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BACK TO SCHOOL

Bag or baggage?

Photo: K. Pichumani

Education: A risky affair…

Dressed in a neatly ironed uniform, Sameer trudges to the bus stop. Unable to see her eight-year-old heave a rock-heavy bag to school, Sameer’s mother buys him a bag with wheels. However, this only adds to the weight when he has to climb two floors at school to reach his classroom. The quintessential Indian school bag, packed choc-a-bloc with textbooks, notebooks and test books, serves as a metaphor of how our system of education weighs on our students. While articles have been written about the health hazards of carrying heavy weights on young, developing shoulders, the psychological and pedagogical implications of this load also merits discussion.

First, the bulk of weight contributed by textbooks attests to the paramount position these books occupy in our educational psyches. In addition to having to learn the text cover to cover, a textbook is revered as the fount of all knowledge. This is not to argue that students should not value information presented in the text. But over reliance on the text discourages students from thinking critically and dulls children’s natural curiosity. Instead of understanding and appreciating the dynamic nature of knowledge, unquestioning students see it as static and fixed. More importantly, they accept a passive role in their own education and do not see themselves as constructors of knowledge.

I am not denying the educational benefits of having good textbooks. Often, they are pragmatic and provide easy reference points for students and teachers. However, blind adherence to texts undermines other equally valuable sources of knowledge, starting with the teacher herself and moving to other students, parents, the library and InternetSecond, the manner in which notebooks are organised is indicative of how knowledge is compartmentalised in children’s minds. Not only does Sameer have a separate book for each subject, his school insists on a classwork book, a homework book and a test book. Moreover, even though he has been given a timetable, he insists on transporting all books back and forth on a daily basis, much to his mother’s chagrin. Last year, Sameer was punished by his class teacher for brining the wrong book and he is worried about repeating the ‘crime’. While three notebooks per subject weigh heavily on his stooping shoulders, they also send a message to the child. Sameer knows that his teacher only corrects the test book closely. He, thus, begins to believe that performance on the test is what really matters.

When a test book is returned, Sameer not only opens his book with zeal but peeks to see what marks his neighbour has scored. Often, his teacher returns test books only at end of a class as she has noticed students’ attention is often diverted to marks obtained as opposed to focusing on the new lesson she is teaching. Instead of haggling over marks on tests, shouldn’t students try and make meaningful contributions to class discussions?

A school in Chennai has taken a progressive step of abolishing notebooks from Class VI onwards. Instead, students are required to take notes on paper and file them at home appropriately. While parents were initially concerned that children would lose papers, this system has fostered a sense of responsibility amongst students and forced sluggard backbenchers into becoming more organised.

An almost single-minded focus on academics is reflected in the drab, brown contents of children’s schoolbags. While Sameer carries the odd art book and a few sundry items for craft activities, he never takes his tabla to school even though he is a young music virtuoso. In fact, his teachers and classmates do not know how deftly his fingers fly and how he pulsates with rhythm as he plays. Sameer’s other hobby, bird watching, is also not recognised by his school. Even though his school gives children projects, these usually end up being for homework, and most of the time, Sameer’s parents end up cutting and pasting pictures on charts. Collaborative projects fostering creativity where children brainstorm and work together under adult supervision is not encouraged in our educational system.

Just as children heave a sigh of relief as they offload their schoolbags every evening, learning is also viewed as drudgery that can be “offloaded” at the end of the school year. On the last day of every academic year, Sameer exults with glee as he eagerly casts off last year’s textbooks, hoping to never encounter them again. Books, and the knowledge contained in them, is baggage that he willingly and joyfully sheds. This attitude suggests that students learn mainly for the sake of exams and do not see learning as a continual, lifelong process. By lightening the burden of the school bag, educators may reinvigorate the system at multiple levels. As Krishna Kumar, the Director of NCERT writes, "Curricular reform, which includes reduction of load, implies an attempt to make life at school more intellectually challenging, not less. And diverse too, giving ample room to the arts, heritage crafts, sports and work-related activities."

As a sea of children enter and leave school premises, chaos and cacophony greet the senses. Children are seen spilling out of autos while cars and buses vie with each other with louder and longer honks. Rash, reckless van drivers press the accelerator even as children are boarding or alighting from vehicles. In the midst of this pandemonium, children snake their way, in twos and threes, to reach their bus, scooter or car. The commute to school is not a safe or calming experience for many children. Despite being perturbed by news reports of van drivers running over children they drop, parents often have limited options. Values like patience, tolerance and respect for the rights of others that are supposed to be promoted by schools, are, unfortunately, not practised right outside their premises. Schools and parents may take the following measures to make the commute to school a safer and less harrowing experience for children. First, schools must appoint two adults who can act as traffic controllers near the gate. Children should be made to cross the road in batches and encouraged to hold hands so that stragglers don’t get left behind. Second, each bus ferrying children to school, must have an adult supervising how and when children get on and off. For schools that cannot afford private buses, they may request the government to allot buses exclusively to the school during drop-off and pick-up times. Parents must also ensure that they are at the bus stop, well in time, to receive young children. Third, strict limits must be imposed on vans and autos on the number of children being carried. Each van must have an adult, besides the driver, to supervise children. Schools may also stagger dismissal times for children of various grades to avoid a surge. Children who have siblings studying in another grade may be asked to wait inside the school for the older child. Upper middle class children, who ride in cars, may car pool to reduce traffic congestion and promote a greener earth. Finally, other vehicles must be mindful of school children and respect the rights of pedestrians. Being bigger and louder does not imply you have the right of way. Education does not start and stop within school premises. How children enter and leave school is part of their evolving into responsible citizens.

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