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Suggestions for education reforms
April 7, 2008: Education as I have understood is the transmission of formerly learned lessons
or conclusion based on them about the personal, social and professional
development to the next generation for increased productivity in future keeping
in view the psychology of learning.
The first problem is that the
psychological foundations of the educational system are missing. Education means
making new generation learn as defined in psychology learning means 'relatively
permanent change in behaviour." The question arises that are our students
learning anything or not?
The second problem is that the teacher is not
a 'teacher.' If earning doesn't matter then interest determines profession. In
that case the person with a genuine interest in creating or building humans
would become a teacher. Such a person would be a leader himself with a passion
to create. On contrary in our society teacher is an employee. He works like any
other office worker 'Follow a set of instruction and get your pay.' And with
this his motivation is externally controlled and he performs only those actions
that can bring some benefit to him. Thus the teacher has descended from cleric a
mere clerk.
Now with such a teacher the impact is on the students. The
teacher being unaware of psychology of learning uses improper methods
consequently the targeted learning is not achieved. The use of punishment is
usual instead of addressing the psychological problem due to which the student
manifests a particular behaviour. It creates either a submissive personality or
a rude personality. Due to some reasons (social, economic, psychological or lack
of professionalism) teachers, sometimes, snub students instead of solving their
problems. And for the same reasons some teachers engage in unethical activities
with their own students so the students also learn unethical behaviour. The
consequence of all these factors is unproductive labour force.
The third
problem is that no attention is paid to ethical and social development. There
shouldn't be any grading of students otherwise it will mean that some students
are bad. That's unethical itself. Teacher should equip students with enough
perspectives so that students can solve their problems in a mutually beneficial
situation. That would greatly reduce the social ills, double standards,
corruption etc. Alongside a psychological health facility should be there for
the students to help them solve the problems they face in their adolescence.
Also guidance about the sexual issues must be given in the educational
institutes. As it is not done the result is that this guidance comes from
informal sources with a high probability of false guidance.
The last
point of my definition of education was professional development. This can be
achieved only if practical mind-set is developed in a student. To achieve this
feature, the teaching methodology should focus on self study rather than notes
from board. First how to study and think (analytically, critically and
creatively) should be taught and then assignments should be given which should
focus on analysis, real life application, criticism and further development of
the concepts studied. Then the student should be required to present and defend
this in class. This will have three effects. First, an increased sense of
independence, second, increased ability to analyse, criticize and develop ideas
and third, increased ability to communicate.
These practices should
start from metric and an increased weight of these activities in total marks. An
earlier start is good, as it will give students more time to polish themselves
in these skills. Along side is the problem of evaluation. Evaluation is usually
done on traditional basis of question paper. This usual method just evaluates
the memory of a student and there is no confirmation that the student has
'learnt' the concept and he is able to apply them in practical life. If our
purpose of education is to build productive labour then we must alter the
evaluation method so that it is consistent with this aim of education.
This can be achieved by checking out how much grasp a student has
developed over the subject. This requires assigning projects, case studies,
group discussions, presentations, and questionnaires with some logical problems
about the theory of the subject. At least 2/3 of total marks should be given to
these activities and remaining to the question paper that should include logical
problem of the theory. This way the theoretical and practical grasp of the
subject can be measured. The application of subjects at metric level may seem
difficult but the logical problems, case studies, presentation and class
discussion can be performed at this level.
Apart from these problems
within educational system a big problem with the system is of finance and its
dependence on government sector that spends merely 2.4% of GDP on its back bone
i.e. education. The claims of government are over ambitious whereas actions are
inconsistent with the claims. The plans are seldom applied to meet their
original target. According to Educational Policy 1998-2010 target literacy rate
by end of 2010 is 70% whereas its 49% in 2007. It was part of same policy to
increase expenditure on education to 4% of GDP and it has been almost ten years
since the policy was announced and still it is 2.4% of GDP.
Instead of
depending on the government sector, private sector and educational institutes
can co-operate with each other to make educational system more independent,
productive, affordable and profitable.
There are three parties in an
educational system other than government. These are the student, the teacher and
the employer. The student's interest is in low fees. The teacher's interest is
in high pay and the employer's interest is in more productive labour. Now the
point is to find a solution to these three problems.
There can be a
'study now and pay then' system and an institution of all educational
institutions, business organization, old and new students.
The 'study now
and pay then' system can be as follows: Students can get education free of cost
from the educational institution. In return they sign a contract with their
educational institution that they will pay back after a given time a fixed ratio
of their pay (no matter how much they earn its ratio) to the educational
institution for a predetermined length of time. Now this can have following
impact: Student and parents will be released from economic pressure and
therefore more relaxed at the studies. Educational institution will get a
consistent path of income in future and will become more independent. Since it
is the ratio of the income of student the more productive students an
educational institution produces the more earning it will have in future. So the
educational institution will put more efforts and genuine efforts for better
students.
The teachers have become employees and an employee is
interested in his pay so then those employees can have a chance to earn better.
So with the same conditions (employee and pay) the actions of that person will
be consistent with the definition of teacher. Also as then it will be a
percentage of income of student the educational institution will not be getting
semester wise fees rather a consistent per-month income for long run. And the
further expansion of educational institution in number of students will generate
further income. This is definitely in the interest of educational institution so
the educational institutions will try to expand and give chance to more
students. With this scheme eventually educational institution will become
independent and the first requirement of being a teacher is fulfilled
(independence).
There can also be an institution consisting of all
educational institutions, employers, old and new students. This institution will
serve the purposes of business sector that gets the output of educational
institutions as an input for its profit generation. The interest of business
sector is in better labour force so that it can increase profits. It is
reasonable to formulate an institution in which employers describe their future
forecasts of the labour demand. Then the educational institutions train students
with that forecast in their mind.
This will have two benefits i.e. the
shortage of labour faced by organization in future will be reduced and students
will have a peace of mind and secure future as their jobs are already
determined. Also with business sector interest in educational institutions due
to future labour force they can participate in various ways to increase
productivity by providing facilities of library, laboratory etc. With this
system the problems of unemployment and brain drain can also be reduced. Also
this institution can perform a regular research for the further improvement of
the system in all directions like teaching methodology, materials to be taught
etc.
In these two ways the whole educational system can be independent
and productive. The three parties' teacher, students and employers will get
benefit of it. This can be true provided the business sector understands that it
is productive labour that generates high profits.
- Ahmad Hashaam
Hadi (The News)
Your Comments
"Is is possible that KU conduct b-Sc & B-Com examinations in the month of Oct or Nov instead of year end Dec or Jan. "
Name: M.A.RAUF
Email: marauf27@hotmail.com
City, Country: Abu Dhabi
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| Education News | | Updated: 10 Sep, 2010 |
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