Education Policy that needs to be pursued

 

I am disturbed at reading news that school authorities suspended a teacher for inflicting punishment to a student of class III in a leading school in Chandigarh. The child was scared and refused to go to school after the incident and the parents took serious objections to this ‘corporal punishment,’ and the media played its own role of highlighting the incident in their columns. The result, the teacher suspended.

The incident has sparked off many views on the subject, one even suggesting imprisonment for one year and a fine of Rs. 10,000/- under the law of the land. However, my contention is that we must initiate a debate on the subject, which stands divided in two sets of imparting education.

We have two systems of school education in the country. One is Convent based education schools, another government schools. I am not aware if convent schools have introduced any inherent changes for quality education in their schools. However, the government run schools found up-gradation in the form of model schools.

However while the parents always dream of providing the best education to their wards, often run helter skelter for admission of their wards in the convent schools. Those who fail to secure admission in convent schools run for ‘model schools’ and the simple schools attract attention of none except the poor and down trodden.

This clearly brings to fore, the disparity in the education standards prevailing in our country. Whereas the emphasis in each school should be on imparting the quality education, the system has failed to evolve such an emphasis. The emphasis changes with the change of person in guard of education system giving way to many debates and conferences.

I am constrained to go into ancient system in which teacher and taught possessed values in our country- India. This system had an inherent message in it. Based on Indian spirituality, it also echoed a social message. Guru-the teacher- deserved more because it was through his only that the attainment of God was possible. Today the spiritual impact has vanished and the stress is in commercialization of the education system.

In India, Guru- the teacher was always in high esteem. He was the light to show the path of learning to his ‘shishya’- the disciple. It was time when learned scholars use to teach lessons of governance to the princes and the nobility. Others were taught to master the religious scriptures having social overtones and guidance. The king was kind and concerned for the welfare of the subjects and the subject carried their life courses in manner as prescribed in the shashtras- the books on learning.

The Guru was akin to ‘a god’. He deserved all the reverence of the taught and the taught performed meticulously. He would do anything that the guru demanded. An illustration comes in the shashtras that the Guru Dronacharya asked for the thumb from Ekalavya as “guru dakshina- offerings by the taught. He immediately cut the thumb and offered it Guru Dakshina.

 I may point out that Guru Dronacharya had declined to teach Ekalavya the Art of Archery who belonged to a lower caste. Guru was imparting the art to the princes of that time. Ekalavya then had gone in to the jungles- forest- built a statue of the Guru Dronacharya and started practicing the art. He had championed the art.

Ekalavya had been practicing his art, when a dog nearby started barking. He shot arches in the mouth of the dog, which tied its mouth without shedding a drop of blood. Guru Dronacharya along with his disciples was strolling around. He was aghast at seeing the act of Ekalavya, whom he feared would even excel his princely disciples.

Dronacharya looked around and found Ekalavya practicing the art of archery in the jungle. Surprised on seeing him, Dronacharya enquired about the name of the teacher. Ekalavya when confronted with his teacher lay at his feet and with humility named him his teacher. Dronacharya asked for ‘guru dakshina’ and promptly got it from his shishya-the disciple.

Bereft of thumb, Ekalavya would never be able practice the art of archery, yet he did offer the thumb to the guru as asked by his. This was the reverence the taught had for his teacher. However, this relationship between the teacher and the taught has witnessed a sea change over the ages and the system has changed too.

In the 21 st Century, the institutions imparting education have grown in size and stature and many streams of education have evolved. The Teacher supposed to inherit the glory of the olden times is nowhere visible. The art of teaching has acquired a new look. Whereas in older days, education was learning, it has degenerated to teaching only. Today it seems that the teacher’s duty ends with the ‘period’ he is in the class. His only concern is to bring good results for his school through the students in his class.

To accomplish this, sometime, the teacher resorts to corporal punishments meted out to his pupils. This kind of punishment when inflicted on young minds of primary classes causes gravest harm. The child is shattered and it affects his personality and psyche. The child if grows in this fear of punishment is not able to bring out the best in him.

 The situation in rural areas is worse than in the cities. In rural areas, the school infrastructure is also poor, so is the quality of education imparted by the school. It is disheartening to note that in some cases Xth classes pass out fail to write own name even.  This conveys a very poor state of affairs .In this light of this, those who have professed that there should be no examinations in the early education needs to be condemned.

Discrimination must end in the education system. For this, all our efforts should be in ensuring uniformity in the teaching standards in schools colleges and Universities. It is of paramount interest that the commercialization in any form of the education must end and end immediately. In our country, we should evolve a system that incorporates imparting education to all up to secondary level, and it should be free for all.

 After Secondary level, it should have an element of competition. Government should come out with a formula where individual performance is assessed by conducting tests.  This assessment should further be a guide to the student of his future performance. There should no mad running for science, engineering or Arts streams. College education should be such that helps the student in career building.

 Satish Chandra Sharma,

General Secretary,

Chandigarh Social Welfare Council,

Email: sharma.ambakripa@gmail.com