Rethinking- Education And Educators

The annual examinations of almost all the schools/boards in India are going on or would start/ finish in a few days. The children and parents of the school-going children know nothing else to do but prepare and appear to perform to the best in their respective exams. We talk a lot about the stress caused due to examinations of the children especially the board exams, which is true to a great extent. The parents are found taking off from their work and trying to be with the kids as much as possible. This is a ritual which is followed every year. In this, the teachers' stress, especially those teaching board classes, is sometimes ignored. They have to perform multiple tasks and play multiple roles. They are not only expected to take care of the academic part of their students but also the emotional and psychological issues are to be given proper attention. The examination in India and probably in other countries is highlighted so much that the real aim of education is lost somewhere. I do not dispute the place of the exam but focusing on this only does not make sense because there is a difference between learning and recalling. The exams in our country still tend to focus more on recalling than really knowing and helping the learners to learn. I was reading a book having 100 ideas for doing activities to learn outside the classroom but do we give that much time and that type of training to our teachers? NEP lays the path for the future but what about the implementation? Why do we always dictate terms top-down and not have a system involving the ones responsible for implementing the great ideas? Education should focus on learning than too much emphasis on examination. If we try to analyse the time spent on this unavoidable activity of formal examination, then we find that very little time is left for the real learning process. This I am saying mainly in the context of India. Do those sitting at the top have an idea about the ground realities? As per RTE act 2009, the schools should have at least 220 working days. Considering the summer break, winter break, gazetted holidays and Sundays the schools are barely left with these many working days (that too when there is no early closure of schools due to severe heat in summer or extended closure due to severe cold in winter). Then you have some local holidays declared or closure of schools due to excessive rains etc., leaves the teachers very tight in their schedule. This forces them to focus more on completing the syllabus than really doing some innovative teaching work in the school. Further, the number of scheduled tests/examinations eats up the working days expected to be utilised for learning, especially in secondary classes.  The children are to appear in periodical tests/Half-yearly/ Annual exams and in between SEA in classes IX and X. This must require nearly thirty to forty days a year on an average. I have not yet added the days utilised for the cultural, games and sports activities (like sports day) and annual function/founder`s day celebrations etc., which are and should be an integral part of school education.

The teachers in this entire process are the most important human resource responsible not only for the learning of the students but also to assess the progress made by their students in different areas and based on that designing the lesson plan in a manner to fill the gaps. For this, they need time and resources both but the key is time. Let’s take into consideration the public examination conducted by the CBSE (which are classes X & XII) and analyse the schedule throughout the year and especially from January onwards. The teachers who teach these classes normally teach classes IX and XI also. These teachers are expected to conduct practical examinations in their own schools for their own children and are put on duty as external examiners in other schools as well. So right from January when they have the pre-board exams in their schools they are also busy conducting practical exams. Just after they finish with this assignment, the theory exams start and they are supposed to be invigilators and thereafter evaluate the answer sheets. It takes a minimum of 10 to 12 days for them to complete this. We must not forget simultaneously the schools` internal examinations are also conducted and they have to do the evaluation of the sheets of the children they have taught during the year and prepare the results, attend the PTMs when the parents visit the school to discuss and collect the result of their children. These are major responsibilities and tasks which almost all of them have to fulfil/ perform. Now, look at the students of classes IX and XI who may not have been looked after by their teachers with the focus they needed and deserved. Though the teachers try their best to look after them as well, can we realise the stress and the pressure which it brings on them? I have been through this myself and very well can realise the plight of the teachers. I would like to emphasise that evaluation work is equally important as the teaching-learning process in the class and no one can take it lightly. Nonetheless, we should not forget the ultimate reality that the teachers need to have time for reflecting and preparing the lesson and their interaction in the class so as that enhances the value of learning the concepts and reduce the gap between the level of achievement and the learning outcomes.

Now if we ponder upon their workload we find that they get very little time to focus on the real task. I have written before also that sometimes the examination in this country becomes more important than the real education. Every school management expects their children to be performing the best and that puts a lot of pressure not only on the children but also on the teachers. Then how do we balance this? I would like all to remember the time when the final examinations would be conducted in the month of April/May and the result would be declared by the end of May/ June first week. After the examination, the children would be on holiday and the teachers would focus on the evaluation work and thereafter prepare the result. The students would get around two months of summer break and the teachers around one month. The new session would begin in July and everyone would come with a lot of curiosity and enthusiasm. Due to certain reasons, the session by CBSE changed from April to March and it continues the same as today. You might wonder why should I be discussing this now. This was after we observed for a few years (since the time the practical exams have been introduced in class XII. Now almost every subject teacher, be it Hindi or English or Maths, have to conduct these exams in their own schools and in many other subjects as external examiners in other schools. So the time devoted to this exercise has increased and this is at the cost of the time to be spent with the students for academic progress. Through this article I seek the opinion of educators and parents on the following issues: -

Is it right to start the new session immediately after the declaration of the result of pre-primary classes to class XI?

Should the children not be given time to reflect upon their performance of the entire years’ of sincere and hard work?

Should they not have time to visit the places of their interest and liking without having the burden of summer vacation homework (which many schools give in plenty)?

Should the children not practice their hobbies during this time?

Should they not be visiting their relative’s places and learning a lot more about the extended family and from them lessons of life?

Should the teachers not be asked to focus on evaluation work at a time when they are free from their teaching work?

Should CBSE consider reverting to July to May session?

Should the internal and external examinations not be conducted at the same time/month?

Will the students be more excited about the new class after a break of one/two months than if they join new classes immediately after the session ends?

Should the system not focus more on 21^st-century skills and sustainability in order to repurpose education (though the NEP says it but where is the time for such experiments as mentioned above)?

Should learning be not just examination driven and be more holistic, encapsulating the social, emotional and all other important quotients?

Can the system be not made more accommodating rather than intensely competitive (in order to reduce the number of suicidal cases in young students)?

 

Just for the information of my readers, I would like to share the session schedule in different countries. In the US, the session is from September until June with a summer break from July and August. The school year is divided into four semesters. The average class size is 23. In Australia, the session is from late Jan to mid-Dec. and summer break is from mid-Dec. to end Jan. (as it falls in Southern Hemisphere). In China, the session is from Sept. to mid-July, with school time from 7:30 am to 5:00 p.m. The class size is 30. In France the session is from August to June, having four to seven weeks’ terms having one/two weekly breaks in each term. In Japan, the session is from April to March with a system of tri-semester. South Korea, from March to Feb and school timings are from 8:00 am to 4:00 p.m. Russia, the session is from Sept. to late May. The approx. number of working days in these countries varies from 170 days to 200 days. In our country, as written before the mandate is 220 days but due to extended summer break and winter break this number is difficult to achieve. The average class size in our country is 40.

 

I would avoid putting forward my opinion on the schedule of the academic session, the number of working days and class strength because it might not allow some of you to be absolutely free of bias of my views. One thing I would like to clarify is that the workload of teachers and students during the months from Dec. to March forced me to write this article.  Because if the students are not excited to learn and the teachers are not equipped and motivated enough to be innovative and capable of getting the best out of their students, the entire purpose of education is compromised.  Looking forward to your constructive and critical input with a request to not be judgmental in any case - be it children or parents!