India gained independence in 1947. Since last 74 years, India has been growing economically and developing in all the major sectors. It is gaining popularity in the world as one of the best place for many things such as Yoga, Tourism, Defence system, Movies, etc.
It is indeed showing great advancements in almost every sector except Education. Education system has not changed since last 34 years. The education system has been following a traditional approach since its beginning. This traditional or ancient approach which included classroom based education is not proving much fruitful.
Let us first discuss what the traditional education system was and why it did not prove fruitful.
Article Contents
What is traditional education and what are its drawbacks?
Indian traditional education was based on the concept of face to face interaction. During olden times, the teacher or the ‘guru’ would teach students verbally and the students would memorize those teachings for the rest of their lives.
The same method is being followed by the Indian Education system till now. This type of classroom based education has so many drawbacks.
The students of same age sit together in a classroom and listen to the teacher. The teacher teaches different lessons prescribed in the syllabus. Such classes are very less interactive as well as monotonous.
Most of the education delivery is carried out verbally and very little focus is given on practicals. The students have no right to choose the subjects and have to study everything compulsorily.
The students have to memorize all the lessons and write the answers of the questions asked in the exams to get promoted. These exams seemed more like a memory test and less like a knowledge test.
There are many processes in an education system. These processes help to mould the student’s psychology, knowledge and thought process. But the fact that every student has a different mindset, different IQ level and a different interest is not considered while assessing them or evaluating their knowledge.
This sort of traditional ways of education are prevalent even during higher education.
The students are provided admission based on marks received during school or entrance exams. Their merit is decided on the basis of these marks while completely ignoring their knowledge and understanding of the concepts.
Also, there is no provision in the education system wherein the students are recommended courses based on their inclinations or interests. The students do not have a choice other than pursuing the conventional courses.
Apart from that, the admission process which starts from applying for admission, giving the entrance exam, paying the fees and finally joining join the college might even take a couple of months time to execute. Thus, the entire admission process is very tedious and stressful for both parents and students.
Every year, thousands of students get graduated from the numerous colleges or universities. But these students lack basic skills required for the job as per the study was conducted by different organizations which are working at international level.
Only about 1.7% of engineers have all the skills required for jobs in the market.
The students do have degrees and certificates yet lack knowledge and good moral values. Also, higher education is expensive and is unaffordable to many.
The entire education system is responsible for this. All these drawbacks discourage the students from creating their own different path of career which would help them make money as well as help them to stay contented.
Thus, it is high time; we start thinking about making changes in the current education system. Let us see, the ways in which we can overcome these drawbacks.
What we can do to overcome these shortcomings?
As we saw in the previous points, there are many drawbacks in the current education system. But there is a one-stop solution to address these issues.
And that is changing the education system by bringing in the New Education Policies.
In accordance to the changing times and its needs, technology is introduced in the education system. All the educational institutes started conducting admissions, classes and exams in an online mode.
With the incorporation of online education, education would become more interactive and practical based. The students can get creative by doing projects and presentations. Conducting discussions and assigning group projects can help them to gain confidence while interacting with other people.
But before all of this, the teachers must be trained to become techno-savvy. They need to learn the techniques and mechanisms of the online learning platforms which are adopted by the schools or colleges.
Almost 70% of the teachers use technology in the classrooms such as using computers for demonstrations.
This sort of training is essential as the teachers are responsible for providing a platform to help students gain knowledge and develop skills. It will also help to increase the number of teachers who are knowledgeable in all aspects.
The examination system must also be changed in the new education system. A test must be conducted every time after a concept or a unit of a subject is taught to the students. This test will prove helpful to gauge the understanding of the concept or subject by the students. To take care of this, Education Department will be responsible which is now renamed as Education and Evaluation Department.
The students must be provided with the feedback of these tests which would help them analyse whether they have understood the topic correctly or not. If they haven’t understood a particular topic, then those students would be able to work on those subjects or topics again until they are clear.
An education system which is provides liberty of making choices must be created. Such a system would enable the students to choose the subjects of their choice which would prove useful for building a career and thus a better future.
We need to create a system which would improve the quality of education. We need to make sure that the teaching patterns and syllabus is also changed. And for this, the comprehensive implementation of NEP 2020 must be carried out as soon as possible.
We need to create an education system which is not only affordable but also accessible to even in the remotest rural areas or tribal areas. The quality of education must not be hampered in anyway.
Thus, we have seen the changes which must be brought about in the education system so as to address the issues prevailing in the traditional education system.
Now, let us see how these changes would benefit the Indian education sector and the overall society.
How can the new education system help the coming generations?
The implementation of NEP 2020 would bring about some radical changes not only in the education sector but also in the Indian society. These changes might imply some changes in the legalities and mindsets of the people.
But all these changes would yield better outputs in terms of knowledge and mental growth. These changes would prove extremely advantageous in the long run.
The percentage of people who are excluded from education is more than 27%. Around 44.81 million students cannot afford to pays fees for education.
These changes in the education system would certainly make education accessible for those who cannot afford to pay fees or even for those who are not able to find a course suitable for their choice of career.
Conclusion
The corona virus outbreak has changed the society in many ways. It affected every industry and sector including Education. It also affected the social conditions, mental conditions of people as also the ways in which teaching-learning activities were being carried out.
But the use of technology in the delivery of education has helped tremendously. Different EdTech tools have helped the students and the teachers to communicate well even when they are not sitting in the same room.
Nearly 95% of schools are using technology to carry out teaching-learning activities.
A new education system created by keeping in mind all the above mentioned points as also the mindsets and needs of the students and teachers will help to increase the engagement of the students in pursuing education.
It will encourage them to not to stop their academic career after graduation and motivate them to pursue higher education. Currently only 12.4 percent of graduates apply for higher education.
The changes in the education system would not only help to improve the literacy rate in the country but also help to increase the percentage or rate of students applying for higher education.
