Some changes in the educational system
Education is to draw the best in children and to develop their faculties. Education is a complicated affair as it is supposed to equip children for life. Since life styles are always changing the contents of education – must also be changed accordingly. The school is supposed to provide the necessary experience to the child. When a child leaves the school he may lead a useful life.
But in the traditional school, the child was supposed to learn mainly the 3 R’s. So the chalk board and the text books were the main stay of the teacher who was to shape the character of the child. Rote memory was insisted upon and examinations were based on this learning technique. There was not much of a difference from year to year on the way children were tested. The examinations conducted did not test all the faculties of the child. So it was necessary for those who got through examinations to be trained afterwards. In short, children were very rarely taught to ]cam for themselves. This had continued for so Tong and the practice had to be abolished.
Once this was realized many new methods of teaching were tried and many new aids had been used for a better education of children. Today the school is a very complicated organization; the teacher is no longer the sole arbiter. The children instead of being passive listeners, have been made active participants. They are handling, feeling, planning, creating and learning with newer tools and aids that the subjectivity has given place to healthy objectivity.
In order to make education relevant and meaningful, children are exposed to almost life like situations. They must know how to five as good citizens and honest members of society. The way the school creates situations with these ends in views is important. The ideal school must be run as a republic, the Headmaster or the Principal may preside over the Republic, the lecturers serving as counselors and councilors, the students being the citizens.
On the intellectual side the library and the laboratory must play a vital role. They complement and supplement more and more and the use of the library and the laboratory must be encouraged through proper assignments. The playing field, the various camps, the many organizations like the Junior Red Cross, Scouting, etc have to be fully utilized to shape the character of the child. Beside the text books, there are other aids for learning. They must be judiciously used. In fact, there are hundreds of ways in which the audio-visual aids can be used with advantage.
Examinations must not be used to show the weakness but must be a yardstick for proving the all-round education of the student. The questions must be objective and reliable. The examinations must be welcomed by the students. In order to satisfy the diverse population there must he diversity in programs, approaches, resources and aims and room for experiment. Examinations should be a challenge for students.
The world is shrinking and nobody can feel parochial, so education must equip students for world understanding and world citizenry. Science and technology must find their place in any scheme of education.
Any system of education must help turn out a fully developed and all-rounded personality.
