Education Reforms

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates gave a speech at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). In his speech at the 2010 American Federation of Teachers Convention, Bill Gates commended AFT members for their commitment to supporting historic reforms in public education and called for continued focus on school reforms that are shaped by the knowledge and experience of teachers.

DK Goel is the founder and Chairman of FIITJEE. An alumnus of IIT-Delhi, he founded FIITJEE in 1992, which is a forum for IIT-JEE, a launching pad for the serious JEE aspirants. He is the man who looked at teaching from a different perspective making FIITJEE one of the best coaching institutions to crack IITJEE. In the following interview with Education Master, Mr. Goel shared his experience and views on various topics on education. 

A lot is being said today about the technical education standards and practices in India or more so the lack of these, especially the field of engineering education. Be it the education imparting practices, mindsets of teachers and students alike or skill development, industry exposure and job related knowledge. The fact that the lackings in engineering education are being noticed not just by a few experts but are also supplemented by data from research and survey, has created a unique urgency in the system to give engineering education a big time facelift.

Thousands of French students and teachers marched on the streets of Paris to protest against education reforms introduced by President Nicolas Sarkozy. Many teachers from vocational and secondary schools and colleges participated in the protest rallies.

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.

More than six decades after throwing off the yoke of British rule, one would think that education wouldn’t be one of the issues the country would still be grappling with. But that’s the sad truth. And that is simply because political will has always fallen short when it comes to ushering in drastic reforms to weed out the ills that the Indian education system has suffered from. Consider this: every third illiterate person on this earth is an Indian and India ranks 147th from among 170 countries in terms of literacy. There is more.

Here is a reformist minister who is all ‘student-friendly’. With his extensive reforms with in the education sector Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal has proved himself to be a true realistic friend to the student community. He prefers to walk along with them, at a pace that is neither too fast nor too slow, with a hand round their shoulders. Sibal did not hide his happiness while interacting with senior editors at the Hindustan Times office on Tuesday.

Inclined to give the legal education in the nation a boost, the government has constituted a twelve member committee, to give its suggestions for the same. The committee is expected to suggest various measures through which not only the syllabus is updated but, also the overall grooming of the students is taken care of.

The soon to be announced, revised grading system for Class X, under the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE), is receiving many speculations from all concerned. Wondering as to how the system will shape up to be a reliable successor to the board exams, all eyes are on HRD Minister Kapil Sibal now.

While much is being touted about the higher education in the country, the scene at the primary and higher secondary education level remains dismal as ever. We celebrate what we have achieved in the course of our progression as a nation. But we have no time to ponder over what we could have achieved.