Essays

At almost every discussion table, the Indian educationist today is asked: "What are you doing about the heavy loads of books our children are made to carry on their backs to and from school every day?" It's a common sight in our cities seeing children as small as eight or nine years carrying bright coloured nylon bags, each easily weighing 5-10 kg or may be more. In contrast, their developed-country counterparts only take along lunch boxes and, at best, a few notebooks on days they have to submit their assignments. Visitors from abroad just can't understand what we are doing to our young ones. To them, in the era of computerisation, the internet and the digital classroom, containing information that can be retrieved at the click of a Mouse, it is not just ironical, but an indication of the resistance of India’s education system to change. The textbook writer-publisher lobby and the managements thrive at the expense of our children. Obviously, they are not the only partners in the game. The continued reliance placed on 'more and many textbooks' also mocks at our commitment to give every child under-14 free education. Waiving school fee is often considered the summum bonum of the education policy to draw the entire school going population into schoolrooms. Consider the financial burden on the lower income group, the marginal farmer, the contract labourers in the industrial sector and other economic groups. At the beginning of each school year they have to spend burdensome amounts to buy textbooks and exercise copies. Economic deprivations are hard realities and so is the need to put innocent young boys and girls in farms, factories and fields to earn measly amounts to feed the family. Even the combined strength of free textbooks, free uniform and mid-day meals may not be able to overcome these realities. However, the 'load' is both a physical and metaphorical term. It stands for the useless burden of information memorisation that we have imposed on our student population. Then there is the pressure of examinations which robs our students of the creative zeal and deprives them the joys of childhood. The outdated evaluation system places too much faith in the objectivity of teachers. There is a widespread feeling that all this must be radically overhauled and replaced by a more modern system of learning and evaluation. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) was conscious of growing tension and burden on children when it set about developing the new National Curriculum Framework for School Education in 1999. In earlier years after independence, India was generally out of step with the global tendency of bringing about reforms in education. Kothari Commission (1964-66) and subsequent initiatives were the significant steps. Through the 1990s, many countries were taking a critical look at their educational systems and carrying out frank assessments. The 'World Conference on Education for All' held in Jomtien in March 1990 provided a great boost to educational initiatives everywhere. It is generally accepted that curriculum renewal and development is a continuing process and no nation can afford to go slow on this. The curriculum must meet the learners' needs, societal expectations, and community aspirations and stand up to international comparisons. In the second half of the 1980s we had responded to the challenge and carried thorough review of the earlier framework ofl975. Based on the 1986 National Policy on Education and the Programme of Action of 1986, a National Curriculum for Elementary and Secondary Education: A Framework (1988) was published. Though it was recommended that the 1988Frameworkwouldbereviewedeveryfïveyears,we allowed more than a decade to lapse before the NCERT got to work again on preparing a new Framework document which was published, finally, m November 2000. One major development during the early 90s was the Yash pal Committee Report 'Learning Without Burden' which made several recommendations to ensure that children do not suffer unnecessary burden, consequent tension and mental agony.   The recommendations included greater involvement of teachers in Curriculum Framework and textbook writing. It particularly emphasised that the culture of writing textbooks be changed so as to involve a large number of teachers to prepare textbooks. The Committee recommends quality teacher training, reformulation of mathematics curriculum, as well as that of language, to give adequate representation of life experiences to children and course contents which reflect lives of ordinary people in different parts of the country, to make classrooms child-friendly. It very clearly recommends that besides imparting knowledge of history and geography, the social sciences curriculum for Classes VI-VIII and IX-X should convey the philosophy and methodology of the functions of our socio- political and economic system and enable the students to analyse, understand and reflect on the problems and priorities of socio- economic development. The repetitious nature of history syllabus should be changed. The history of ancient times should be introduced for systematic study in secondary classes (IX and X). The history syllabus for Classes VI-VIII should focus on the freedom struggle and post-independence developments. The new curriculum framework has taken note of these recommendations. It pleads for making education enjoyable by rationalizing the curriculum in the secondary stage, and ensuring diversification of the courses in the form of academic and vocational streams at the higher secondary stage. For Classes I

and II, the study of one language (another tongue/ regional language), mathematics and the art of healthy and productive living is suggested. Environmental Studies can be introduced between Classes III and V. At the upper primary and secondary stages, subjects to be studied will include three languages — the mother tongue/the regional language, modern Indian language and English, Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences, Work Education, Art, Health and Physical Education through games and sports, NCC, Scouting or Red Cross. Besides, computer education will be made available wherever possible. Though the list sounds formidable, the new Framework is structured to reduce the load considerably. This can be done through integration. For instance, it is proposed to make Social Studies a composite subject, bidding goodbye to the regime of studying a huge amount of history, geography, civics and economics separately. In our interaction with teachers and parents, we found the existing Social Studies syllabi, in all states, the subject of most criticism as it is felt that students are compelled to memorise too much information. Similarly, Science and Technology will be integrated. Mathematics will be brought closer to life by introducing the students to its practical aspects, thereby removing the phobia most harbour about this subject. The professional educationists who developed NCERT's new Framework, worked with full understanding of the Indian reality, where a large number of youth drop out of the school stage by Class VIII under the pressures of domestic poverty. So the course has to be made as much friendly to them as possible to serve a dual purpose. Their minds must be fitted out with a rudimentary understanding about the foundations of life and the environment they live in before they depart from the system. Secondly, it was realised that a large percentage of the poor are forced to withdraw their children from schools because the existing syllabus pressurises the parents to spend huge amounts of money on 'tuition' or the 'coaching classes' for their children. At the higher secondary stage, it is proposed to offer students a wider choice of subjects. To enhance their employment prospects, especially at the local level, a strong vocational stream is offered. The most drastic change proposed is in the evaluation process. Examinations, in their present form, have become redundant, it has bred corruption and social tension. Back in 1902, the Indian University Commission had noted "the greatest evil from which university education in India suffers is that teaching is subordinate to examinations". In 1959, the University Education Commission headed by Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan commented: "If we have to suggest one single reform in university education, it would be that of

examination". But till today we have not been able to get rid of this legacy of colonialism. Examinations, the faulty marking system and the tuition-coaching class industry have greatly harmed education in India.

NCERT has proposed to implement the semester system at all levels. Under this, an academic year is divided into three or four stages. The syllabus covered in one stage is not carried over into the next. This kind of compartmentalisation would go a long way in reducing the load. More importantly, the pass-fail system is proposed to be dropped up to the Class X stage. It is acknowledged that a society which declares roughly half its student- population as failures annually, needs to take a careful look at the system which breeds this tragedy. Throughout the world, grades have replaced marks. NCERT has offered for the consideration of State Governments, several models with operational variations which have either been tried out or have been proposed elsewhere. Hopefully, a largely acceptable and least-confusing model will soon evolve out of the consultative process that is currently in progress over this, much contentious proposal.