Monday, July 20, 2009

Kapil Clinton Khan

Finally........We are talking ‘EDUCATION’

Newspapers and Television channels, people and parties..have a new topic. Education !

Honourable Minister Kicked off the campaign ‘EDUCATION’...he set the ball rolling and tongues wagging. He set the minds thinking and people pondering.

At least in metros like Delhi and Mumbai, concerned people are talking. To a ‘little extent’ our metro-Hyderabad is also talking about EDUCATION!

We in our school, had an organized (by students) debate amongst the teachers-later joined by the students too. Besides the confluence of ideas, we also discovered the emotional range of students when they reach Grade X.

We the Principals of CBSE Schools in Hyderabad have started debating the pros and cons of these reforms that our HRD Minister is wanting to start within the next 100 days.
In our last sahodaya meet on 4th July, we the educators felt ...
Exams are not the issue...the aftermath is the issue!
• Tension of the students is not the issue...anxiety of the parents is the problem!
• Choice to opt out of the board is not the issue...reconstruction of the curriculum is the need!
• Competition is not the issue...very few quality colleges is the issue!
Well, we kept discussing and debating and we certainly hope that HRD Minister has time for our suggestions too!

When I heard that many schools in Delhi have approached the Minister and healthy discussions are in process, I feel left out. We in Hyderabad would also like to be heard!
It would be a good idea if the HRD Minister makes a tour of all the metros and meets the educators, students and parents-the actual stakeholders in these ‘educational reforms’.
He has a responsibility to gather consensus and we have a right to express.

I was watching this talk show on CNN IBN today and indeed felt good that ‘Education’ is being discussed in a new light with a new zeal. Kapil Sibal was at his sincere best while conveying his ideas on reforming education. One of the panellists even suggested ‘Indian Teacher Service’, a la IAS IPS. Towards the end, the greying Minister wondered at the sensible questions put forth by the students and commented that it is the parents’ mindsets that need to change, systemic reforms are only secondary!

Very wise Mr Minister, thats why I am contemplating to start a school for parents too! And my curricular priorities will be:
Trust...trust your children
• Respect...respect young minds
• Balance... deal with the children well.
• Consideration...for the needs of children
• Mental& physical strength...to deal with their energies and their doubts
... I have a list, perhaps longer than this but the core areas would be the above.

From the talk show I gathered that the Bill for some of the reforms are going to be introduced in parliament tomorrow...and I do hope that a new era is beginning.

On the flipside: With his 100 days agenda the Minister seems like ‘quick gun murugan’..a la Rajnikant style..all quick actions..!

When I say EDUCATION’ has arrived I really mean it...why else would we have Secretary of State from US discuss a full 1 hour on this topic? Hillary Clinton talking about the TEACH INDIA program and the educational needs of the current generation...certainly tells me that winds of change are blowing.
There was a time when foreign dignitaries like this used to visit India, see Taj, talk Pak, eat biryani and go back. We now have them talking ‘Education’ also.
It is good to hear Hillary talking about sharing classes with her daughter’s teacher. To hear her talk about changing the mindsets of parents (in US too?) gave me a solace that, thankgod, it’s not just our Indian Problem but the big brother also suffers from it.

As an educator I am happy that film stars (Amir Khan) to young entrepreneurs (i discover i) to student/professional volunteers are talking about teaching...each one teach one! A kind of social responsibility towards making education happen !

Education is making a grand entry.. and I am glad that I am already in the Arrival Lounge !

22 comments:

Unknown said...

Education is truly an integral part of a country and it does sound good to hear people talk about it instead of the usual gossip. Making board exams optional, according to me is a good idea as it will decrease pressure from the students's minds.

Kanak Kataria

Ranga Suman Kondamuri said...

It is heartening that people from all walks of life , Indian and International "talk" about "Education" these days. Your idea of School for "Parents" and suggested Curriculum sounds pragmatic.

I sincerely hope that Your earnest plea to the Minister will be reaching him soon and the voices of Great Educators like you will be heard "loud and clear" at Higher fora.

nandhini said...

dear principal mam i would like to add up one thing to your ideas ...
it is not the students who arenervous about the board exams but the society which is making them so..
people just scare the kids, put pressure on them and tell them a lot about their lives which lie in the results of the board exam.
for instance whenever i tell some one that i am grade 9 the next thing they tell is oh! u hav ur board exam next year ... prepare well ....
this is the thing they say .... i think we should work on this as u have told

anuswarajyasree said...

I thank Mr. Amir Khan for producing the movie TZP which made the education boards , schools and parents to think about our educational systems. I believe that the outcome is our HRD Minister's proposal of bringing reforms in education. Its nice to hear that everyone is talking to bring changes/ reforms in the present Edu-system.
lets expect a positive change .
Thanks for creating your blog.
Your blog is a [public] forum from where we could express our [public ]opinion.
Thanks for kindling fire in every one to express their views/opinions. thankyou mam.

Prabhath said...

"For me I am the evaluator of myself and no one needs to check on me. But how do I understand the competetion outside? How will I learn to cope up with the intensity of competetion and race for marks outside?"
This maybe a question asked by some other student but none from our school will ask this.I am indeed very confident that our school does not stress on marks or grades but on knowledge and values.
I am just waiting for the day when i will see educated people in power.And "Education is a huge tree of which literacy is only a branch of it".So hoping we get education all around the globe as the fruit of endless discussions and debates of our and other "netas" and also us as a intergral part of it.

Prabhath said...

