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Taking the stress out of schools

The move to convene an all-party meeting to review the education system to make the learning process less stressful has served to highlight a vital issue. This is not the first time Parliament has expressed concern over the burden cast on school children and the need to make the system student-friendly. Several committees have come up with suggestions for reform, and R.K. Narayan was passionate in his campaign against the crushing burden of school bags. Minister of State for Human Resource Development M.A.A. Fatmi shared with the members of Parliament the broad features of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) prepared in 2005. Based on that framework, the NCERT has re-fashioned the school curriculum, syllabi, and textbooks so as to reduce the burden on students. While the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has implemented the NCF in its schools, only some of the States have done so in letter and spirit. More than the curriculum, it is the rigid systems of examination and ranking that have made school education, particularly at the 10th and Plus Two levels so stressful. Securing an aggregate of over 90 per cent in the school final to gain admission into prestigious institutions of higher learning, has become the primary goal for students, and more so for their parents. Everything else is subordinated to this overriding objective in the last two years of schooling that become extremely stressful.

Education is a concurrent subject under the Constitution and both the Centre and the State governments need to address this issue together and seriously. Compared to the attention paid to higher education, particularly professional courses, not much has been done for reforming school education, despite making education compulsory and free up to the age of 14. There has been a gradual shift from content-based to problem-solving and competence-based testing in the examinations. But this has to be speeded up and the focus turned away entirely from rote learning. School education’s goals of preparing students for life outside the classroom, laying the foundation for higher studies, and equipping them for the job market must not be lost sight of. Apart from looking at the system and the curriculum, the authorities must review the teaching methods and facilitate the teachers to adapt themselves to the changing environment. Parental and societal pressures must also give way to the shaping of talent based on the interests and aptitudes of the students. The reforms must cover not just continual internal assessment, but also guidance, aptitude tests, and counselling to help students chart out their course.

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