NOT SO ELEMENTARY..!!

Photo credits @LiveMint  

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. 

Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime" 

- A Chinese Proverb

The State, for more than half a century now, has been doing whatever it can to provide free and compulsory primary education to all. But, its ineffectiveness to deliver in the rural areas and the appalling condition of the schools there (reflected in the absence of basic infrastructure, monetary support and trained and dedicated teachers) force many children, even today, to steer clear of the few available classrooms we may have in the countryside. The problem is further compounded by various socio-economic compulsions, like the need of more hands to till land and help out in domestic chores, forcing village folk to arm their children with farming tools like the sickle and the hoe instead of empowering them with educational tools such as a humble book and a pen. So, what can be done and has been done till now? I'm no expert, but this is what I've understood.

In a country where schemes rarely do well, the success of Tamilnadu’s legendary Chief minister, M.G. Ramachandran’s FREE MID-DAY MEAL SCHEME, launched as back as 1982, has been a novel idea in combating both - illiteracy and hunger. While cynics have tried their level best to brush aside the benefits of the scheme, citing examples of poor and unhygienic quality of food, disruption in classes and the misappropriation of funds and food stock, the dramatic rise in school enrolment and attendance (post meal as well) has a different story to tell. Fully understanding the benefits of the scheme, the Supreme Court passed an interim order in Nov. 2001 (and then again in Nov. 2004) directing all state governments and Union Territories to introduce cooked mid-day meals in all primary schools within six months of the directive. Many states have complied but some unfortunately continue to buy time citing shortage of funds, delay in finalising menus and other excuses to defer the proper implementation of this efficacious scheme.

And though the budgetary allocation on education has steadily been increasing (from 0.8% to 3.3% in fifty years), yet it stays short of the 1968 national goal of setting aside 6% of National Income on education. With each passing year, India’s educational programmes continue to be undercut and budgetary deficits just about keep the noses of our schools and colleges above water, virtually disallowing for any structural improvement or innovative programming. Institutions of higher education are also often supported at the expense of primary education even though, year after year, the country witnesses the siphoning-off of highly trained graduates to other countries, fashionably called "The Brain Drain," leaving behind an already cash-strapped nation and its taxpayers footing their grossly subsidised educational bills. Such policies are a slap on the elementary education system of India (the second largest in the world) and its armamentarium of 149.4 million children (between 6-14 years of age) and 2.9 million teachers.

The question of “language” and the medium of instruction is another distressing divide that further complicates the problem of education and employment in our country. Today, speaking and teaching in english might smack of colonial residue, but along with many other things western it has come to be accepted as a sort of lingua franca of the educated urbanites - which further broadens the gulf between India and Bharat. In circumstances adverse to their well being, it is only natural for our rural folk to feel deprived under such duality which is clearly tearing the nation apart into two new “haves” and “have-nots.” Those who can speak the Queen's language and those who can't. The NCERT’s recommendation of making english compulsory in all schools from class 1 onwards may ultimately prove to be a good idea but, until such time when all students have a level playing field, the disadvantaged will continue to suffer and be scoffed at for not being “cool" enough and conversant in what remains for them, even today, largely an alien tongue.

Yet another factor that amplifies this pitiful predicament is the present “study-by-rote” system, which does not sufficiently recognise the need of learning and awareness beyond the four walls of the classroom. Even though most students do not find this “book based” approach motivating enough, they are forced to fine tune their learning skills to primarily score well in the board and competitive exams wherein cramming volumes after volumes of books is their only focus, instead of trying to understand and truly grasp the written word. Research and observations have shown that being “norm-driven” is a phenomenon that breaches the basic structure of how the mind perceives a learning process. Therefore, it is time our schools and syllabi were designed to prevent over-education from killing the healthy enthusiasm of young minds.

With its success in the IT sector, India is aiming to transform itself into a knowledge economy. But a lopsided educational system might just spike such lofty plans by staying confined to a privileged few. The type of education that we impart should, therefore, be comprehensive, relevant and uniform. The present high degree of asymmetry in our educational system (the Public and Govt. school divide) needs to be corrected for it creates a large mismatch of manpower that our schools supply. The Human Resource Department and Educational Councils are already reviewing a proposal to revamp the board exams and introduce a system of gradation in schools. If implemented, the changes could make the board exams less of a scourge and the system of appropriating marks quicker, more salubrious and less likely to be perceived as unjust.

Also, teaching requires a huge reform and the weariness from within needs to go as it cannot merely be an appropriation of tiresome instructions by cicerone interpreters of policy and curriculum. It is extremely important to enthuse and motivate our teachers with better pay if we expect them to inject vigour in the classrooms and draw out the best from students whose lives they shape on a daily basis.

Literacy, or for that matter even “functional literacy,” of being able to read letters and signboards, check out bus directions, fill out forms and operate bank accounts have become indispensable tools for dignified existence. Yet, 300 million illiterates in our country, mostly rural and mostly female, continue to suffer untold miseries for this deprivation. For a multitude of reasons, successive governments have failed to provide not only proper schools and an effective education system to all its citizens but also lucrative employment opportunities to the 65% of its literate and semi-literate populace. The one biggest being our ever-burgeoning population. Hence, the fault doesn't lie solely with the state. Therefore, no matter how many good policies the government might come up with, no matter how much educational infra-structure it may build, the rate at which the Indian population is exploding, development can never ever catch up and will always be a few steps behind, leaving in its wake a huge pool of uneducated people who get treated no better than human detritus in the absence of proper education. And till this twin problem isn't tackled, and corruption controlled, our classroom conundrums will remain unsolved.

P.S: An edited version of the article

was published in September, 2006 in the
Sahara Time (Panorama Section) under the title, "Educational Imbalances."