"For me I am the evaluator of myself and no one needs to check on me. But how do I understand the competetion outside? How will I learn to cope up with the intensity of competetion and race for marks outside?"
This maybe a question asked by some other student but none from our school will ask this.I am indeed very confident that our school does not stress on marks or grades but on knowledge and values.
I am just waiting for the day when i will see educated people in power.And "Education is a huge tree of which literacy is only a branch of it".So hoping we get education all around the globe as the fruit of endless discussions and debates of our and other "netas" and also us as a intergral part of it.

tejitha said...

hi mam,
this is tejitha back again.
'Education is life long process', this means that its not only learning & exams but we should also try in many ways. If education system is not so good in our country,to improve the education system in our country we need to use what we learnt in the past.Education doesen't mean going to school comming back & doing home works or going to college,university come back &chat with freinds.it means that what u learnt in ur school,college,universities we should use that not only for ourselves even for the country too.

Sumeet said...

its a long journey that we need to travel to transform India to India Inc, while not forgetting the part of Bharat that lives in India, I believe the prescription for India and Bharat would be different.
Education is the most important catalyst for this transformation. Though the 100 days appears sumptuous, however we need to be vary careful to and be right in all the blue prints that are on the table. any fancy architecture would misfire and design a generation of students which may look like the genetically modified crop.

Namita Bhatia said...

Making board exams optional is truly a good idea as the pressure a student takes during his 10th year at school will decrease immensely
Namita Bhatia

Revathi said...

Education plays an important role in one's life. It helps the person to have an organized and peaceful living. The need of the hour in the educational sector is the change in its curriculum and the way it is taught. The changes can help India reaching the zenith of success. The recent radical changes suggested by our honorable HRD Minister truely reflects this need. These changes detraumatises the different pressures undergone by the students, may it be self - pressure or peer pressure or parental pressure. I think these changes truely help in building a stronger society with welly groomed humans as students would be able to come out of their coccons and become social. But this debate on the need for examinations and the need for the change in the education process is perpetual and I agree there are ill effects as well as better ones... but the need of the hour is change.
Let the winds of change blow....

Unknown said...

I hope your voice will reach the desired people and educationist will set the ball rolling in Hyderabad too.

I do thank thank people who have brought revolutionary change in our mind sets about education like AMIR KHAN in TZP and hope children groomed in this school (LEADERS)using thinking skills and little of risks will renovate the Educational system further for the betterment of SOCIETY at large.

Anonymous said...

Maam
I know your passion for change and your detrmination to bring positive change.I hope the reforms will begin that change from the 'Board' side also.We are trying our best to make studies and school interesting and I am happy that whether government does anything or not, we are doing our change reforms.
We are talking 'education' more than ever before-in our school.

Mahesh Addanki said...

sometimes change has to come suddenly like this.otheriwse we will keep debating and diluting the effects of it.hope the 'quick gun murugan's' quick actions will bring that sudden change that we all are looking for.
I wish the Minister can see your nickname for him,will he be happy or have a good laugh at his new name?
Kapil Sibal-the quickgun murugan!

Janaki Rajeshwar from Mumbai said...

I have also seen the TVshow with Hillary Clinton and Amir Khan.A nuclear policy or terrorism may not be the issue for the population at large. But education is.this is what is going to bring the economic change that we all are aspiring for.
When i say education, i dont mean pages and pages of notes or sums. I mean values, respect and knowledge.when education concentrates more on these core values and give basic foundation to students in math science and social science I would then feel that true education has happened.
Let us all bring in that change.

a student said...

very superb article

abighna said...

himaam.dat debate in ur schools with ur teachers and also ur friends never forgetable.i could see the emotions on ur friends when they sopke abt the pressure they were facing.wat is pressure?how does it look?i never know,but in my opinion if we hate doin a particular thing and some one or circumstances force us to do it is pressure.if we have an other testing pattern like a student should be judged by the activities he do n his behaviour not only by the marks he get.den the educational system will be loyal.so lets hope 4 this change.thank you maam

ravali said...

education plays an important role in every ones life. these days an uneducated person has no value.
i can never forget the debate we had in our school.
i actually feel that its not the parents who put pressure but we students put it by our selves.i noticed many 10th class students speaking to adults. i noticed that if the adults ask them to study well as they r 10, they give an expression in such a way that they had done some crime coming to class 10.its the students themselves inculcating pressure. and of course parents and society do play a role in this.
so i request all the students to first change themselves and this will automatically bring a change in their parents and society through their positive communicating skills with them.
BEFORE BLAMING ANY ONE FIRST WE MUST CHANGE OUR SELVES.
WINDS OF CHANGE MUST BLOW IN US...
Ravali.

Prasant Kraleti said...

Dear Mrs.Murthy, I have been reading intesting articles and reponses on your blog. Discussions on reforms is eduction is indeed the hot topic. The country is responding well. No one could ever imagine a proposal to do away with Board exams in the past ! India is a developing country - that is the reason the discussion on education reforms has taken this long after all other things. Nevertheless the vibes are strong and meaningful. You made a good observation - it was unimaginable for a US secretary of state to spend 1 hour on discussion Education. I heard Bill Gates once say "one of the best things he liked in the US is the Education system". It is indeed very flexible and unbureaucratic.

People like yourself are doing a good thing by voicing your ideas and letting the government know what teachers,students and parents think.

I appreciate your blogs.

ramya said...

hi maam!!

it is very nice that there is a buzz in the people about -EDUCATION atleast after 60 yrs of our independence,which is the main cause for the development of any country..making board exams optional is a good decision.it takes off the pressure from the students,parents and also taechers.
it.And it is very nice that our school does not stress on marks
Ramya priya
10th C

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