While one admits strongly, that there are no wands of magic that would eradicate the ills in education, as it has to synergize the past, the present and the future, it is equally important that periodic corrective measures as well as game-changers that would motivate it to move towards the future with courage and conviction are necessary. One of the disturbing factors in education is that the undercurrent of all the policies have political sensibilities which either pushes or prevents the desired dynamics.
It is time that we need an out of box thinking – radical, persuasive, transformational, measurable and sustainable - a changed mindset to deal with newer cognitive issues, collaborative learning processes and issues related to scaffolding education both online and offline.Informal learning tools and resources to support both the teachers and the taught need to be enabled for self-learning, as that would be the most generic approach for the future. Populist measures have discredited the system more, be it at the primary level or at the higher education level. While in education an all out effort has to be done to establish equity and social justice without financial compulsions, care needs to be taken to sustain quality – because today, quality is no more an issue for local consumption, but it has a global consideration and accountability. Therefore, any compromise on quality of the educational processes would be at the cost of intellectual credibility of the nation and its competence for global contribution.
Major issues which need to be addressed for a possible transformation.
1. Addressing the performance of the government schools -
Across the country, without specification of the state or its governance, there is an increasing evidence to show that the accountability of this system is at its lowest ebb. I was surprised to see a news item this morning that by a given date nearly 65% percent of the students of class 6 who have no reading competence, will be able to read effectively. If this could be committed by a government as a magic that would happen in the next three months, the question arises, why did it not happen for the last six years? And what about other competencies? It is time that we should move from fire-fighting strategies to establishing professional values that define the core of the system and the performance profile of the systems. If the Government can not deliver it at their doors, they can hardly question it elsewhere.
2. Teacher competencies
While there are a lot many qualified and competent teachers in the system – both at the governmental and private sectors – their performance profiles have always remained debatable. Involvement of the teachers in non-professional work has, for years, de-motivated and brought down their self esteem as well as social esteem. It is important to hold the teachers as absolute professionals and create an environment for continuous up-gradation of skills through integrated and inclusive training programs. In many cases, the training programs done by several governmental agencies are only to complete their records and numbers; they have hardly led to the desired goal. Further, the elements of the training are monotonous, non-participate, hierarchical and based on top-down approaches. If the policy could redefine the strategies and methods of enrichment through open inclusive processes, it might lead to some fresh air of thinking.
3. Private participation
The private participation in education has been more like using a double-edged sword. It has, no doubt, added quality and reset some of directional approaches, it has also been consumerist. The excessive profit motives, compromises with regulatory procedures, non- compliance or fraud on implementing the rules have surfaced many a times, often with the support and concurrence of the regulatory authorities. It is important that private participation in education at the primary and secondary level needs to be encouraged ( I think there are no options, given the limitations of the government and the governance), the inspection- raj should be reset with strong audit methods from time to time, and punishing the errant with a strong hand. PPP s can certainly be partners in game changing procedures with trust and support mutually.
4. Re-engineering national testing procedures
Most tools of measurements and their resultant certification call for a serious review as they have lost their credibility. Performance assessments should give way to rote knowledge assessments. Greater objectivity needs to be incorporated in the scaling processes, possibly at the cost of the displeasure of the advocates of numbers in examinations, so that the system reflects the realistic profile of the learner. As in several other countries, it may be a game changer to have private educational/testing boards working healthily at par with those of the governments
5. Endorsing the capabilities for growth
The system has always used a common bench mark to define the entire range of variant performers in differing fields of knowledge and skills. It has helped in detaining the excellence in one field for the inability to perform in another. There is a need for change in the mindset- to acknowledge performance, excellence – and to nurture, celebrate, mentor and empower its growth professionally and logistically.
Among the hundreds of issues, the NPE would consider, I think some of the above critical undercurrents need to be considered as game changers.
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