple iPad might not be that much of a turn-on for all the gizmo guys out there, who already own super devices with one or multi such similar features so offered by the iPad thus, stirring nothing in their minds or hearts. However, there sure is one field the iPad may actually prove its worthiness, and in fact, might actually be a head turner least to say; for, competition is scarce and possibilities are galore in the arena of education.

The Indian education system is going through a phase of big time renovation and a much needed one, so to say. However, one closer look beyond superficial hoo-ha of all the mega changes and one realises that beneath we still remain grossly misguided, like ever before.