<p>Education is India's best bet for sustainable poverty reduction and good teachers alone can do that, observes Shajan Samuel<br /><br /></p>.<p>India is in a skill emergency (50% of the 300 million children enrolled in school won’t finish secondary school and out of the 14 million students studying in 26,500 institutes of higher education 58% are unemployable). Input driven and hastily set up business and engineering colleges are being shut down. The role of a responsible faculty becomes critical in this dreary environment.<br /><br />Need for experiential learning<br /><br />Indian education needs experiential learning that is hard to teach, inquiry directed, learning periods extended, learner-directed, process-oriented and based on team / diversity appreciation and multiple intelligences. Indian teachers envy Western schools because they encourage independent thought and creativity, while Western teachers idealise Indian schools for their rigor and hard work. But the scale of education in India indicates that the golden mean is hard to find. Our education policy simultaneously pursues excellence, expansion and inclusion. But can we be equal and excellent? Is vocational education for ‘other people’s’ children? Are quantity and quality contradictory?<br /><br /><br />Debating whether education should be a sword or shield drives a wedge between who I am (somebody who chose my parents wisely and got an elite education at St Xavier’s Kolkata and went on to pursue a fast track management program at IIM Kolkata), and what I do (work for a brand which trains students in new age media). My College curriculum included academics but was mostly about sports, music, painting, debating, dramatics, trekking, scout camp and much more. Xavier’s college and later on the stint at IIM changed the size and quality of my thoughts. Both the schools increased the surface area of my mind with non-academic stuff that was wonderful preparation for the world of work. That happened only because my faculties, some of whose names and memories are still fresh in mind even after 20 years.<br /><br />Job-oriented education<br /><br />Unemployability is a larger problem than unemployment, but some academicians find the desire for a job-oriented education offensive. At a recent education conference, my argument about “learning for earning” was interrupted by an irate teacher who said that learning was not for earning but for living. <br /><br />But my point was that employers can repair somebody by giving them the skills of a salesperson, mason, manufacturing technician, accountant or retail professional, but they can’t make someone creative, confident, communicative or curious. That needs the magic cocktail of teachers, peers, parents and a learning environment that only a few schools offer.<br /><br />Directed by passion & conviction<br /><br />Ben Franklin once said, “Teaching is the occupation that is the most reflected upon, cherished, praised, rejoiced, and canonized, and at our deathbeds, possibly the most remembered aside from our dear ones, yet the least rewarded, in terms of earthly goods, of all the worthwhile and necessary pursuits.” Franklin went on to say, “A gifted teacher is as rare as a gifted doctor, and makes far less money.”<br /><br />Twenty years back, people used to join the nursing profession inspired by Florence Nightingale, but today they do so looking at the opportunity to go to Scotland, UK and many other Countries where they can fetch more money. A similar scenario today plagues the teaching profession, from being inspired by the likes of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and with the thought of being a social reformist, more and more people are joining the teaching profession, without passion and conviction.<br /><br />Incidentally, nursing and teaching are two professions that leave lasting impact on people’s life, but are sadly being sabotaged by the ill wish and sole aim of making money.<br />As noted by Piaget, “The success of educational reforms ultimately lies with individual instructors and their capacity, individually and collectively, to implement new ways of doing things in their day-to-day interactions with students.”<br /><br />Faculties need to have an authentic desire to serve, not just wanting to be at the top. The widening chasm between job requirement and skills of graduates has accentuated the role of a faculty to discharge his/her responsibilities with amazing proactivity.<br /><br />The role of faculties as mentors is of paramount importance. The task of teachers in contemporary times has transcended mere academic enlightenment to the students. Today, teachers are also required to help build character, and instill values. <br /><br />Education is India's best bet for sustainable poverty reduction and good teachers alone can do that. If we are serious about enabling our faculties and making them the beacons, then we must turbo charge the educational ecosystem.<br /><br /><em>(The writer is the vice president of an educational accademy.)</em></p>
