Ways to improve the Indian education system
The Indian education system is very complex. However, not much notice is given to how much one actually learns from their schools and colleges, rather it is all about passing the exams. Thus the focus is always on studying rather than learning. The focus of the Indian education system should change so that there is an overall development for the students.
Some ways in which the education system can be improved are:
- Make the curriculum more dynamic: Including a wide variety of topics in any particular subject will help the students to get to know a lot about that subject and not just stay constrained to old school beliefs.
- Industry interaction: in the case of management schools and other such professional courses, it would be an advantage to have industry specialists to teach the students or have special sessions where they can learn what is actually going on in the real world and not just stick on to theoretical knowledge. This theoretical knowledge that they often receive is often repetitive and outdated.
- Have alumni interact with the students: When the students get to interact with their schools alumni who have been successful they too get inspired to work hard to reach their goals. The alumni would also be able to inform the students what all is actually happening in the industry and could help the students by clearing their doubts about different career opportunities.
- Change the system of rote learning: Many students have faced this issue where their teachers refuse to give marks because they did not follow a particular method which was as prescribed by the book even if they have solved the problem using a different but a correct method. This is basically encouraging the students to learn things by heart without understanding the subject.
- Changing the focus on high marks: In most Asian households, it is expected that the students should earn high marks so that they can become Doctors, Engineers, CA etc. and then earn high salaries. Not getting good scores leads to a lot of taunts and comparison with classmates or other friends and this could lead to them falling into depression or in extreme situations try to commit suicide.
- Respect all streams equally: In India it is generally understood that the students who are the best at studies takes up the science field and those who are not able to get into the science stream go into the commerce stream and those who take up humanities are those who are not good at studies. This practice needs to be stopped and students should take up the streams as according to their interests and what they would like to take up as a career in the future.
- Sometimes, parents too have very high expectations from their children that it puts too much pressure on them to perform well and if they are not able to do so, they fall into depression and feel like a failure.
- Encourage the culture of reading: Reading should be made compulsory for students in schools so that they may develop a good vocabulary and a curious mind so that they continue to learn apart from their curriculum. Having a well-equipped library is thus highly essential in schools.
- Hire teachers who are not only highly qualified but also capable of taking care of the students individual needs as well. Teachers are often mentors who can lead a student onto a right career path, and thus it is very important that the teachers are actively involved in helping a student to choose what he/she really wants to do with his/her life.
- Special attention must be given to kids who are “different”: some teachers out cast students who have special needs into believing that they are not capable of doing anything leaving them with a sense of failure. These kids would probably be more successful if their teachers guide them well and find out where exactly their strengths lie.
- Access to education for everybody: Many kids who belong to very poor families are not able to get a good education because they cannot pay for the tuition and the required supplies. Even though the government provides relief to such students some are yet not able to get an access these. Thus there needs to be a transparent and well-structured system which ensures that each and every child in India gets the opportunity to be educated.
- More focus should be given to extracurricular activities in schools: rather than focussing entirely on academics, students too need to be involved in extracurricular activities such as sports, photography, creative writing, book clubs etc. to encourage creativity and a healthy being.
There are many other ways in which Indian Education system may be improved. Parents, teachers and students themselves need to work on changing the way things are perceived in India currently.
