he passing percentage of students appearing Board exams in Goa is consistently increasing. In fact, it has gone beyond 90 per cent mark. While on one hand, the parents, students and the schools exult over the high passing percentage and growing number of meritorious students, but does this really signify the quality of education that is being imparted?
It is a known fact that our education system is theory-centric and leaves very little scope for holistic development of the students. This is the reason that even after securing multiple degrees, there is always a big gap between the academia and the industry.
Ask any company owner, they say that despite the candidates seeking jobs are highly qualified in terms of academics, they are found to be lacking in executing basic tasks. In earlier times, even if a person was less educated, he did not need much training. But now people have to be trained for every job.
Another thing is that in the earlier period, very few children passed with distinction. Some years ago, majority of the students would get Pass Class, while the exceptionally talented children would pass with First Class and Second Class.
But now the scenario has turned 360 degrees. The majority of the students pass with distinction. In fact securing 90% and above marks has become a routine nowadays. We can literally count on our finger tips the number of children passing in First or Second Class.
So the question arises as to how far the quality of education has reached? Does the education system of today make a student a good citizen? What efforts are being made to maintain the quality of education at the national level?
Dilip Betkekar, National Executive Member, Vidya Bharati, said, “The schools run by Vidya Bharati follow the curriculum of that particular State. But the difference here is the atmosphere. The teachers especially are continuously under training. They are continuously getting upgraded. Because of this, the quality in our schools is quite high.”
“When we talk about the condition of today’s students, first of all, we must realise that nowadays children are much smarter than all of us. The IQ of the children of the present generation is 10 to 15 per cent higher than the previous generation, but the main question is the attitude. If the attitude is not right then, having IQ is of no use. That is why academic excellence is not the best,” Betkekar said.
“It doesn’t matter how good you are academically, but how you use your knowledge is every day situation. That is very important. If we look at the current generation of parents, they are only concerned with how many marks they have secured. The kids get a lot of marks, but when it comes to behaviour and etiquette, these kids fall short,” he said.
“I have many examples where experts have said that there is a lack of skills in our country. So I always give an example of a triangle where one side of the triangle is skill, the other side is knowledge and the third and most important side is attitude, which is the base. Children may have a lot of knowledge and information, but they do not have the necessary skills,” Betkekar said.
“There is also the problem of attitude problem because of all of this children are lacking behind. We see that the new generation is not ready to learn new things and this attitude will not help them. Five skills needed in the 21st Century are leadership, accountability, innovation ability, life skills and character. If these skills are not there, the children will get a lot of marks but those children will not survive in this competitive world,” he said.
Citing an article on Goa’s employment scenario, he said that thousands of youngsters register for employment opportunities at the employment exchange.
“But here unemployment is not the problem, employability is a problem. It means that the kind of skills required for employment is not present in the children here. So, they are lagging behind. It is especially felt in Goa,” he said.
“Once I was travelling from Delhi and in that bogie there were a lot of students from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. When I saw them studying, I asked them and they told that they were coming to Goa to answer Railway job exams. When I further asked them why they are not answering the exams in their region, they said in Goa only a few attempt these exams, so they were coming here,” the National Executive Member of Vidya Bharati, said.
“This shows that the Goan students don’t even know about such competitive exams. They do not know anything about it and this is the reality. And this is why attitude plays a major role. The reasons might be many. In Goa, everyone has a shelter and have social status. They have a government which encourages this kind of attitude,” he said.
“Nowadays children get everything here for free. You just have to go to the school and the government will take care of the rest. We see this attitude of free giving and free taking; we see it among the students and also among the farmers. Why would a farmer go to the farm if he gets free grain in the society?” he asked.
And because of this, according to him, the children are lagging behind.
“There are three types of attitudes - positive attitude, winning attitude and attitude of gratitude. So attitude is the most important part. Marks obtained by children and especially marks obtained in class 10th are deceptive because these children are given high marks by their teachers while giving internal marks. So, parents and children alike feel that they have scored very well,” he said.
Giving his analysis of the situation and steps taken to correct the anomaly, Prakash Desai, Former Chairman, Goa Public Service Commission (GPSC), said, “The reason why teachers give so many internal marks to children is because of the pressure on the schools to get 100% results. So teachers do not resist in giving full internal marks.”
Speaking about the attitude issue, Desai said, “Once I was selecting a professor for Pharmacy College and we had two candidates, a gold medallist and a candidate who passed with First Class. At the time of the interview, I realised that the gold medallist does not have a single quality to be a professor, but the First Class candidate had all the qualities to be a good professor and I selected him.”
