Education System Reforms

The HRD minister of India, Kapil Sibal, has put forward his agenda for the first 100 days. It gives me great joy and satisfaction that the new government is enthusiastic to bring about reforms. Let us try to put a thought over the proposals.

The most revolutionary idea of all is to scrap the class 10 board exam. I guess the word scrap is wrongly used here. Mr. Kapil Sibal has proposed to make the board exam OPTIONAL and not scrap it. The students who do not want to make a shift to other schools, may choose internal assessment and not appear for the board exam. This is done to reduce the trauma students have to go through who slog over the year to put in their best. There are many who are unable to perform to the expected levels and resort to suicide.

In my opinion, most of the Indian parents are obsessed with their kid’s performance and want them to excel. This obsession comes from their knowledge of the competition which awaits the kid after school. So, most of them (urban middle class) would want their kid to appear for the exam and try to get into a better school. The exam would be compulsory for the students (mostly in rural India) who want to pursue vocational courses or a diploma certification. So, it would be a small population who may opt out of the exam.

Another proposal is about implementation of grading system in class 9^th and 10^th. This would decrease the pressure to get more and more percentages in the two classes. When I tried to find information about the grading system, I found that most of the countries follow grading system except a few like India. Refer the following article for information about grading system in different countries of the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(education)

About India, the article quotes: “In India, marks are generally given in percentages to encourage perfection and good presentation, despite the extra pressure on the students. But schools often give grades too in lower classes in primary school. But in higher classes, percentage differences up to two decimals is taken into consideration for ranking. The Board exams given by students all over India in Class 10 and 12,also present the marks obtained in each subject in the report card. In colleges, a percentage or GPA system is optionally followed by various institutes.

But mostly, percentages are used. A high percentage above 90% is supposed to indicate the excellent quality of a student.Students 'burn many a midnight lamp' to achieve the 90% benchmark.”

So the grading system may bring relief for many. But the proposal says it may be a grading system or percentile system. I believe the percentile system would not be able to correctly reflect the performance of the student. For one studying in a school with thousand pupils it would very tough to get a high percentile than one studying in a less populated school.

Both the proposals are revolutionary in their nature as they attempt to change age old pedagogy. These would apply only to CBSE as a pilot. Let us hope it could have the positive effects it is intended for.

After the first steps detailed above there is a lot more to do. With 20 different boards in India it is difficult to get a standard and uniform measure for all students in class 12. It is well known that state boards in the southern region of our country are very generous in awarding marks. This creates problems for students in other boards to get admission into under-graduate and graduate colleges as class 12 results are considered in all admissions. Also, there is a big difference in the curriculum of different boards which creates problems for some while appearing in the competitive entrance examinations. There is a need for a single standard board across India to obviate these issues. Also, Indian education system emphasizes on academic performance and does not promote extra-curricular activities which may help students to search their area of interest. We need to introduce innovative ways to help students realize their interest and should have a system to promote non-conventional studies.

Also, we need to focus on increasing the number of higher education institutions which provide quality education. The number of applicants is increasing manifolds with the number of seats remaining the same. This demand–supply gap creates higher and higher levels of competition.

Other steps taken by the minister include pushing the bill for Right of children to compulsory and free education for children till the age of 14 should have far reaching effects. Besides increasing the penetration of education in the poor, it will also make education compulsory for girls in the rural India.

Proposal to set up an All India Madrassa board to impart secular education along with the regular teachings of a madrassa is also included in the agenda. It would make the students at the madrassas eligible for higher education institutions. But, wouldn’t this promote the existence of madrassa where primary education is about the religion?

Commenting on the issue of reservation, the minister said he wants to build a consensus before he takes any action. He said steps would be taken only after the current implementation is completed and after the private institutions have the infrastructure to provide reservation. I guess he made an equivocal statement just to be away from any controversy at least as of now.

An anti-ragging helpline would be setup for students across the country. Anybody can call on the helpline number and process to assist him would start within 15 minutes.

The enthusiastic movement by the education ministry leaves a positive impression of the new government. These are few steps towards reforms and there is a lot more to be done. Let us hope the enthusiasm doesn’t die down and it is realized in time.

Don’t be irreplaceable

In the time of recession, with a season of job cuts, each and every employee in the corporate world is building strategies to make him more valuable and irreplaceable. Nobody would want to lose the job and any strategy to save it is a fair strategy.

Being irreplaceable – Some people have the tendency to do tasks independently and not share any knowledge about it with the team. This they do, to always be an important member of the team without whose presence, the team cannot complete work. This would force the employer to retain him even in hard hit times.

But is this a prudent choice to make out of other wiser options available?

I believe the best strategy to avoid being below the hammer of a job cut would be to be the best and not be the only one. All employers are in a constant search of competitive, faithful and flexible employees. If you fit the criteria, you should be least likely to be fired. By making the first choice (being irreplaceable), one saves the job for some time, but would be the first one to be fired once the company doesn’t need his support. So why keep our hopes on something which is so short lasting. Instead, we should work to attain perfection in whatever we do and the rest is all done by itself. But having said that, I would also want to emphasize that one’s perfection should be visible (or MADE visible) to the right set of people. Without the visibility, perfection cannot take us the places we are worth of.

Also, if one possesses a skill which makes him irreplaceable, it also makes him less likely to get better roles. The company would not offer him better roles or positions as he is required to work for his possessed skill. And it is perfectly said:

“Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.”

Moreover, this is a scenario dependant situation. The above may not be working in a scenario and being irreplaceable may be the best choice available. Luck plays an important role in determining one’s future. So one should work the best in the available resources and leave the rest to luck.

Verdict 2009

Congress has sweeped a historic victory in two decades. With UPA winning 262 seats, it is just about majority in the Lok Sabha. The results show a trend of increasing confidence in the Indian National Congress beating the odds of the incumbency. But is it really an increase in confidence?

 

The 2009 mandate reflects that India has no place for the “politics of extremism”, i.e. either the Hindutva group or the Left. Performing governments are now being rewarded. End of identity as a factor of importance as BSP had less than expected gains. Return to national Politics. But, is all that really true?

 

Congress has increased its tally in the Lok Sabha from 145 to 206 but with a mere 2 percentage points increase in the vote share. This indicates a mere redistribution of votes which fetched them a winning combination rather than increase in their popularity. The vote share may have increased to keep the Left and BJP out of power. And the right number of votes in each constituency made up to a whopping number of 206.

 

This is not a sign of return to national politics. The national parties, Congress and BJP, contested more number of seats than 2004 but still saw a 1.3 percentage points fall in their combined vote share. Biju Janta Dal would be a good example of regional parties’ victory.

 

BSP, which is based on identity, has an increased vote share of 6.2% from 5.3% last time. Though, its vote share in UP is less than expected.

           

But, whatever be the reasons, UPA has a decisive mandate and is in a position to bring many long awaited reforms. It does not have any excuse for underestimated development in this term. It has a daunting task ahead and the road seems to be smooth.

 

Many schemes (NREGA, Bharat Nirman, NRHM) started by UPA seem to be capable of good development. It should try and take those schemes as far as possible. It is in a good position to bring the National Food Security Act, which ensures 25 kg of rice/wheat to people below poverty line at Rs 3 per Kg.

 

UPA also has the responsibility to conduct Commonwealth games 2010 successfully. This would exhibit India’s capability to improve infrastructure to the world and may attract foreign investments.

 

The large number of young leaders in the Lok Sabha represents increased expectations for a change. Young leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot need to take steps to bring about a change in the way India has been governed.

 

The mandate expects the new government to set examples and take India to never imagined level. I hope the government realizes the dreams and proves its mettle in style.