Education News-2: "Class Room Libraries"

The Tamilnadu Government has instructed schools to establish “CLASS ROOM LIBRARIES” in every class, to inculcate general reading habit among students. Each library will have a minimum of 50 books. This will also help students to improve their general knowledge and to start literary circles among themselves, where they can discuss the books they have read. This laudable measure deserves appreciation.

Education News-1: Selection of Students for IITs

Education News-1: Selection of Students for IITs
(Excerpt from e-mail received on August 25, 2008 from Mr.Subbiah Arunachalam)

I read the brief note by Prof. Indiresan on what needs to be done to improve selection of students for IITs and make the selection more egalitarian.

“The preponderance of candidates from coaching classes denies admission to better candidates who are too poor to afford private coaching.” [Very true. Dr P M Bhargava, former director of CCMB, often tells us that we draw our scientists and engineers from a small fraction of India's gene pool. And I agree with him. I have met many first generation graduates, whose parents had not completed even middle school education, going on to win Bhatnagar prizes and getting elected to prestigious academies. The numbers of such people would have been much smaller had there not been programmes of affirmative action in place.]

The solution suggested, viz. “IITs should first identify good schools and let those schools do the shortlisting for them.” would also filter out poor students. In our perception today, schools like Modern and Delhi Public School (to take two examples from the capital) are “good”. No poor child can enter the portals of such schools.

There is a passing remark on IITs being possibly better off than some recognised US universities: ” World class universities like Harvard and Stanford get 10-11 applications for each available seat. It would appear that IITs are much better off with their ratio of 70:1.” The large numbers of applications in India can be attributed to factors like our large population, parental and peer pressure and the scarcity economics in education. At Harvard and Stanford, it is likely that only those who have a reasonable chance apply.

Grateful thanks to Mr.Subbiah Arunachalam.

NCERT move to remove ‘FAIL’ from Report Card – Neha Sharma

The proposal by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to delete the word “fail” from report cards has been welcomed by schools. The body has suggested the replacement of the word “fail” with “unsatisfactory” or “repeat”.

Many agree that grading a student pass or fail on the basis of a three-hour exam is not appropriate. Certain critics of the recommendation say that simply addressing the “concept” differently does not solve the problem and a lot more needs to be done to control pressure among students.

Says Sarita Manuja, Principal, Apeejay School, Sheik Sarai, “It is definitely a step in the positive direction because the concept of “fail” is outdated. The word is heavy and has an impact on impressionable minds. A student cannot be good in all the subjects and it high time we accepted it. However, every suggestion has to be seen in a wider context. We have a rule not to fail any student from Class 1-5. But has anybody ever sat down to discuss the impact of failure on a Class 6 student who is not familiar with the concept? There should be an examining body which should make sure that guidelines in educational institutions are logical,” she adds.

Former Miss India Manpreet Brar Walia, mother of a four-year-old son, says that though on the face of it, it seems to be one term being changed with another, the issue is wider because the terms “fail” and “repeat” have extremely different connotations and each can have a totally opposite effect on kids. “The word “fail” has a finality to it which can definitely demoralise a student. ‘Repeat’ means that you have another chance and have to do it again. I would rather use the word ‘repeat’ on my son’s report card than an extreme and terminal word like ‘fail’,” she says.

Experts state that failure is a part of life and the ability to cope with it is very individualistic. They opine that people should learn to accept failure as a part of life, though the same might be tough for a vulnerable person to whom the heaviness of the word may come as a jolt.

Psychiatrist Deepak Raheja says, “Having not passed is equivalent to failure. Yet, a fragile person might find it tough to accept the ultimateness of the word. The traumas cannot be eliminated by interchanging the words, but it can definitely be lessened. It will come forward as a sensitive expression of the society and I think the step is worthwhile.”

Madhumita

Chopra, a mother of two, says, “It is tough for children to accept the fact that they will not be promoted to the next class. And no word can take away that feeling of anguish. I think counselling is best in such a situation, so that the child can cope with stress and the burden of sorrow.”

Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle, Chennai, Sep.23, 2007.

Grateful thanks to Deccan Chronicle.