NHRD Journal - National HRD Network

Reality: Various individuals learn at
different pace at different times
• Mindset # 4: Learning takes place in the
classroom and not outside the classroom.
Reality: Every life experience contributes to
learning anywhere.
• Mindset # 5: There are smart kids and dumb
kids.
Reality: Each child is uniquely gifted and
possesses talents in multiple areas.
It is absolutely mind boggling to observe how
the entire elementary education system, that
consists of 5.5 Mln teachers, 1 Mln education
functionaries and spends over Rs. 1,40,000
crore engages most of the time on issues that
are not related to achieving the quality of
education in the classroom. There is a lot of
talk on appointing teachers, transferring
teachers, building classrooms, getting reports
from the schools, enrolment, attendance so on
and so forth…. but very little discussion on
quality of what happens in the classroom.
Some Enablers of Change
The National Curriculum Framework has
attempted to define the process that could achieve
the goals of education. However, in addition to
the difficulties and lack of guidance on converting
the curriculum into classroom processes,
probably the biggest challenge is its awareness
among the teacher educators and the teachers.
In our analysis, the most important change
agents that could bring about the required
change in the quality of education are:
• Teachers
• Education Administrators
• Parents and community that can exert
pressure on the schools
• Examination reforms
Irrespective of what happens in the rest of the
education system and what people keep
harping on--the crucible of learning in a formal
and structured education system is the
classroom. And this is where the teacher has
the most pivotal role in influencing the learners.
The teacher exists in a total system of education
delivery that is needed to be supported by the
education administrators - who among other
things are also responsible for appointing,
inducting, training, preparing and
academically supporting the teachers.
It is the parents that are most affected by the
poor quality of education since it deprives their
children from becoming responsible and
effective citizens and bread-winners for the
family.
The current driver for change - the
Examinations: The process that drives the
behavior of almost the entire education system
currently is the "Examination System".
Examinations serve similar purpose as of the
performance management system in the
corporate organizations. In absolute terms
there is nothing wrong - except that the current
examination system is almost entirely focussed
on testing the "rote memorization" of the
students. Thus at the primary education level,
in a story of "Hare and Tortoise" the questions
that are asked are what did the hare say to
tortoise or something similar - wherein the
student has to remember who said what.
Instead, the question should be "why did the
tortoise win the race"? Unless the student has
understood the story, there is no way the student
would be able to answer the question. Similarly,
in history subject, the focus tends to be on
chronology of events and the years in which
certain historical events happened. Instead the
focus should be on the characters, their
patriotism, their diplomacy, the failures of the
society to recognize certain events, bravery,
valor etc.
It is important to understand that because the
examinations focus excessively on rote
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November 2007 NHRD Journal