To add to my post on "Education and Employment" earlier on this blog, here are some more startling details which have come out today. Mint reports:
" A global study of learning standards in 74 countries has ranked India all but at the bottom, sounding a wake-up call for the country’s education system.
It was the first time that India participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), coordinated by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). India’s participation was in a pilot project, confined to schools from Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh.
only 12% of students in Himachal Pradesh and 15% in Tamil Nadu were proficient in mathematics against an OECD average of 75%; when it came to scientific literacy among students of class X, the proficiency level in Tamil Nadu was 16% and in Himachal, 11%, as against an OECD average proficiency of 82%.
Its not about having the top 10% being talked about. The top 10% of the country will end up leaving the country to pursue greener pastures on foreign shores. The rest of us will enter the job markets here. And it is the next 50% which will form the army of the biggest companies in India, the field force, the sales teams.
The Times of India was reporting in the last few days about the lack of International Schools in Chennai, and how that has pushed Chennai into the last few cities in education standards. In any city, are International Schools then, the answer to our prayers? Starting at 12 lakhs fees per annum for a kindergarten seat, an international school is out of reach of almost everyone apart from business families and CEO kids. At least the middle classes can send their kids to private schools with no worry about the basic infrastructure. But what about government schools? Tamil Nadu's chief minister made history by providing free laptops to students recently. A great thought, no doubt, but how sustainable and repeatable is it? Will they do this to everyone every year? Can it be repeated across the country in all the states?
And how good are teachers who we send our kids to? Recently in both US and UK, a large percentage of teachers failed basic tests. Is this country considering testing out teachers too? Which bright mind wants to come down to teaching students at a school level? With the pay structures as it is, is it surprising that not one of the bright kids I once knew have actually gone into teaching? They are bank managers, or consultants, or if any, they have gone into professorship into private MBA schools. If we dont have good teachers how do we get good students?
Is it time the government woke up to quality of infrastructure in schools, increasing number of schools, and getting better teachers? A lot has been done for sure, providing mid day meals, monetary incentives, etc, but how much of it is tangible benefits for those who it is meant. How useful is an incentive of Rs 1000 for 100% attendance in the year (as reported in TN in today's paper).
Organizations like Eureka Child in Chennai are working along with the school system of the government to provide students in 100 villages of Tamil Nadu a more holistic education. They build their own material, go to the village schools and create a parallel learning system along with the school syllabus. Maybe it is time to create more organizations like Eureka.
" A global study of learning standards in 74 countries has ranked India all but at the bottom, sounding a wake-up call for the country’s education system.
only 12% of students in Himachal Pradesh and 15% in Tamil Nadu were proficient in mathematics against an OECD average of 75%; when it came to scientific literacy among students of class X, the proficiency level in Tamil Nadu was 16% and in Himachal, 11%, as against an OECD average proficiency of 82%.
In Malaysia, 56% of students were proficient in reading and 41% in mathematics. Similarly, in the United Arab Emirates, the mathematics proficiency levels was estimated at 49% and for reading, 60%. Like India, both countries participated for the first time."
India which has prided itself historically in its education system, has to wake up and soon. There has been a lot of talkin the last year about how the US education system is faltering and how the "east" is taking over. Examples cited are from China, Japan, S Korea, even places like Malaysia and Philippines. No one talks of India. Maybe the reason shows. Mint also reports:
"Not everyone agrees. The study may not be based on an apple-to-apple comparison, says Vipul Prakash, managing director of Elixir Consulting, a recruitment process outsourcing firm.
“If you look at the entire people entering the workforce, you may find lack of quality. But if you take the top 10% then they are perhaps the best in the world. This 10% is quite a large number which is giving India a competitive upper hand.”"
The Times of India was reporting in the last few days about the lack of International Schools in Chennai, and how that has pushed Chennai into the last few cities in education standards. In any city, are International Schools then, the answer to our prayers? Starting at 12 lakhs fees per annum for a kindergarten seat, an international school is out of reach of almost everyone apart from business families and CEO kids. At least the middle classes can send their kids to private schools with no worry about the basic infrastructure. But what about government schools? Tamil Nadu's chief minister made history by providing free laptops to students recently. A great thought, no doubt, but how sustainable and repeatable is it? Will they do this to everyone every year? Can it be repeated across the country in all the states?
And how good are teachers who we send our kids to? Recently in both US and UK, a large percentage of teachers failed basic tests. Is this country considering testing out teachers too? Which bright mind wants to come down to teaching students at a school level? With the pay structures as it is, is it surprising that not one of the bright kids I once knew have actually gone into teaching? They are bank managers, or consultants, or if any, they have gone into professorship into private MBA schools. If we dont have good teachers how do we get good students?
Is it time the government woke up to quality of infrastructure in schools, increasing number of schools, and getting better teachers? A lot has been done for sure, providing mid day meals, monetary incentives, etc, but how much of it is tangible benefits for those who it is meant. How useful is an incentive of Rs 1000 for 100% attendance in the year (as reported in TN in today's paper).
Organizations like Eureka Child in Chennai are working along with the school system of the government to provide students in 100 villages of Tamil Nadu a more holistic education. They build their own material, go to the village schools and create a parallel learning system along with the school syllabus. Maybe it is time to create more organizations like Eureka.
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