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M. K. “Children ought to be educated, not for the present, but for a possibly improved condition of man in the future; that is, In a manner which Is adapted to the Idea of humanity and the whole destiny of man”. Emmanuel Kant Looking at the current scenario of education In our country, the above stated thought of Emmanuel Kant echoes the reality of how far we have drifted away from the actual philosophy and aim of education.
The present educational system of our country Itself acts as a stumbling block In our progress from a developing nation to a plopped nation. It is time that we identify our lacunae in the field of education that threaten our progress and find solutions. So far our education system has fulfilled its purpose of providing literacy to the country’s younger generation and producing productive workforce, however the present times, demand more than Just mere job oriented population , we need entrepreneurs and collaborators who can take our country to the next level of evolution.
Today we can boast of a younger generation whose Ideologies, aspirations, value system and ambitions are deferent from the past generations and this can be rareness to produce the next crop of self-actualities Individuals who can become global citizens without compromising on our value systems and one’s self identity. One of the basic flaws of our education system is that we are producing crammers and rewarding the brains that can memorize. Any deviation from this Is discouraged and mocked upon.
Our evaluation systems need to be restructured by Incorporating assessment of cognitive, psychometric and affective domains of the students. Originality, Innovation and problem solving skills need to be recognized and encouraged. In the colonial times, education focused on developing accountants and clerks and lull today we have not deviated much from It. Today the focus Is on clearing the competitive exams and entering into the AIMS or cracking the entrance exams.
Though we are producing a large number of engineers and doctors, the number of inventions from our country remains meager; adding to the woes is the fact that most of our engineering graduates are running call centers of other countries. The goal of our education system needs to be updated, we need writers, thinkers, educators and innovators who can take our country from being a service provider to an enlightened knowledge based economy. The mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates and a great teacher Inspires -? William Arthur Ward.
Teaching Jobs are considered by our society as being risk free, well rewarded in terms of monetary benefits and employment opportunities, but as teachers, we are jerked to reality when we realize that today we have internet as a tough competitor in front of us. Millions of information finds their way to search sites on a daily basis, it is difficult to Off Keep pace Walt tense technological advances Ana IT we ay not make continuous Ana conscious effort, these machines are going to replace us one day.
The need of the hour is to have teachers who are smart, ready to experiment, technology friendly and as William Arthur Ward puts it, an inspiration to the students. Benjamin S Bloom believed that most teaching focused only on information recall and not on personality development. Hence he went on develop a taxonomy whereby the simple transferring of facts would be elevated to the level of attaining mastery. Bloom proposed that if the affective domain of a child is developed, we can mould the attitude of that child.
In the present times of cutthroat competition and corruption spreading its vicious roots into every sphere of life , the development of a good attitude and personality should become the core of education so that we have a better tomorrow where our citizens will be Just and righteous. The factors that thwart the development of good attitudes in our children are rooted in our education system. The discouragement of teamwork is one of the barriers that impede the development of our students.
Students are expected to do individual projects and assignments, while these may be easy to evaluate a student on the basis of his [her individual performance, it prevents the development of tolerance, coordination, respect for others viewpoints and accepting criticism positively and responding to it in a 2 Confluent Journal of Education SINS 2320-9305 Volume 1, Issue 1, June 2013 civilized manner. The mantra for success in the future lies on mutual coordination, collaboration and teamwork for which the foundation stone has to be aid in the schools and colleges.
Dry. S. Earthshaking , who headed the first education commission of India emphasized that "no amount of factual information would make ordinary men into educated or virtuous men unless something is awakened in them – an innate ability to live the life of the soul”. This awakening is missing in our education system and hence learning has become ineffectual and empty. In the rat race to amass more and more wealth and material, personal integrity and values are compromised which has led to inhuman behaviors and unlawful activities.
This is gradually breaking our society and the nation as a whole. It is the need of the hour to rebuild our society and produce a genre of citizens whose value systems are strong and whose principles are unshakeable. What better place to start this than the school, where a child spends on an average of 8 hours a day. Values are not something that can be taught in classrooms, it has to be practiced and every student must observe it and inculcate it into practice. The bitter reality is that there is a big disparity between what we preach and what we practice.
We teach dents to be Just and fair but extort huge fees and donations , take bribes for good grades , yield extra fees for special tutoring classes if a child is weak in studies , reveal answers during examinations , leak papers before examinations and the long list continues. Value education has found its way in the primary curriculum but is not considered important in the secondary sections. The irony is that when an adolescent forms a value system for himself and is under tremendous mental conflict with regard to a value structure, education does not provide any assistance, the exult being confusion and a defective value system.
Our education system has definitely developed, but it has to evolve to the point that we are ready to take on the world. Therefore, indeed, we need a conscious, robust Ana uncompressed eruption AT enlightened awakening In ten Title AT coeducation which is adapted to the real meaning of humanity rooted in values which is imperative to the renewal of an individual, upholding Principles like tolerance, truth, brotherhood, empathy, Justice, right action, love, peace and non-violence that originate from the universal order which upholds universal harmony.