Are we on the Right Path of Education, i.e. Learning or Wondering Nowhere?

The Indian education system is one of the largest and most complex in the world. The complexity of the system stems from India’s need to maintain standard and uniformity, while giving scope for its diverse culture and heritage to grow and flourish across the length and breadth of the country. The Indian education system has made significant progress in recent years. Recognizing the importance of education in national development, the Twelfth Plan (2012–2017) has placed an unprecedented focus on the expansion of education, to improve significantly the quality of education imparted and to ensure that educational opportunities are available to all segments of the society. Educational Institutions in India are owned either by the government (central/ state/ local government bodies) or by the private sector (individuals, trusts or societies). School education in India falls under the control of The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) via various central and state educational boards and Higher education comes under the control of University Grants Commission (UGC) via various central, state and private universities. The Council of Boards of School Education in India (COBSE) is a voluntary association of all the Boards of School Education in India. The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) is the joint platform of all the universities in India. Universities and Boards work in close collaboration with Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, other national level apex educational organizations and agencies like the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE), All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), University Grants Commission (UGC), National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC), and Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA). The education sector in India has witnessed a host of admirable policy initiatives from the central government. Since 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been unique for having established a universally accepted and easily measurable framework for global development. The Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2012–2017) targets to increase the mean years of schooling to seven years. The plan also targets enhancing access to higher education by creating two million additional seats for each age cohort, aligned to the skill needs of the economy. India also targets to eliminate gender and social gaps in school enrolment.

A school is an institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. In ancient India, schools were in the form of Gurukuls. During the Mughal rule, Madrasahs were introduced in India to educate the children of Muslim parents. British records show that indigenous education was widespread in the 18th century, with a school for every temple, mosque or village in most regions of the country. The subjects taught included Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Theology, Law, Astronomy, Metaphysics, Ethics, Medical Science and Religion. Under the British rule in India, Christian missionaries from England, USA and other countries established missionary and boarding schools throughout the country. These schools marked the beginning of modern schooling in India and the syllabus and calendar they followed became the benchmark for schools in modern India. Schools in India range from schools with large campuses with thousands of students and hefty fees to schools where children are taught under a tree with a small / no campus and are totally free of cost. Schools/colleges and their teachers have always been under pressure, for instance, pressure to cover the curriculum, to perform well in the annual/semester examinations, in comparison to other institutes, and to avoid the stigma of being soft or spoiling toward students. While quantitatively India is inching closer to universal education, the quality of its education has been questioned widely. Education Policy is prepared by the Centre Government and State Governments at national and state levels respectively. However, due to a shortage of resources and mis-managed political and administrative will, the system suffers from massive gaps including high pupil to teacher ratios, shortage of infrastructure and poor levels of teacher training. After passing the Senior Secondary Examination, students may enrol in general degree programs such as bachelor's degree (graduation) in arts, commerce or science, or professional degree programme such as engineering, law or medicine and any other technical/non-technical course. Besides top rated universities/colleges/schools which provide highly competitive world class education to their pupils, India is also home to many universities/colleges/schools which have been founded with the sole objective of making easy money. Modern education in India is often criticized for being based on rote learning rather than problem solving. Preschool for Child Rights states that almost 99% of pre-schools do not have any curriculum at all. Also creativity is not encouraged or is considered as a form of entertainment in most institutions. In the Indian education system, a teacher’s success is loosely defined. It is either based on a student’s success or based on the years of teaching experience, both of which do not necessarily correlate to a teacher’s skill set or competencies. Since teachers do not see their own growth and success in their own hands, they often do not take up any professional development.

