Quality education
A Chinese proverb says"If you want to think one year ahead, plant rice, if you want to think ten years ahead, plant trees and if you want to think hundred years ahead impart education. Corresponding to this Chinese proverb is another saying i.e., if you want to give quality life to the people, give them quality education. Education that is initiation into learning of life- skills, enabling individuals to live quality life.
The simple meaning of quality education means that majority of the students, if not all,are able to meet the expectations of the minimum level of learning which helps, stimulating creative thinking and to develop problem solving skills along with life skills among the learners. Laying emphasis on application of knowledge is another milestone in this process. It must be remembered that quality is not the destination but a journey to reach the benchmark. It goes without saying that for quality education you need quality schools. But ,what is the meaning of quality schools? Is it a big building and extraordinary facilities in terms apparatus and gadgets or some thing else?Different people have different opinion and that should be the case so that quality education and schools could be understood in the right perspective.
The most important and the basic requirement is to understand what is expected of an individual whose has received quality education. What are the behavioral and other changes expected by providing quality education?One of the very important prerequisite is the clarity of the mission and the vision of the education and that should be known and understood by all stakeholders. Because if people do not know the real meaning and reason of getting education it may not serve the desired purpose even if the objective is very noble.Following are few characteristics of the quality schools which should be paid due attention so that our children get quality education:-
1. Professional high quality leadership and management, which should be firm and purposeful.
2. Concentration on teaching and learning of pupil with emphasis on developing a holistic personality.
3. Focus on achievements and learning organisation, i.e , A school with staff who are willing to be learners and participate in staff development programmes.
4. The shared vision and goals that drive collegiality and collaboration keeping in mind the mission of the school.
5. A methodical and stress free learning environment.
6. A purposeful and structured teaching with adaptive practice but with freedom of experimentation.
7. High expectations.
8 Positive reinforcement based upon clear and fair feedback.
9.Home-school partnership encouraging parental involvement in their child`s learning.
10 Quality education of high standard should be the collective responsibility.
11 Government to make quality education and the quality schools as one of the most important agenda in the annual and also five year plans.
The government has its share to improve the quality but as has been talked for the last more than sixty years the population of the country play negative with the progress made by the country . The quality schools are very important for the growth of the nation but we are struggling with the quantity of the schools and the quality educators required to help in providing quality education. Only making people worth to read and write may not improve the standard of the life of the citizens. Till more schools are opened and more quality teachers are trained, the existing schools should take the responsibility of providing quality education. Even within the limitations, if following factors/norms are taken care of, the school environment will improve considerably and we shall be taking a step towards providing quality education to many students if not all :-
1. Shared vision and goals:- The staff and other stakeholders share an understanding of and commitment to goals and objectives.
2. Relationship among the staff members should be based on trust, confidence, communication and sharing of goals.
3. Freedom of experimentation:- The students and staff should be given freedom to experiment. This will develop the thinking and creativity
4. Culture of school:-According to Terrance Deal and Kent Peterson the culture is the underground stream of norms, values, beliefs, traditions and rituals that have been built up over a period time as people work together, solve problems and confront challenges.
5 Tangible support:- The administrative and management support in terms of resources and facilities for a quality school.
6 Reaching out to knowledge base :- The quality schools make full use of the sources of the knowledge available in and out side the school.
7. Professional learning community :- This is the key for a school to be quality school and provide quality education. This can be achieved by developing ,Team work, Collaboration and by helping each other for better performance.
8 .Protect the interest of the three major stake holders :-The interest of the students, teachers and the parents should be given due importance and should be protected.
9 Honest, frequent and open communication :- This is very important key for reaching to quality education status that honest and timely feed back is provided. This can happen when there is an environment of trust and confidence.
10. Safety, security and support system :- This is another building block creating a quality school .Safety and security system of the school requires constant monitoring not only by the teachers and but by others who are responsible for that.
11 Integration of technology :- This will help to reach to the global standards
12 Assessment:- This key indicator of quality education is also a part of teaching- learning process that is oral as well as written based on the feedback from students , teachers ,parents and policy makers. The assessment in quality school be fair and objective. Correct data will help school to incorporate method for improvement.
13 Climate of high expectations: For quality education high expectations and goals should be set and then break them in smaller goals.
