The blog ' Coaching Syndrome ' is written by one Mr. Skand Shukla published in Open Page , THE HINDU (chennai edition) dated 10 jan 2010. The article deals with the fast inroads made by the private coaching institutions into the society. Decades ago the number of coaching institutions was scarce but nowadays just gaze through any newspaper one ll find numerous private institutions boasting about their achievement . Today the main criterion for success is sadly measured by the score achieved by the student rather than the knowledge gained and implemented in the right way. And for a developing nation like ours the only way climb the ladder of status in the society is by the means of success achieved in education field by the student which leads to better placement in companies and thus more income . Hence all parents want their child to be at the top , in a way by making join the esteemed private institutions which also increases their status . But the burden on the middle class and lower income families is grave as they are forced to pay towards the private institution fearing of their son/daughter of being left out . The private institutions have learnt the way of teaching only the tips and tricks of how quickly to solve the rather than stressing on the concepts thus the student does score marks and tops the entrance tests but on the intellectual level he/she still remains ignorant of the concepts/logic. Hence the belief in the formal education system is reducing . The formal system deals with more practical approach and stresses on the concepts but this is not accepted by many as this would consume preparation time for the entrance tests and due the fast growing economy and nation , wasting time is next to sin. Hence private institutions take advantage. Instead of following the prescribed text the students follow the notes supplied by the private coaching institution as they provide shortcuts to the concepts. This causes inequalites in the classroom teaching techniques and moreover the student takes a carefree approach to the school as their peers ask them to focus on private coaching institution as that would help them getting placed in a better engineering/medical college thus on the whole degrading the formal education system. Between all these the interests of a student was never looked into . The amount of stress , the pressure to perform , irregular study patterns , less social interaction all leads to grave psychological problems and extreme cases leads to mental breakdown or even suicide. Hence the current educational needs some radical changes so that the ' teacher teach and student study ' subject to their interest rather than the society's interest..
Sourabh K Rao
Exactly. Institutions are more like factories now. Its the new running business. And the teachers who are supposed to teach are actually people who end up there just because being a teacher is the only job they can get. Earlier people had this passion for teaching. A spirit to ignite students from within. Now, unfortunately, its only a matter of how much they get paid.
ReplyDeleteAnd as written in the "Coaching Syndrome", outdoor activities are given zero importance. I have seen schools whose only playground is their street itself.
For the government, the only way to improve education is by providing cycles and food. They are very necessary I agree. But there should be ample importance given to the way of conduct.
Nice post.
Yup dude...let administration go wrong but whats wrong with teachers , if they change the system , administration all change for sure . It was once said , " A simple teacher tell , A good teacher teaches , A excellent teacher makes us understand , but a real teacher 'INSPIRES' ". The education system lacks real teacher ....
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