Why we live in a broken education system?

Few days back, I had an opportunity to perform the role of an invigilator at an examination conducted by Indra Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) where most of the examinees were SSA teachers of school education department. What I had realized for the entire three hours of the time duration is that we are heading towards explosive academic destruction. It was very embarrassing rather unpleasant experience to see teachers in possession of copying materials inside the examination hall. That night I could not get a good sleep. I found my mind pulled towards negativity. I asked myself is this the reason that most of the parents turn away from government schools? How a teacher who resorts to cheating can be the pillar of a society? How can he demand pay commissions and increments when he is not able to fulfill demands of ethical standards?  For what we are celebrating teachers day? Of course, there are many good teachers that play vital roles in the lives of students in and outside the classrooms but as the saying goes that “one bad fish spoils the whole pond”.  

Whosoever is/was responsible for the mess where a wrong man is placed at the right job and vice-versa, they should be also held responsible to fix the problem.  Hiring errors small or big, intentional or unintentional do happen in recruitment even in blue chip companies but once the managers smell a bad hire and spot a poor performer in the mix, they show him the doors of exit to prevent further losses to the company. The authorities should have same capitalistic attitude when at least it comes to the performance of their priority sectors such as education and health. There should not be any compromise on the quality of the education. The fact is that the schooling experience of the children including their attitudes, behaviors and achievement outcomes depends largely on the quality teachers. 

I have interacted with many people from different states and I have observed that teaching for them has always been the last career option but in Kashmir it has always been the priority because here the educated youth believes that  “teacher banun go aaram ki zindagi-Teacher means a relaxed life” Unfortunately after joining higher education sector, I could not reject their hypothesis. The education system is not only in slums but down in dumps. If a concerned teacher would try to raise his finger against the mess, he will be targeted by his own colleagues who will make fun of him like “Ma bun Rung menz kongful-don’t try to become rose out of thorne”

We witness such embarrassments not just for today but they are known to us for years. Why the horror does not hit our collective conscience? Why we live in a broken education system ? How long we can hide our shame? 

There is absolutely no time to play the blame game. Let’s embrace and understand our failure. Let the authorities act now to save the education sector. Let them revisit recruitment system and understand the core educational needs at Primary, Middle  and Higher secondary schools. Until they acknowledge their role to make this profession attractive to quality  teachers, they can not bargain for better education system. 

Second, mere recruitment or placement of teachers is not enough. Lack of performance appraisal methods and procedures for teachers has caused many damages in the system. A teacher is primarily recruited for teaching and that should be the ultimate criterion to determine his performance index. But I am sorry to write that the teaching fraternity is being appraised here for their involvement in different committees like admission, sports and so on. The greatest challenge for government is not to attract children but to retain them through quality teachers. 

Third, it is very difficult to afford an outdated examination system in 21st century where memory is prioritized over mind, information over skill, book over discourse and knowledge over philosophy.  The invigilators role is to curb cheating to the best of his honesty but the question is why an examinee should think of copying at first place? Why do the current examination system allows him to feed his answer books through ready made answers? Why the authorities have failed to look upon the alternative examination where no copying material would be helpful for an examinee to pass his examination. The Open Examination system can be a viable solution to many of such academic crises. Although it allows examinees to take notes or other books to the examination hall but that would be purely an unprofitable exercise because the questions under this system are designed carefully and intelligently where a student is required to use his cognitive abilities and higher order thinking skills instead of searching answers in books and other study materials. As the saying goes that “give a man a fish and you feed him one day, teach him how to catch fishes and you feed him for a lifetime," is most perfect example to tell how much important is the skill based education. 

Not only the open book examination system can bring a new way of evaluation of the students but the strategies and pedagogies used by teachers for teaching in classrooms will also take a ‘U’ turn.  The process of teaching/learning will no longer be a mere transfer of information instead it will train and develop students in multiple ways to transform their educational landscape.  The students will be motivated to attend classes knowing the fact that the active learning in the class cannot be delivered by the books and study materials at their disposal. In this way, education becomes a pleasant activity, not a painful obligation. And what is learned with enthusiasm and pleasure is retained better and executed more effectively.

The reformations in the education sector is not a choice but a dire need to ensure that the demand for skilled professionals is fulfilled by our students for a better tomorrow. 

This write up is dedicated to my teacher Prof. Nazir A. Gilkar who’s always concerned about quality of education.