There can be no two opinions about the need to augment the potential for innovation of Indians working in every sphere. Those pointing out its root cause to be lying in our education system perhaps ignore that the seed of innovation needs to be sowed in the primary and secondary-level education.
This does not happen in the existing system. On one hand, there is a policy of not failing students and promoting them till Standard VIII even if they perform below par. Students thus promoted cannot even write three-digit numbers, leave alone adding or subtracting them.
Raja Shirguppe, who surveyed villages in western Maharashtra in 2009, visited a school not far away from a district headquarter. He asked one of the shepherd boys studying in Standard IV about his taluka and district . When he replied correctly , Shirguppe asked him as to where India is. "Beyond Kolhapur," came the answer.
The boys had never heard of Mahatma Gandhi and did not know what was meant by the golden jubilee of Maharashtra state. It was not the student's fault but of the teacher's who had not done his job well. It is the state government's responsibility to appoint eligible teachers with good and regular pay, decent accommodation and health facilities.
That being not the case, transfers to villages are considered a punishment for teachers. In spite of being aware of this, ministers have ignored this segment of society for years. This is Bharat.
Let us now move on to India where students study in English-medium schools and whom every one places on a higher pedestal. As English is not their mother tongue, much of their energy is wasted in understanding the subject and then mugging up answers and rewriting at home what their teachers wrote on the blackboard or dictated to them.
When they reach Standard X, they are advised by their teachers not to write even a single word from outside the textbook in the Board examination , lest a paper examiner fails to understand and gives them poor marks. Some schools may boast of the projects given to students . Alas. In a majority of cases, the projects are done by parents because the children simply have no energy to do them.
Innovation starts with out-of-the-box thinking . Teachers need to be trained to inspire students not only to think, but to think differently. When these students reach the graduate or post-graduate levels, search engines on the Internet further reduce their thinking and the capacity to apply their minds to their subjects.
This does not happen in the existing system. On one hand, there is a policy of not failing students and promoting them till Standard VIII even if they perform below par. Students thus promoted cannot even write three-digit numbers, leave alone adding or subtracting them.
Raja Shirguppe, who surveyed villages in western Maharashtra in 2009, visited a school not far away from a district headquarter. He asked one of the shepherd boys studying in Standard IV about his taluka and district . When he replied correctly , Shirguppe asked him as to where India is. "Beyond Kolhapur," came the answer.
The boys had never heard of Mahatma Gandhi and did not know what was meant by the golden jubilee of Maharashtra state. It was not the student's fault but of the teacher's who had not done his job well. It is the state government's responsibility to appoint eligible teachers with good and regular pay, decent accommodation and health facilities.
That being not the case, transfers to villages are considered a punishment for teachers. In spite of being aware of this, ministers have ignored this segment of society for years. This is Bharat.
Let us now move on to India where students study in English-medium schools and whom every one places on a higher pedestal. As English is not their mother tongue, much of their energy is wasted in understanding the subject and then mugging up answers and rewriting at home what their teachers wrote on the blackboard or dictated to them.
When they reach Standard X, they are advised by their teachers not to write even a single word from outside the textbook in the Board examination , lest a paper examiner fails to understand and gives them poor marks. Some schools may boast of the projects given to students . Alas. In a majority of cases, the projects are done by parents because the children simply have no energy to do them.
Innovation starts with out-of-the-box thinking . Teachers need to be trained to inspire students not only to think, but to think differently. When these students reach the graduate or post-graduate levels, search engines on the Internet further reduce their thinking and the capacity to apply their minds to their subjects.
Type the topic of the assignment and copy-paste the content — the
assignment is ready within minutes. Even here, cases of en masse copying
through pen drives abound. As for students of engineering , they take
pride in outsourcing their projects to small workshops instead of
dirtying their hands on a machine.
How can you expect any innovation from such lazy and mediocre students and the teachers who allow such unethical practices under their nose? Little wonder then that industry complains of unemployable raw manpower and the huge expenditure involved in training them immediately after they are recruited by the company.
Thus, the blame game continues between academia, industry and the student fraternity . It will not be out of place to narrate this author's experience as a visiting faculty at a well-known management institute in Pune. I gave them innovative projects such as bureaucracy as depicted in R K Laxman's cartoons and the feasibility of a six-hour work-shift.
At the end of the term, I gave them an openbook exam and asked them to translate whatever they had learnt in theory into an action plan to be implemented in a greenfield factory. Hardly two or three could write in their answer book and the rest complained about being handed a very tough paper! Outdated syllabi and methods of teaching have gripped our educational system and there is only lip service towards changing them.
Managements of engineering and management institutions only bother about attracting students and making money. They are least bothered about creating innovative minds passionate about creativity. To begin with, all these institutions would do well to conduct surveys among their alumni on the gaps they experienced in their learning in colleges and the actual demands at the workplace.
Fast-changing technology will always create gaps in academics and practice in industry. However, there should be a continuous endeavour to bridge this gap by holding a regular dialogue between the two and evolving ways for mutual exchange of knowledge. There can be no substitute for a sincere effort towards this end.
How can you expect any innovation from such lazy and mediocre students and the teachers who allow such unethical practices under their nose? Little wonder then that industry complains of unemployable raw manpower and the huge expenditure involved in training them immediately after they are recruited by the company.
Thus, the blame game continues between academia, industry and the student fraternity . It will not be out of place to narrate this author's experience as a visiting faculty at a well-known management institute in Pune. I gave them innovative projects such as bureaucracy as depicted in R K Laxman's cartoons and the feasibility of a six-hour work-shift.
At the end of the term, I gave them an openbook exam and asked them to translate whatever they had learnt in theory into an action plan to be implemented in a greenfield factory. Hardly two or three could write in their answer book and the rest complained about being handed a very tough paper! Outdated syllabi and methods of teaching have gripped our educational system and there is only lip service towards changing them.
Managements of engineering and management institutions only bother about attracting students and making money. They are least bothered about creating innovative minds passionate about creativity. To begin with, all these institutions would do well to conduct surveys among their alumni on the gaps they experienced in their learning in colleges and the actual demands at the workplace.
Fast-changing technology will always create gaps in academics and practice in industry. However, there should be a continuous endeavour to bridge this gap by holding a regular dialogue between the two and evolving ways for mutual exchange of knowledge. There can be no substitute for a sincere effort towards this end.
Source : The Economic Times, Sept 6, 2012
wow thats quite an awesome review of education system in us. thanks for sharing the post.
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