If I were a Teacher, I would say...

On the need for innovative action in Indian Eduacation

To say that even in the twentieth century, millions and millions of years since the first humans appeared on the face of this planet, ours is still a very imperfect world, would perhaps be, usageof rather mild language. Be it social, political, economic or educational, each and every aspect of human life has a far way to go into becoming an ideal reality. A ‘perfect world’, practically speaking is probably a ‘dream world’ but to put forward a hypothesis that our world, even today, is an unjust and hard world for the majority of mankind is not what one may call, ‘risky business’. What major countries, spend each day, on waging wars against one other, is in fact more than sufficient for a daily wage laborer to live his entire life, which he might have only dreamt about and thought to be fitting only to kings, to say the least. The unreasonable and unjustifiable system of discrimination of fellow humans on the basis of caste incorrigibly lingers in the society, haunting us of its presence, even to this very date.
Presenting forward and pondering over the problems of the modern world is an endless issue of consideration but the larger point is that the more we discuss this subject, the more we come to understand why nature made us humans, different from the rest of the animal kingdom. Why God made us the most curious of all living species. Why he provided us with a mind that has an insatiable thirst for knowledge and an unquenchable zest for solving problems. Why he gave us a mind that is able to “Innovate”. A famous English saying propounds that “Necessity is the mother of all inventions”. If this is true, may I also state, that it is socio-political predicaments that breed the innovative action of the human self. Ever since the human mind has become conscious of its own future, it has realized the necessity of a powerful and socially aware youth. As Tennyson rightly pointed out, “The old order changeth, yielding place for new”, it is the younger generation that lays the foundation of a progressive society, nation and the world at large. Having said the above, one cannot deny the fact that to a certain extent, what is wrong with the society today is the result of the fallacy of what is taught to our students. For change is the only constant in the world, it is the very profession of teaching that needs the greatest extent of innovative reconstruction.
Consider this, every year, the best talents in science and mathematics in India compete and crack a plethora of engineering entrance exams for getting into the top institutes of India. However even with this creamy layer of students that the institutions manage to search out, if one looks at a list of recent inventions, discoveries or scientific patents, the most common country names one would spot are the US, the UK, Germany, France etc. Why ?? Why is it that the best talents in India, do not show up on the world scene. It is because here in India, students are taught “what” to think and not “how” to think. The “teach WHAT to think” criteria is not specific just to the houses of higher education, unfortunately it is a common denominator that exist in almost all the educational institution in India. From village open air schools at the grass root level to the very zenith of higher education in India. In our schools, a good student is only one who is good at academics. The word “studious” has now become synonymous with, say a, “bookworm”. Though a student may have the artistic hand of M.F. Hussein or the poetic inclinations of Byron, Wordsworth or Longfellow, unless and until one can solve physics Chemistry or Maths problems, he is a mere fool who knows nothing at all. And for this both the educational system and the teachers are to blame. Our systems constant dependence on marks as the sole criterion of judgment is mundane and illogical. Not only is it outdated but also one of the greatest threats to a progressive society. Max Muller once said, “India, what it can teach us”. Nevertheless, to believe in this statement today in totality would be to set foot into dangerous territories of ignorance and complacency.
Education in India has to change. We live in a world which is highly competitive, and our children deserve the best. In the present age, the way we transfer knowledge to our students would leave them almost nowhere. The very outlook of Indian education has to undergo a transformation of colossal standards. The system needs massive reformation for it is to a great extent, the system itself that ties down the flare in not only the student but also the teaching community in transferring their vast ocean of knowledge to the future builders of the world. And this reformation is not to be imposed from the top but natured from the very foundation. Leaving the essence of education hollow, one would just be creating an unsustainable and fragile future nation. Considering the amount of scope for improvement in the teaching patters of Indian schools and institutes of higher education it is needless to say that innovation is not only the need of the hour but the need of every single minute hereafter.

Allen Jose George
[As a teacher on the need of Innovation in the field of education.]