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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, JANUARY 31: For a change, it was the policy makers and educationists who were in the dock when students held fort at a seminar organised by the Nehru Centre, Worli, today.
The seminar, on whether the objectives of the educational system are fulfilled, is one of the first of its kind ever organised and offered students a chance to air their grievances and suggestions to a panel of policy makers and educationists.
The suggestions thrown up by students were many and varied. Lamenting that the chronically diseased8217; educational system is 8220;marks-oriented and based on rote-learning8221;, a student pointed out the flaws in the system: no personal attention from teachers, boring textbooks, lack ofvocational guidance and extra-curricular activities and inefficient Parent Teachers8217; Associations whose meetings did not rise above being mere tea parties.
If that sounded harsh, more was to follow. Speaking on the recently introduced value education classes, a student noted that it had been reduced to 8220;filling notebooks mechanically and beautifying them to impress teachers8221;. Teachers did not encourage originality among students, with the result that they copied material from previous batches. The recently introduced Maharashtra Cadet Corps MCC also came in for much criticism. 8220;Even our solitary Sunday is encroached upon by MCC parades, which some schools hold in the noon. Students bake in the hot sun and it is like a rigorous punishment,8221; a student said.
Commenting on the proliferating tuition classes, a student observed that teachers who took private tuitions worked more hours than advisable. 8220;Such stressed out individuals can hardly be expected to do justice to all students,8221; she said. Besides,periodic counselling should be organised for parents who 8220;subjected children to unnecessary tuitions8221;, she added.If students were bitter about the methods followed to assess their performance, they were equally emphatic about the need to evaluate teachers. Listening to the students8217; complains were R C Kanade, School Education Secretary and Vijay Patil, chairman of the State Board of Education, among others. Kanade, while assuring to look into the students8217; complaints, hastened to add that it would take time to bring about changes.