“When one of the panellists asked me how could reject a gold medallist, I replied I am selecting a teacher and not an academician. The teacher should be able to give knowledge to the students. I may be a gold medallist. I have a lot of knowledge, but can I impart it? Also, a teacher is supposed to understand the student’s level too. You may be a gold medallist, but you need to understand the student’s level. Once you know their level then your duty starts of elevating them by giving inputs,” Desai said.
“That means I must be prepared for it. I must be ready to sacrifice my time. I must be reading extra so that I give them knowledge and take them to a higher level. The attitude problem is not only in the private sector but also in the government sector. Even the government employees are of the same mentality. They are not ready to learn new things,” he said.
According to them, they think that nobody can ask them anything. They think they own this particular position. Nobody can take remove them from this position, irrespective of whether they work or not.
“Nobody can do anything about this. The administration has come to a standstill because of such an attitude,” he said.
Connecting this to education, Desai said that fundamentally, there is a need to teach gratitude to children.
“When I used to teach in school, I did an experiment. I told the students to write down things that bother them about me and put them in the box I have kept and if you want, don’t write the name. I used to check the box once a week. Through this experiment, I wanted to correct myself,” Desai said.
“At that time, I found a note in the box in which one of the students had written that I should stop touching my shirt collar again and again when I am in class. And this made me realise how much the children were noticing me. There are a lot of things that the students teach and the exercise which I started was beneficial for me too,” he said.
“I made a point to change my habits which were bothering the students. This made me realise that the teacher must be observant. If the teacher is willing to learn even from the students, then it will definitely help him to become a good person. But if the teacher thinks that he knows everything, this attitude will lead to his failure,” the former GPSC chairman said.
“It is all about learning. When I retire, I will take with me the good things that students taught me. Even after this discussion, I will take some good things about each and every one here,” he said.
Speaking about skills, he said that if an engineering student wants to join the industry, the company must at least spend six months to train the student. They must be ready to invest themselves in these students.
“This is not only about the IT industry. Once I was told that the new recruits were supposed to be trained for at least one year. In fact, 15% of the academic syllabus must keep on changing every year, whether it is engineering, medicine, or any other stream because the technologies or new methods that come every year must be taught to the students. All the students, whether it is IT or any other stream, must upgrade themselves. And it should be a continuous process,” he said.
How are the new generation students? Do they only study to clear the exams?
Ramchandra Naik Desai, a teacher, said that while students are running behind marks, a lot depends on the teachers to change the trend.
“In earlier times, the students use to study in the Gurukul system. But at present it is not possible. Then, the teachers used to connect with the students. Students were supposed to stay away from their parents while studying in Gurukul, even the parents supported them,” Naik Desai said.
“The children used to stay away from the house for a minimum of 12 years to get educated. But the times have changed. The parents get concerned if they don’t see their children around them even for two minutes. Also, the education which was given in the Gurukul system was oral. No pencil, pen, paper, or any digital gadgets were used,” he said.
Similarly, in the New Education Policy, it has been mentioned that pre-primary education must be given without any use of pencil, paper or pen. And because of this, teachers are wondering how to teach the children, he added.
Nowadays, the teachers are just teaching students to answer the exams. Is it true?
“Even I am coming to the same point that the teacher is not only supposed to provide information. A teacher should be able to develop curiosity among the students. If a teacher succeeds in developing the curiosity to gain knowledge, then his teaching becomes successful,” he said.
For example, if a teacher is teaching a poem, instead of just understanding the meaning of the lines in that poem, the teacher's basic intention should be to create curiosity in the children’s minds about what the poet wants to say.
“A simple example is when any celebration or festival is celebrated in schools, children should also be taught how to go about the preparations. Nowadays, parents are very busy in their work and don’t find any time for their kids. They just give their mobile phones to the children and let them play or use it. So teachers are the last hope,” he said.
But what are the differences that are seen today in comparison to what was found in the past?
“We see a huge difference between the students because of the digital revolution. “Today, students are addicted to digital gadgets. Because of this, the ability to think amongst children has reduced. If a child is to be brought out of gadget addiction, then the teacher has to try harder by getting them to develop interest in books, painting, music or other things so that the talent in them is nurtured,” he said.
Are the present students only preparing themselves for the exams?
“No doubt that this generation only study to answer exams. But this is because they don't get to experience things. It is necessary to do different experiments to give that experience to the students. Just imparting education is not useful but letting them experience what you teach is equally important,” Naik Desai said.
“So the basic purpose of assignments and projects is to give these students work experience. If it is properly implemented, a student can really advance in life,” he said.
