What a child learns

The reason I enjoy Aamir Khan's movies is because they often have an underlying theme regarding social justice or reform, apart from which I also welcome the chance to admire his good looks and his acting. I watched 3 Idiots the other day and was pleased to see some important issues regarding our education system and the morality therein being addressed at the begining of the movie. Unfortunately the movie making business ensured that the analysis of these issues merely scratched the surface of deep rooted problems – the giant stirred but did not waken. This article will attempt to poke and prod awake the lethargic giant that constitutes the Indian society as a whole.
The schooling that I went through and passed out of not four years ago is a prime example of the education system in the urban cities of our country. Each class had a minimum of 60 students being taught by one harried, overworked teacher. Each period was about 40 minutes long. How could any human being be expected to pay equal attention to each student in that amount of time, to ensure that the lesson being taught is understood and assimilated? Is it any surprise that teachers nowadays are indifferent to a student's grasping power? Should we be astonished that rote-learning is the norm in schools today? From an early age our children learn by heart the readymade answers that will then be recited off in class glibly or vomitted on to an exam paper, with the child retaining next to nothing since the answer wasn't processed by him in the first place. This year once again I find myself back in University studying for a postgraduate in English Literature in the United Kingdom. The difference between the education systems practiced in both countries is a revelation in the working of their societies. This time round there are no readymade answers available. The professors and lecturers here are supportive and encouraging, but they refuse to spoon feed you, letting you do your own thinking and draw your own conclusions. And if those conclusions happen to conradict their opinion, they are open minded enough to consider the plausibility of your results provided you can produce a convincing argument. New to this system of education, I found first few months incredibly challenging, and it took me a while before I could get comfortable with the idea of expressing my opinion in a class full of students, that happenend only when I was forced to develop an opinion rather than expect and accept the professor's point of view. Unfortunately students in India would never be encouraged in this way, and I mourn for the loss of all those years of 'education' where I was taught that the teacher was always right and where the only correct answers were the ones copied from the text book verbatim.
Another problem that is rampant in our classrooms is cheating – during exams, tests etc. The fear of not meeting their parent's expectations of top marks and the high level of competition that is promoted in schools, negatively motivates students to cheat. Circumstances in schools and universities promote and condone the act, making it almost excusable - tests are taken in overcrowded classrooms with students seated rubbing elbows, where it is easy to peek into another's answersheet and where one teacher is burdened with the unrealistic expectation of invigilating 60 students, a task that can have only two outcomes - the teacher will either attempt to and succeed in an inefficient invigilation or will give up the hopeless task, unconcernedly letting the students cheat.
Children are quick to notice discrepancies, and the hypocrisy between the moral education taught and practiced, both at home as well as in school, does not escape unperceived. How often have children seen their parents bribe a traffic policemen to avoid a speeding ticket? How often have they heard their parents discuss undeclared income, black money? Or watched them pay huge 'donations' for admission into a reputable educational institution? Or then witnessed the 'reputable institution' conduct classes to ensure their students pass with flying colors for the upkeep of its reputation rather than emphasizing on the learning itself. With these examples of corruption in everyday life rooted in their consciousness, children grow up and move on to college and university and finally the work place, themselves practicing these non-values on the way. And then we wonder at the moral bankruptness of our society.
India is a country with great promise but if this country is to reach its maximum potential it will have to reform its way of doing things. Corruption and greed have been gnawing away at our prosperity as termites at the foundations of a house. We need to change. And the best place to start is at grassroot level. The education system must be improved.
-The ratio of the number of students per teacher should be reduced to ensure quality education.
-Better trained teachers would encourage and recognise the uniqueness and potential of each child.
-Moral education should not be just another period during the week that may be bunked, but a way of life exemplified by both parents and teachers. Let us, as adults, set the example.
-The Government should look at the prospect of investing more in the education system, reducing the ratio of the number of students per teacher will create more jobs for teachers. Attractive incentives and salaries will have more people choosing to become teachers.
Let us start in our schools and let the transformation work its way upwards into society.
Is it too much to expect and aim for inherent integrity? Even as I write this, the futility of the writing makes me grim. Dare I hope that this article will create anything but a stir on the surface, and maybe even not that. But why shouldn't it? It is not impossible. I guess the question that needs answering isn't whether we CAN change, it's whether we WANT to change.