These are some the things which will help us to take step towards quality education which is the right of all the citizens. Many more areas can be added depending upon the local needs of the the people and society.Consistent efforts and attention to this very important issue are required on the part of government agencies and also the people of the country. Literacy and just education may not be enough to face the challenge of this century and the time ahead.
The simple meaning of quality education means that majority of the students, if not all,are able to meet the expectations of the minimum level of learning which helps, stimulating creative thinking and to develop problem solving skills along with life skills among the learners. Laying emphasis on application of knowledge is another milestone in this process. It must be remembered that quality is not the destination but a journey to reach the benchmark. It goes without saying that for quality education you need quality schools. But ,what is the meaning of quality schools? Is it a big building and extraordinary facilities in terms apparatus and gadgets or some thing else?Different people have different opinion and that should be the case so that quality education and schools could be understood in the right perspective.
The most important and the basic requirement is to understand what is expected of an individual whose has received quality education. What are the behavioral and other changes expected by providing quality education?One of the very important prerequisite is the clarity of the mission and the vision of the education and that should be known and understood by all stakeholders. Because if people do not know the real meaning and reason of getting education it may not serve the desired purpose even if the objective is very noble.Following are few characteristics of the quality schools which should be paid due attention so that our children get quality education:-
1. Professional high quality leadership and management, which should be firm and purposeful.
2. Concentration on teaching and learning of pupil with emphasis on developing a holistic personality.
3. Focus on achievements and learning organisation, i.e , A school with staff who are willing to be learners and participate in staff development programmes.
4. The shared vision and goals that drive collegiality and collaboration keeping in mind the mission of the school.
5. A methodical and stress free learning environment.
6. A purposeful and structured teaching with adaptive practice but with freedom of experimentation.
7. High expectations.
8 Positive reinforcement based upon clear and fair feedback.
9.Home-school partnership encouraging parental involvement in their child`s learning.
10 Quality education of high standard should be the collective responsibility.
11 Government to make quality education and the quality schools as one of the most important agenda in the annual and also five year plans.
The government has its share to improve the quality but as has been talked for the last more than sixty years the population of the country play negative with the progress made by the country . The quality schools are very important for the growth of the nation but we are struggling with the quantity of the schools and the quality educators required to help in providing quality education. Only making people worth to read and write may not improve the standard of the life of the citizens. Till more schools are opened and more quality teachers are trained, the existing schools should take the responsibility of providing quality education. Even within the limitations, if following factors/norms are taken care of, the school environment will improve considerably and we shall be taking a step towards providing quality education to many students if not all :-
1. Shared vision and goals:- The staff and other stakeholders share an understanding of and commitment to goals and objectives.
2. Relationship among the staff members should be based on trust, confidence, communication and sharing of goals.
3. Freedom of experimentation:- The students and staff should be given freedom to experiment. This will develop the thinking and creativity
4. Culture of school:-According to Terrance Deal and Kent Peterson the culture is the underground stream of norms, values, beliefs, traditions and rituals that have been built up over a period time as people work together, solve problems and confront challenges.
5 Tangible support:- The administrative and management support in terms of resources and facilities for a quality school.
6 Reaching out to knowledge base :- The quality schools make full use of the sources of the knowledge available in and out side the school.
7. Professional learning community :- This is the key for a school to be quality school and provide quality education. This can be achieved by developing ,Team work, Collaboration and by helping each other for better performance.
8 .Protect the interest of the three major stake holders :-The interest of the students, teachers and the parents should be given due importance and should be protected.
9 Honest, frequent and open communication :- This is very important key for reaching to quality education status that honest and timely feed back is provided. This can happen when there is an environment of trust and confidence.
10. Safety, security and support system :- This is another building block creating a quality school .Safety and security system of the school requires constant monitoring not only by the teachers and but by others who are responsible for that.
11 Integration of technology :- This will help to reach to the global standards
12 Assessment:- This key indicator of quality education is also a part of teaching- learning process that is oral as well as written based on the feedback from students , teachers ,parents and policy makers. The assessment in quality school be fair and objective. Correct data will help school to incorporate method for improvement.
13 Climate of high expectations: For quality education high expectations and goals should be set and then break them in smaller goals.
These are some the things which will help us to take step towards quality education which is the right of all the citizens. Many more areas can be added depending upon the local needs of the the people and society.Consistent efforts and attention to this very important issue are required on the part of government agencies and also the people of the country. Literacy and just education may not be enough to face the challenge of this century and the time ahead.
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