A student can get information from anywhere, but applying the knowledge is what matters. Nowadays when it comes to completing an assignment, many of the students see Google as a saviour and just copy paste the information and give it as their assignment to the teachers.
Social activist, Advocate Shivaji Desai said that the teacher is a very important element in everyone’s life.
“If we look at any political party we rarely see any manifesto which says it will prioritise education, barring a few exceptions. But education is the main factor in everyone's life. I don't blame teacher or anyone, but I blame the process of recruiting teachers. While recruiting a teacher, do you check if that person is really passionate about teaching? Or is he looking for job that will help him to earn the bread,” Adv Desai said.
In reality, a true teacher is the one who desires to teach children. If a person is doing teacher’s job only to earn money, he will be more concerned about finishing the syllabus. So there is a need to change the system. While recruiting in the education sector, the panellist should recruit people who desire to be the teachers.
“When I visit schools for delivering lectures, I ask the students the reason for coming to school. I get various answers such as ‘I want to be a successful person’ or ‘I want to earn’ and lot of such answers. And this shows that the children do not understand the reason behind why they are coming to school and in my opinion it is the teachers who are responsible for this,” he said.
“While practicing as a lawyer, I have also come across some cases where children, who were in merit lists when they were in 10th & 12th, went in depression or had suicidal tendencies at the age of 25. While counselling them, I found out that there is no problem with those persons, but their education. The education which is supposed to develop the mental capacity of those children has not developed it. There is a deficiency in the education system,” Adv Desai said.
Also, in present day’s education sector, facilities like emergency services should be made available. It is of utmost necessity.
“In my opinion, the origin of education is found in Anganwadis. There are about 1,200 Anganwadis in Goa, but their condition is worrisome. No matter which party is ruling or who is on that chair, he should have good intentions regarding development of education sector. Just providing funds will not work,” he said.
He said that the concerned officials should visit each and every school in the villages and see the condition of schools there. After speaking to many people, it was found that education department officials are not even visiting these schools, and then we realised that they only cared about their salaries. If a school is collapsing, then there should be someone to look after that.
“Therefore, there should no politics involved in the education sector. If the teachers are recruited with favours, then how will the education of the children be of good quality?
The attitude problem among the students has been adequately highlighted. But what are the solutions for this problem? What are the changes that can be done in the system to overcome this problem?
Betkekar said that the first thing one has to do is to prioritise education.
“Education is not a priority these days. The expenditure on education is only three percent of our budget for many years. Many experts have suggested that it should be increased to six per cent. But the funny part is most of the part of this expenditure goes in teachers’ salaries. If education is given priority, everything else can be taken care of,” he said.
“Education is the foundation. We don't have a full-time education minister. Currently there are many vacancies in the education department. In earlier times inspections that were held in schools but nowadays inspections are not being done. There is a lack of manpower in the Education department and the officers who are there are in the department are of the clerical mentality,” he said.
“It is necessary to find out how many people do the department has who have educational approach. Another thing is that the officers working in this department do not value people. In this department, the officers have appointed only known people on different committees and have not given chance to others,” he added.
Naik Desai said that another problem is regarding the teachers.
“The teachers, who come to teach the students only for an hour, do not have time to spend the entire day with the children. So even if these teachers want to, they cannot teach the children as much as they want, so there should be changes in the education system,” he said.
How can the mismatch between the need of the industries and the quality of students supplied by the education system be removed?
Naik Desai said that the teachers should be trained first. There should be training for teachers regularly.
“When any new technology comes, the teachers should be first informed and taught about it. When I used to send my teachers for trainings are used to tell them to tell the things which are taught in the training only then you will take things seriously,” he said.
Betkekar said that first of all we must realise that education is not meant to prepare people for industry.
“Education is not for the students to prepare for job. Being prepared for the industry is a by-product. Education is like a seed. When a seed in the soil receives air, water and sun rays, it grows into a tree. Similarly, a child is like a seed in the soil. Every child is given abundantly by God in this world. And education helps to bring out the hidden qualities in the child,” he said.
“So the literal meaning of the word education is ‘edu care’, aimed at bringing out the qualities in the child and not to keep them inside. So education will not change until teachers change. So as the legend has said, the student must be oriented towards the teacher and the teacher should be oriented towards the student,” he said.
Desai also said that whatever is taught in the theory, nobody tries to implement that in practice. Until we do this, we won’t go ahead.
Adv Shivaji Desai said, “We always need to be positive and only then we’ll see a change. And if we start thinking positively, someone will be changing the entire system, we need to keep trying.”
Naik Desai said that a teacher should possess the virtues of humility, forgiveness and compassion and he should pass them on to the students and when the teacher succeeds in doing this, he will be successful.