Is One Country - One Education System Possible in India??
Educational leadership shaped by democratic values like equality, equity, liberty, fraternity, suffrage, sovereignty, and secularism is the foundation of quality education. Every child comes to school with their characteristics and background. Education that develops according to the child's interest and ability is a crucial factor in achieving prosperity of the country. It is the primary duty of all of us to create a conducive learning environment for children in school. " Today's children are today's citizens" Education experts should be active.
It is a fact of experience that the quality of the education system is equal to that of the teachers there. Quality in Education! This is the biggest challenge facing all nations. Achieving equity along with quality is an even bigger challenge. India is no exception. Quality has yielded results that make teaching and learning enjoyable. If teachers are satisfied with providing excellent learning experiences, children will have the joy and gratitude of better learning through such learning experiences. In this regard, Finland is the best example and model of quality education in the world. The methods followed by them to achieve quality are exemplary for other countries of the world.
Finnish people believe that their children should learn through play, imagination, and self-discovery. Thus, teachers not only provide opportunities for children to learn through play, imagination and self-discovery but also encourage it all the way. The all-round development of a child is given more priority than marks. At the secondary level, it is common for children to learn through play and self-discovery. Especially since the education system there is based on the theory that more test preparation means less time for children to think and explore. Thus, teachers measure children's achievement at the class level. We have more testing than learning. Our teachers spend a lot of time preparing for the test, administering the test and catching and punishing the mistakes children make in the test. Thus, examination prevails in us over learning.
In Finland the Finnish government trusts its municipality (local government in our case) the municipality trusts the school administration (school development and supervision committee in our case), the school administration trusts the teachers, the teachers trust the students and in turn the parents and families trust the teachers. There are no exams for teachers. The biggest deficiency we have is faith. Here the government has no faith in the quality of government schools. Thus, it creates childish laws that send children to private schools under the illusion that they have quality education by paying 25% of their own money to join schools. In addition, government-run ministers and officials in the legislature, executive and judiciary send their children to private schools. The biggest irony of all is that teachers teaching in government schools have lost faith in their schools. Learning from other places without trusting each other!
There is no unhealthy competition between schools like ours, no evaluation of schools. All schools are quality schools. As there is no unhealthy competition the question of choice of schools does not arise. We have an unhealthy rivalry between schools. There is a stark difference between government and private schools. Government schools are part of social good while some private schools are profit-making factories. Evaluate schools and rush to rank A, B, C, D, E, F etc….
The reason for such a huge amount of trust in teachers is that becoming a teacher there is a very tough and equally prestigious and respected process. The best are selected as school teachers. Apart from clearing the exams, aspirants undergo a personal interview which is very tough and gauges their integrity, enthusiasm and academics. Universities there are responsible for identifying qualified candidates for teaching posts. Those programs are research-based and teachers complete their master's degree through thesis publication. We have a one-way teacher training institute. How can honesty be 100% quality in our schools when Inelli's honesty, passion and teaching skills are in our diet? Should think?
There are different types of education systems in India like ICSC, CBSC, State Curriculum, Military Schools, Morarji, Adarsh Vidyalaya, Other Residential Schools, Ashram School System, Gurukula Systems and Prestigious Schools. Choosing a school can be a challenge for parents. Getting opinions from others and finalizing which school is best for our child is a headache. Because everyone has different experiences, so if a country like Finland, brings a single education system, the maximum problems of the Indian education sector will be solved! The opinion and discussion about that have been increasing recently.
A small country in the world today has one of the ten best education systems in the world. A teacher there says, "If a child is struggling to learn, it's not the child's fault or the teacher's fault. The real question is what's wrong with the system?" We need to think about radical systemic change. This question is about our system.
Author : Naveen Kumar C, Senior Associate – GRAAM
88848 88098 mail - naveen@graam.org.in