October 20, 2011

A question of education
Sangeetha Devi Dundoo

Members of YFLO at the interactive sessionon. Photo: G. Krishnaswamy Panellists debate on the delicate balance between parent, teachers and students in the education system After a lot of mulling over, you enrol your child in a school that doesn't crucify them with homework or test them every month with exams. But somewhere down the line, giving in to peer pressure, you wonder if letting your child grow up in such an environment will make him/her competent enough as a teenager. What do you do? You request the school to start conducting tests, even if it is against their philosophy. This is a situation many parents would identify themselves with. The parent-teacher-child equation is that of delicate balance requiring understanding and sharing responsibilities. A session by Young Ficci Ladies Organisation addressed the Role of parents and educational institutions in shaping the future generation' earlier this week. The panellists D. Purandeswari, minister of state for human resource development, Ratna Reddy, director of Chirec Public School, and Manek N. Daruvala, founder of T.I.M.E Institute highlighted various issues concerning the role of parents, teachers and changes that need to be brought in the education system.

Ratna Reddy, who has been spearheading Chirec for 22 years, felt that parents who feel examinations are a priority need to do a rethink. Some of them ask us why we cannot conduct examinations like traditional schools. If that is a priority, they need to enrol children in such schools, she said. She perceives a change in the attitude of parents which in turn is reflected in the children. Parents feel it is the school's responsibility to imbibe values in children. Parents and teachers need to work together. Parents' lack of understanding, impatience to see results and failing to control children's use of technology has an effect on children, she said and also stressed on the need to update teacher training methods and improve salaries to attract better teachers. Her view found support from Manek Daruvala who also underlined the need for parents to think about all round development of children. This generation cannot be talked down to, he said. Parents need to be mentors than dictate terms to avoid children from becoming rebels. With good teachers becoming a rare breed, Manek feels the solution lies in using technology to beam classes to distant locations. Speaking after Ratna Reddy and Manek, Purandeswari lamented on youngsters opting for lucrative job options post the IT boom. Government institutions are faced with 40 percent shortage of teachers. This, despite the sixth pay commission revising salary levels for teachers, she said. She felt the time is right to revisit the education sector and usher in reforms. The pre-Independence education system was devised to create clerical level staff. Post Independence, the education system underwent a revamp to facilitate the country's progress. We need to look at different areas, including better use of technology, to bring in further changes, she said. The afternoon concluded with an interactive session with the audience.