Education, Schools, Teachers, Grades and Life

After a long time, got an opportunity to read a Hindi novella ‘Bigade Bachche, Sabse Achhe’ (Spoilt Kids, The best Kids) written by V R Jogi and P G Vaidya. A very simple story (it seems that you are reading a book written for 5th graders), yet a thought provoking story.

This story seriously questions our education system which puts too much emphasis on mugging up facts and figures and obtaining good grades in examination instead of acquiring real knowledge Those kids who could not perform well on these parameters are thrown out of the schools, no one bothers to look into the problem and find out why they are not able to do it. Aren’t we supposed to provide more attention and care to these students rather than labeling them as ‘failure’ in early impressionable years which stunts the proper growth of their personality and make them suffer from inferiority complex. These kids are forced to follow a system which is designed more for the convenience of operations/executions rather than for identification of the existing talents in an individual and providing it platform to nurture that talent and excel there.

Its a story of a teachers who runs a school for those who have been thrown out by formal education systems or those who cannot attend those schools for any other reasons. A teacher, who transforms the life of many and shows us an alternative to existing system.

Recently there has been a significant increase in incidents of teachers crossing all the limits when it comes to punishing students and inflicting inhuman corporal punishments. Frequency of these incidence is raising at alarming level and it shows that our teachers need comprehensive change in their attitude and way of teaching. I think this book should be included in B.Ed/M.Ed or teacher training programs just to show that how a teacher affects its student and to make them think.

Though this book is not that you will enjoy reading it on train/plane or if you have been raised on staple diet of Cook, Archer or Rowling, it raises a serious issues, addresses a grave problem and also put you on the track which can lead you to solution.

Technorati Tags: Education, Concern, Rural Education