The Sequel ...

Hi All ! .. After 3 weeks I have decided to add a new post .. I had actually planned to add a new post every weekend but couldn't manage it.. I've now understood the value of weekends .. Actually I used to love them during school days too but not this much .. College was the best time because which "day" didn't matter at all ... The only important thing were the exam dates ... But now weekends are really something to look forward to and a long weekend is even better .. The best thing is you can actually feel the excitement and the jubilation in the Office atmosphere once Friday is beginning to come to an end .. After 4:30 or so everyone is in a happy mood and all less important tasks are cast aside and the planning for the weekend begins .. So much so that if there are no important tasks on Friday then it becomes a four and a half day week instead of 5 days ..

So much for my work life .. As always I will write on something specific .. Before starting I would like to thank everyone for the response given to me for my first blog .. I really appreciate your comments and hope for more this time also .. I've titled this one as "The Sequel" .. Let me warn you first that Sequels are very rarely as good as the prequel .. I think only Terminator II - Judgment Day was the movie which really outdid its predecessor .. In Bollywood I guess I can think of only Lage Raho Munnabhai which was atleast as good as the first one if not better .. So if this blog is not as good then I can atleast blame history for it :)

This time around I plan to write about the "Indian Education System" ... I would like to give a disclaimer before I begin this post .. My views on our education system are based on my experiences, from what I have read from people around me and what I have read in the papers etc. I normally don't like to generalize opinions and views but I feel that there is a need for a change in the system .. Ofcourse I would love to hear and discuss any counter-view on this so please comment :)

The first and the most important point which I feel is wrong in our Education System is the importance that is placed on "Rote Learning" .. Commonly called in my lingo as "ratta" or "pathantar" .. I am sure that it is an important skill to have .. I mean a good memory is a very useful tool to have and plus there are some cases in which you don't have an option ..e.g. A history paper which involves writing dates of revolutions or locations etc .. But the problem is that the same technique is used and preferred by many people even in subjects like Science and even Maths (ya sounds impossible doesn't it ? ) ... So basically what happens is that the importance of the 'concept' is really undervalued .. The papers which we give and which are graded are really no benchmark to see if a student has really understood what he has written or has just blindly written whatever he has mugged up .. The worst part is that this continues even in Junior college where we have 3 core disciplines Physics, Chemistry and Maths which should really be understood well to create a good base for future education .. But even there a student who has got 90% or more may have the same understanding of concepts as that of a student who has got 50% .. The WORST part is that this continues even in Engineering college .. Even in such a technical course students resort to the same rote learning method and in the course devalue the whole point of the course ...

Now I'm not pretending to be a person who knows all the concepts very clearly and never resorted to the rote learning method .. Fact of the matter is that I never even cared about the concept and everything until at least half of my engineering was over .. Very rarely would I care if I had understood or not .. The primary concern was whether or not I will be able to reproduce it in the exam or not ..

So why does this happen ? Why do highly reputed schools, colleges and even premier institutions do not stress more on concepts ? A research showed that students at the primary schooling level from top schools in India fared really poorly in comparison with schools from other countries when it came to understanding and application of basic concepts .. This even when Indians are considered to be the smartest of all ... So what is the problem ? Are we not smart enough ? Ofcourse we are .. I have no doubt that we as a country are really smart, intelligent and coupled with our ability to work hard and endure hardships we can be at the top of the world .. The problem is that our education system does not grade us on the level of understanding of the subject .. We really have no system and no benchmark to judge a student on this basis .. All we have is half-yearly exams and unit tests and class tests which show us nothing .. All that these exams do is that they create stress among students and make them part of a rat race which does no good to them .. Even in Junior college its the same thing .. This time the pressure is more because of very very limited seats available in the Open category (thats another issue worth talking about) ... So the students stick to the tried and tested method which they learned in school and apply it here also .. They cycle continues even in Engineering college because now the rat race is for getting a good percentage in order to be eligible for placements ..

So basically what happens is that ultimately your technical or any other education amounts to nothing .. If you don't understand what you have done and why you are doing it then there is no way that you will be able to apply it in your work which is what you eventually have to do ..

So what are the solutions to this ? If we do know the problem and its implications then we should also try and come up with a solution to it .. Now that I've covered my views on the what are the problems and why does it happen I'll try to focus on the probable solution(s) ...

I feel that the importance of the "concepts" and their application should be taught in school itself .. Its very important to cultivate the importance of understanding things in students at a very early stage .. This hopefully will be carried by them in their latter stages of education where in they generally feel that "I know best what is for me" and they don't listen to their teacher and parents .. Just explaining the importance won't do .. We have to have a grading system and some defined processes which underline the importance of understanding things .. eg.: there can be Oral exams conducted periodically in which teachers can try to find out if the students know what they are studying .. If there are many students who have not understood a topic then maybe the teacher will know that she is not able to explain properly and should try it again .. In college maybe we could have multiple choice questions where it is needed to apply your knowledge so that students will try to understand things .. I gave many theory papers of a very subjective type where in it was completely possible to not know anything and still write a lot (using techniques of writing the same point in various ways) ..

So this was the way in which the system will have to change in order to improve understanding and the attitude of the students .. But why do we have to blame the system always ? If we know what is wrong with it and we know what are we doing wrongly then isn't it our responsibility to rectify that ? I believe that it is up to us whether we exploit the system or not .. We should by ourselves recognize the value of understanding concepts and try to achieve that because that is what is going to be useful for us in the long run .. Just doing things for the sake of doing it will be all right for passing the exam or even getting good marks .. but it will really be of no use when we try and apply what we have learned in our future life ..

Thats all that I want to say about the "Indian Education System" as of now (there are countless things that can be discussed) .. I've been out of school since almost 6 years so I don't know if things have changed or not .. I hope that they have and hope that they will go on improving ..

Lastly I want congratulate the Indian Olympic contingent for getting us 3 medals (as of now) for I guess the first time ever .. They've really done India proud .. I was really shocked to hear from people around me that Abhinav Bindra was very impassive on the podium when received the medal and that he didn't show any emotion etc. .. What we have to realize is that not everyone is a Roger Federer to cry after every victory or a Saurav Ganguly to take off their shirt after a victory .. People are different and have their own ways of expression ..

I had gone to my college for the Flag Hoisting on the morning of 15th August ... I always try and make it a point to go on 26th Jan and 15th August .. Thats because it feels really great to look at the flag and say our National Anthem .. In school we used to say it each day and it was more of a routine .. Now as we say it only 1-2 times a year it feels really nice and I always get goosebumps while saying it .. What I am trying to say is imagine the goosebumps you feel when you hear the anthem or when India pulls off a great victory in cricket and our captain lifts the trophy in front of a packed crowd .. Now if you just multiply those goosebumps by about 1,00,000 then I guess you will come close to how Abhinav Bindra must be feeling when he was given the medal and the anthem was played around the magnificent Bird's Nest ....