It is quite difficult for a teacher to meet the diverse needs of individual students when there are forty, fifty or eighty or more of them in the classroom. With technology development, extensive use of digital materials and changing needs of modern learners a traditional classroom-based approach becomes less and less efficient, and shifts to the primary focus on students’ needs and equal opportunities for everyone, independently of a background or abilities. To remedy the situation schools and colleges adopt Leaning Management Systems allowing teachers to realize various pedagogical models, deliver personalized learning, engage and connect students. Canadian students have consistently been among the top five academic performers in the world and number one among english speaking countries according to the OECD PISA studies in reading, mathematics and science. Canada is a bilingual country, a community of immigrants and a world leader in English and French language training. Canada’s elementary and secondary schools follow a government curriculum and employ government certified teachers, ensuring a high level of quality and a focus on individual student needs. In addition to the high quality of teaching Canadian schools provide students with a nurturing environment through student services and pedagogical services such as; counseling, academic and professional advisers, community involvement, second language support, special needs learning, tutorial sessions and extracurricular activities. Canadian college programs offer diverse options in the technical and professional fields including: business, agriculture and agri-food, health, social services, broadcasting and journalism, hospitality management, design, technology, sciences, information technology, engineering, environment, languages, and arts. Colleges work very closely with business and industry to ensure that their programs are relevant to the changing workplace and to the needs of employers. Canadian universities prepare graduates with the ability to think critically, to be adaptive to emerging technologies, to become leaders in professional fields and to seek solutions in research. The educational system in New Zealand is extremely varied and is one of the best in the world. New Zealand natives believe in giving everyone the education that they deserve. The educational system focuses on both practical and academic achievement, instead of sticking to a regimen that no one really understands and doesn’t really tell us anything, the New Zealand public education system focuses on being open-minded and letting children explore, thus allowing them to learn in the best way that they can. This gets them ready for college or the workplace upon finishing their secondary education. There are eight universities throughout the country, along with eighteen technology institutions and over six hundred training schools which help with specialized skills. Five of the universities in New Zealand are considered to be in the top fifty of the world’s universities according to the QS World Top five hundred rankings. New Zealand is known for its business, technology, engineering, medicine, and biological sciences, and the schools are world class. The American education system is unlike that in many other countries. Every State has its own department of education and laws regulating finance, the hiring of school personnel, student attendance, policies and curriculum. Therefore, there is huge variation among schools regarding courses, subjects, and other activities; it always depends on where the school is located. Students generally stay in the classroom an average of seven and half hours and must earn a certain number of  credits (which they get for a successfully completed course) in order to be successful and be awarded with a High School Diploma. There is no final examination like in many other countries. During their high school years, students are given grades for all their courses, and these are recorded. At the end of 12th Grade, the pupil's grades are averaged out to provide a GPA or Grade Point Average, which will often be used as a selection criterion when they apply to college or university. Individual responsibility has an important place in the American value system. This value is taught to children from a young age. For example, beginning from kindergarten, each year students are given a handbook that outlines the details of the school’s policies and procedures, and the consequences for violating them. Both parents and students are expected to read it and sign a form attesting they are aware of their rights and responsibilities. Unlike in the United States, vocational and technical education is not highly specialized and is rather a broad overview of knowledge applicable to employment. The Choice Based Credit System (CBCS), introduced by the UGC in 2015, is an attempt to encourage a more interdisciplinary approach to education and offer more flexibility and choice to students. The reform also introduced a standardized assessment and grading plan based upon a ten point scale. Since its inception, the system has faced scrutiny by students and administrators, noting that although the system promises choice and flexibility, the infrastructure of the educational system now may be too weak yet to support the overhaul. The Schools/Colleges/Universities in India recommend the students to follow a six-to-eight hour study schedule every day, excluding the time they spend on campus and any time they have left is spent in relaxation and recreation. As such, they do not possess the time to improve their other skills.

Indian Education System has been synonymous with Examinations, Board Exams, Entrance Exams, Marks, etc. It forces us to fit in the places where we do not fit. A student in India is left with the options of choosing from Science, Humanities or Commerce only. Teaching is confined to classrooms and the link with nature is broken, as also the close relationship between the teacher and the student. Lack of top-quality programs, Poor quality of teaching and teachers, Outdated and theoretical syllabi, Lack of state-of-art infrastructure, Emphasis on memorizing, Completely relying on text-books, no autonomy to teachers, no freedom to think creatively, No relevancy in the practical life, Absence of critical thinking, Marks pressure, Absence of career guidance, hyper-competitiveness, Un-encouraging research & innovations, and political & administrative incapability have led the educational system towards unemployed youths, un-directional environment, and bizarre phase. Politicians do not win elections, or bureaucrats get promotions on an education platform. Children are the most important beneficiaries of a good education yet the ones with least power to shape it. When children are in school, they are either unaware of how little they are learning or afraid to speak up. College students sometimes raise their voices in protest, but mostly on issues tangential to their learning. Now is the time to cry out for an excellent education for every child. Parents, students, and employers must demand that our institutions deliver real capability and not empty certificates. The new education policy of the Government of India speaks about constructivism, IT enabled education, free software and sharing educational resources. Kerala has shown interest in trying out ways of improving its education system. Every time the NCERT came up with new ideas, it was Kerala that tried it out first. The state was the first in the country to move from the traditional behaviorist way of teaching to a social constructivist paradigm. Instead of direct questions that could be answered only through memorizing the lessons, indirect questions and open ended questions were included so that the student needed to think before answering, and the answers could be subjective to some extent. This meant that the students had to digest what they studied and had to be able to use their knowledge in a specific situation to answer the questions. At the same time, the new method took away a lot of pressure and the children began to find examinations interesting and enjoyable instead of being stressful. A Comprehensive and Continuous Evaluation system was introduced along with this, which took into consideration the overall personality of the student and reduced the dependence on a single final examination for deciding promotion to the next class. We can judge the progress and efficiency of our education system by asking two questions from our students: one, what did you do in school/college today? And second, are you looking forward to going to school/college tomorrow? The first question will be measured by total number of words spoken. The more words it have, it is better. The second question is a yes/no answer. If at any time more than 20% of students are saying: no, it means the time has come to think. The Indian education system does not allow any room for innovative thoughts. There is need to invest heavily in resources, infrastructure, teachers and in training of teachers. Marks greedy nature should be changed. Method of teaching needs a relook. Teachers should encourage logical thinking & creativity in students. Exams should be in a way that student’s understanding of the subject can be assessed. Students should be exposed to economic and societal problems in the society, nation and world. There is a dire need for revolutionary changes in the India’s education system. Not just the syllabus and pedagogy, but also the attitude change towards the marks system need to be changed. With the effective learning system, India can successfully utilize its vast human resources. It is not the policies which make anything great but involved policies have the power to convert and bring desirable & directional change.