<p>Education is India's best bet for sustainable poverty reduction and good teachers alone can do that, observes Shajan Samuel<br /><br /></p>.<p>India is in a skill emergency (50% of the 300 million children enrolled in school won’t finish secondary school and out of the 14 million students studying in 26,500 institutes of higher education 58% are unemployable). Input driven and hastily set up business and engineering colleges are being shut down. The role of a responsible faculty becomes critical in this dreary environment.<br /><br />Need for experiential learning<br /><br />Indian education needs experiential learning that is hard to teach, inquiry directed, learning periods extended, learner-directed, process-oriented and based on team / diversity appreciation and multiple intelligences. Indian teachers envy Western schools because they encourage independent thought and creativity, while Western teachers idealise Indian schools for their rigor and hard work. But the scale of education in India indicates that the golden mean is hard to find. Our education policy simultaneously pursues excellence, expansion and inclusion. But can we be equal and excellent? Is vocational education for ‘other people’s’ children? Are quantity and quality contradictory?<br /><br /><br />Debating whether education should be a sword or shield drives a wedge between who I am (somebody who chose my parents wisely and got an elite education at St Xavier’s Kolkata and went on to pursue a fast track management program at IIM Kolkata), and what I do (work for a brand which trains students in new age media). My College curriculum included academics but was mostly about sports, music, painting, debating, dramatics, trekking, scout camp and much more. Xavier’s college and later on the stint at IIM changed the size and quality of my thoughts. Both the schools increased the surface area of my mind with non-academic stuff that was wonderful preparation for the world of work. That happened only because my faculties, some of whose names and memories are still fresh in mind even after 20 years.<br /><br />Job-oriented education<br /><br />Unemployability is a larger problem than unemployment, but some academicians find the desire for a job-oriented education offensive. At a recent education conference, my argument about “learning for earning” was interrupted by an irate teacher who said that learning was not for earning but for living. <br /><br />But my point was that employers can repair somebody by giving them the skills of a salesperson, mason, manufacturing technician, accountant or retail professional, but they can’t make someone creative, confident, communicative or curious. That needs the magic cocktail of teachers, peers, parents and a learning environment that only a few schools offer.<br /><br />Directed by passion & conviction<br /><br />Ben Franklin once said, “Teaching is the occupation that is the most reflected upon, cherished, praised, rejoiced, and canonized, and at our deathbeds, possibly the most remembered aside from our dear ones, yet the least rewarded, in terms of earthly goods, of all the worthwhile and necessary pursuits.” Franklin went on to say, “A gifted teacher is as rare as a gifted doctor, and makes far less money.”<br /><br />Twenty years back, people used to join the nursing profession inspired by Florence Nightingale, but today they do so looking at the opportunity to go to Scotland, UK and many other Countries where they can fetch more money. A similar scenario today plagues the teaching profession, from being inspired by the likes of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and with the thought of being a social reformist, more and more people are joining the teaching profession, without passion and conviction.<br /><br />Incidentally, nursing and teaching are two professions that leave lasting impact on people’s life, but are sadly being sabotaged by the ill wish and sole aim of making money.<br />As noted by Piaget, “The success of educational reforms ultimately lies with individual instructors and their capacity, individually and collectively, to implement new ways of doing things in their day-to-day interactions with students.”<br /><br />Faculties need to have an authentic desire to serve, not just wanting to be at the top. The widening chasm between job requirement and skills of graduates has accentuated the role of a faculty to discharge his/her responsibilities with amazing proactivity.<br /><br />The role of faculties as mentors is of paramount importance. The task of teachers in contemporary times has transcended mere academic enlightenment to the students. Today, teachers are also required to help build character, and instill values. <br /><br />Education is India's best bet for sustainable poverty reduction and good teachers alone can do that. If we are serious about enabling our faculties and making them the beacons, then we must turbo charge the educational ecosystem.<br /><br /><em>(The writer is the vice president of an educational accademy.)</em></p>
