H
hariharan1972
Guest
My & Ramki's travails is the inspiration for this thread.
I have always wondered whether the Educational system in India has got the right emphasis.
My views are :
a) I see no point in teaching Kelly, Keats, Shakespeare etc... without addressing the basic issue of instilling confidence in children to speak the language.
b) There is still considerable emphasis on 'rote learning' which has resulted in children not exploring enough.
c) Lot of stereotypes are passed on from generation to generation. Case in point (which is often quoted by Ms Shabana Azmi) is the 'content' in Kindergarden books - "Father is working in office, Sister is taking care of the crying baby, Mother is working in the kitchen.........". Ms Azmi argues that this creates a stereotypical image of the roles of 'Father, Mother & Sister' in the minds of the male children. True ?
d) Like i posted elsewhere, i find the standard of communication quite pathetic among the younger lot (including mine !) and this i think because of lack of "practical application"
e) Taking the example of Ms Chandrika, i am wondering of what use is English & Tamil at a college level. i mean structured learning. Beyond 10th I would rather leave it to the interest of the students to explore the language on their own, develop their own reading habits, give them opportunities by fanning their creativity rather than force fit language as a "subject".
f) My own example : I was under a CBSE mode till 10th and was a comfortable "80er" in tamil. I switched to State board for my 10+1 & lo! i got 80 again in my first tamil exam. Only this time the denominator was 200 !!!. (From St Thomas Mount level of Grammar in CBSE, Mount Everest was staring at me in TN State Board. For instance i was taught only 1 example on "Vinaithogai" - [Urugai - uurum kai, uriya kai, urigindra kai] in CBSE while the standard touched himalayan heights under State board)
Scared as i was, i immediately switched to French. My college didn't offer french & so i was back to 'Tamil' for my graduation. The fact i pulled it of is nothing short of miracle - perhaps a good case study for atheists.
g) I don't know much about "Technical Education". I am wondering whether the standard of Technical Education (apart from IITs) is focussed on developing ability to "apply concepts" rather than rote learning.
Any Thoughts ?
I have always wondered whether the Educational system in India has got the right emphasis.
My views are :
a) I see no point in teaching Kelly, Keats, Shakespeare etc... without addressing the basic issue of instilling confidence in children to speak the language.
b) There is still considerable emphasis on 'rote learning' which has resulted in children not exploring enough.
c) Lot of stereotypes are passed on from generation to generation. Case in point (which is often quoted by Ms Shabana Azmi) is the 'content' in Kindergarden books - "Father is working in office, Sister is taking care of the crying baby, Mother is working in the kitchen.........". Ms Azmi argues that this creates a stereotypical image of the roles of 'Father, Mother & Sister' in the minds of the male children. True ?
d) Like i posted elsewhere, i find the standard of communication quite pathetic among the younger lot (including mine !) and this i think because of lack of "practical application"
e) Taking the example of Ms Chandrika, i am wondering of what use is English & Tamil at a college level. i mean structured learning. Beyond 10th I would rather leave it to the interest of the students to explore the language on their own, develop their own reading habits, give them opportunities by fanning their creativity rather than force fit language as a "subject".
f) My own example : I was under a CBSE mode till 10th and was a comfortable "80er" in tamil. I switched to State board for my 10+1 & lo! i got 80 again in my first tamil exam. Only this time the denominator was 200 !!!. (From St Thomas Mount level of Grammar in CBSE, Mount Everest was staring at me in TN State Board. For instance i was taught only 1 example on "Vinaithogai" - [Urugai - uurum kai, uriya kai, urigindra kai] in CBSE while the standard touched himalayan heights under State board)
Scared as i was, i immediately switched to French. My college didn't offer french & so i was back to 'Tamil' for my graduation. The fact i pulled it of is nothing short of miracle - perhaps a good case study for atheists.
g) I don't know much about "Technical Education". I am wondering whether the standard of Technical Education (apart from IITs) is focussed on developing ability to "apply concepts" rather than rote learning.
Any Thoughts ?
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