Editor,
The education system in the country needs serious reform and the coronavirus pandemic provides an excellent opportunity to implement the same. While we all agree that the current system is very much exam- centric, it has to rise above its present form and a learner- centred system in accordance with the present complexities and dynamics is plausible.
We have seen the SSLC results as well as the pass percentage of different districts and the highly inconsistent performance of some districts vis-à-vis East Khasi Hills. There is a need to introspect and merely blaming the schools or students will not make any significant difference to the overall state of affairs. While some eminent institutions are persistently pushing on conducting exams for students, it exposes the single pillar that our system rests upon, exams. While we don’t know if exams will be held and if yes how we are going to be safe from the clutches of the virus, the UGC on its part has continuously given mixed signals to students but that can be a discussion for another day.
Learning and implementing can have their own forms like making projects, understanding and exploring subjects and doing intensive studies on topics relevant to the situation. The college students who helped the Government and other organizations during this pandemic can be awarded extra marks, not only in the Board or University exams but also for competitive exams. It will go a long way in developing the spirit of voluntarism among students from a young age.
While the future seems ambiguous for the education system in India, it has been caught off guard and uncovered many realities. The most whimsical thing that happened is of course the online learning and digital classes. Should it have taken a pandemic of this scale and a million plus cases for us all to understand the importance of going digital? Mobile phones which have been seen as a curse by many parents, teachers, institutions and almost all the stakeholders involved are today most needed gadgets. The biggest distraction suddenly becomes the most important tool for educating students. Online exams, tests and assessments pose a problem for students from backward areas with connectivity problems and students who cannot afford smart-phones, tablets and laptops who might be left behind by their more privileged counterparts.
If only we understood the importance of connectivity and digital mode of learning, excellent strides could have been made and this problem could be dealt with effectively within a few years. There is an urgent need to find a solution to this ambiguity especially considering what may be the biggest crisis of the 21st century, the COVID-19 pandemic. The student community by and large is confused about exams, the syllabus as well the learning. We hope that a solution is chalked out soon. By solutions, the student community does not need another 15th, 16th, or even 21st or 22nd edition of the same family of books and courses in which just the number of the editions, price along with an increase or decrease of some chapters is done. It is just retraction.
Sundar Pichai in an interview said that Indian Education would benefit from creative, exploratory learning over rigorous academic knowledge. Experiential hands- on learning by doing and not just learning about them, using creativity, project- based experiential learning and not penalizing students who are different were some of his suggestions.
Let us all work together to bring in the two things that have been lacking in the Indian Education System for a long time, i.e. “Education” & “System.” Each one must be understood differently and rebooted in order to give a new perspective to the idea of learning.
Yours etc.,
Rupam Ghosh,
Via email
Thirty-one students approach SC
Editor,
Apropos the article “UGC must revisit guidelines in students’ interest” (ST July 25, 2020) by Mohd Kumail Haider, I am happy to inform that 31 students approached the Supreme Court to quash the UGC order. The morning NDTV interview of July 27, 2020 with one student, the petitioner, Dhruv Jatti, the ex-UGC member MM Ansari and Prof Geeta Bhatt, Director of NCWEB. Mr Jatti had two points to make. (1) How the 103 universities which had completed their final year examination could be a yardstick to justify the UGC order on the 394 universities. (2) The on-line space is the property of the privileged few. Let me add that a few days back similar discussions were held. Two girls from Delhi opposed on-line learning as they feel for their under privileged friends.
Regarding the on-line teaching and learning mode, let me say that with mobile signal being very weak and always on the lowest bar indicator, the idea is problematic. My assertion was justified by the fact that even that TV interview was marred with the loss of audio and video quality which is quite irritating at times. With our energy intensive industries working overtime to make up the lockdown loss, the online classes maybe problematic, especially in a country with routine load-shedding and power rationing. On the part of Prof Geeta Bhatt her only justification was to cite example of the examination in Karnataka, quite forgetting that the examinees later tested positive for Covid 19. Then she dabbled with history of 1969, of political mayhem in which candidates who appeared that year and passed were not eligible for job interviews. She totally forgot that covid-19 has no politics in it. Lastly, she assured that norms, like sitting arrangements, sanitization, etc would be taken care of.
The most striking argument was by the ex- member UGC, M.M Ansari. He said, “we can never examine our students on subjects never taught.” That put the last nail on the coffin of the UGC.
On online education, let me tell the readers what the Secretary of Education in the United Kingdom said, “Yes we know there is no substitute to a teacher with a chalk, duster and the black-board, facing his/her students”.
With Covid 19 not yet over with its first wave, let us use our hearts and minds to judge whether improper examination is preferable to the physical and mental being of our dear students.
Yours etc.,
Marbianglang Rymbai,
Shillong -2