I do often come across the kids whose parents present them as the victors, the prodigal genius and high or highest in mark sheet. Having put them through paces in their own domain I found them as inflated balloons that satisfy the ego of their families. Nothing more.
It is pathetic that so many real genius and hard working kids lag behind in marks before these artificial achievers in a nascent stage.
The topper kids of Bihar are the worse example that Vanity Fair of Education in India produces.
In Bihar, it was a situation pregnant with curiosity, shame, fear and fall. In the video, the Bihar state arts topper Ruby Rai was seen mispronouncing ‘political science’ and calling it prodigal science. The 17-year-old managed an impressive 88.8% despite the fact that she described political science a subject which deals with food. Similarly, another video showed state science topper Saurabh Rai having no knowledge of the periodic table.
Rai, who had scored 485 out of 500 marks, failed to answer questions related to electron and proton. An embarrassed Bihar government has also asked the 10 top scorers among the nearly 15 lakh students in Bihar to take another exam within the next week. Education Minister Ashok Choudhary conceded that it appears that either proxies took the exam for the students or the answer sheets submitted by the students were replaced later. I admit there has been some lapses somewhere,” he said.
As per the earlier documents of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) report revealed the status of education in India, enrolment in elementary education is almost 100 percent. However, when it comes to education outcomes, abilities in reading, writing and other comprehensive skills have deteriorated among children between the ages of six and 14.
Even with the increasing primary enrolment rates, India has the largest number of out-of-school children in the world which is more than the out of school children in whole of sub-Saharan Africa. There is a huge disparity between the urban and rural education; rich and poor children have radically different schooling experience.
The reality is that most of the educational policies of States and Centre are half-baked. Each segment in the educational hierarchy is facing some kind of problems which governments have no solutions or failing to address. The teachers in primary schools in rural areas face an uphill task are dealing with an outdated curriculum combined with the disinterest of principals and boards or commercialization of education.
Poor teaching facilities result in poor quality of education and students with lower standards. There is the chronic shortage of teachers. To make the matters worse, the situation is further deteriorated by high level of teacher absenteeism. It has been found out that often teachers do not come to school which clearly states that there is no mechanism to punish or fine such absent teachers. Consequently, low learning and falling quality of education imparted to kids entail grave implications for the future of country and country’s economy.
Apart from some hi-fi convent schools and similar elite city schools, country has not been able to improve the learning skills of majority of its primary school children. Contrarily, it has fallen to alarming lows.
In the Primary schools, teachers often make students read the lessons without explaining the meaning of the text. The kids never get the basic feel of the subject, be it history, arts or Science A fifth grader cannot do basic multiplication and division and cannot properly read or explain the text. However, most of them are masters of ‘copy it down’ effortlessly. Only a modicum of physical work without any brain work takes them nowhere. There are no opportunities to use the faculties of critical thinking, analytical reasoning, problem-solving and collaborative working.
From a weak base and a shaky pad the rocket or the symbol of India’s Future – the ordinary kid, is launched to explore the mysterious and difficult world. He can’t write a proper application for a job. Parental pressures and expectations dump them in Coaching Centers where they often commit suicide as they reach a dead end. You can’t blame Smirithi Irani alone or her degree or absence of it for all ills which beset today’s education. It goes deeper and higher.
If we look back, after the solid and sound foundations laid by learned scholar and first Education Minister Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, this crucial sector of nation building had lost its importance. The Cheap politics, prejudices and corruption had seeped into the system and real problems were intentionally ignored.
A look at the trail the Vyapam scam that has left since 2007 would reveal the pathetic situation of education in India. The scam involves massive irregularities and corruption in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) or MP Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal, abbreviated in Hindi as Vyapam. No count of deaths would speak the complete darkness that prevailed or still prevailing.
The height of tragedy unmasked whenthe Supreme Court had transferred all criminal and death cases linked to the Vyapam scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation for a “fair and impartial” probe. The Supreme Court has ordered a CBI probe into the multi-crore cash-for-jobs scam in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board that has resulted in unexplained deaths of key accused and witnesses.
We need a smart and updated education system with no bias against or for the religions, cultures, history and ethics. It should be free of corruption of every possible hue and shape. It should be purpose based on facts and realities and not jaundiced.
An education system is only as good as its teachers. However, when it comes to improvement of academic quality, teachers cannot do it alone. They will be able to give their best only when well-designed atmosphere, facilities, curriculum and assessment strategies are put in place, to improve teaching and learning.
I’ve yet to understand the TRP culture that compelled to quick judgment about these poor toppers of Bihar without full investigations. I pray that kids were lost their bearing in focus of media éclat and they are not as bad as appeared before camera. If the truth is as it appeared on TV, then the nation has to do some soul search and correction without delay.
