ANANTAPUR: Noted academician Chukka Ramaiah has stressed the need for overhauling primary and secondary education in the country to make it skill-oriented rather than just competitive.

Education should teach a person better lifestyle rather than being only a criterion for employment, he observed during a meet-the-press programme arranged by the district-unit of the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) here on Thursday.

As education system is the base for social, economic and political struggles, the foundation should not be merely informative but inquisitive, he said.

Evolution of primary education in the country is not in tune with the changing needs of society. It should inculcate the urge to explore the subject rather than just knowing what is printed in textbooks, he observed.

Probing question

On secondary education, he said it should aim at knowing the subject by exploring it. But our system only disseminated information printed in textbooks. Teachers memorised lessons and delivered the same before students. Probing habit by students was taken as lack of discipline but in other countries it was otherwise. The students who lacked the urge to probe were branded `indisciplined' in other countries, he pointed out.

Some 250 universities in the country were only meeting the needs of people rather than encouraging any research work.

On the other hand, education in the corporate sector would make the students only competition-oriented. Competitive exams were testing the information acquired by students and not their skill and talent, he said. He also stressed the need for a change in teaching methods. Efforts should be made to make children stand on their feet by making them skilled, he said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail