School is meant to be a co-educational institution imparting education for all-round development of a child in a truly secular manner, so that the values of human dignity and equality are enshrined in their hearts. No school can achieve its aim without the participation of parents. The interest and involvement on their part consists of their efforts to understand and support the objectives of a school.
Education Schemes By The Government
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the District Primary Education Program (DPEP ), and many more which need to be implemented will be fill an existing gap in the education system in India. 70% of engineering graduates in India are unemployed. 1,35,000 Indians commit suicide every year by way of poisoning, self-immolation and hanging, and these cases are often due to unemployment. Male suicides are far higher than female suicides. Employers say that there is a skill crisis and mismatch between the skills students learn and those required in the workplace. There is a risk of losing talent and skill since a large number of university graduates are unable to find a job and put their knowledge and capabilities to use. They are unable to contribute to economic growth of the nation. Also a large number of youths are prone to drug addiction. The reasons being peer pressure, family issues, academic pressure, or dissatisfaction in marriage.
Closing Down Schools
A child’s formal education starts from school. If a person gets good education, they will always try to get a job and earn money and respect, and will never resort to robbery, crime, terrorism, or petty thefts. But the biggest crime centres in our country are reputed educational institutions, where youths lack a strong schooling and background. With public schools not performing and private schools teaching students to compete rather than learn, India’s primary sites of education are at risk.
What Happened To India’s Public Schools?
The Rajasthan Government recently decided to close down more than 17,000 schools and the Maharashtra government decided to close down another 14,000. This indicates a rapid decline of the public education system. Public schools are dying out simply because they don’t perform. The problem began in late ’50s and ’60s when there was growth in number of schools but no adequate attention was being paid to infrastructure and availability of trained teachers. Teachers lost motivation and became disgruntled. This led to the growth of a self-centred attitude and teachers began to think of their own welfare first, without giving much attention to the functioning of their school or the quality of education provided there. One survey by MIT, USA, by an economics professor showed that providing free medicines instead of free textbooks to school kids in Kenya led to conclude that these children became well-educated youths with higher salaries and this finding led to the founding of an NGO called “Deworm The World”, which went on to help 40 million children in 27 countries. A 2010 study, again conducted by MIT, USA, shows that teacher absence fell by 21 percentage points in India when attendance of teachers was monitored daily by cameras and were paid according to the actual number of days present.
Conclusion
School is an organised space which demands professional knowledge, and a deep sensitivity towards the intellectual and emotional needs of the children. Private schools are growing and function only for profit. A good school is where knowledge is cherished,intellect is developed where there is sensitivity towards the child and where there are adequate resources for the overall development of a child. The twin maladies of children dropping out of government schools and increasing schools in the private sector put our schools in grave danger. We, as a society, seem to be far from realising that civilidations depend on education, and schools are primary sites of education. If schools die, civilisations deteriorate. Unless we recognize the need for rigour in understanding, planning, and implementation in education, we will be unable to arrest this downward trend and our schools will either close down or transform into profit services, leaving the space open for tuition shops.
References:
1)Indian Express Newspaper 18th July 2014
2)The Hindu Newspaper Rohit Dhankar ( Azim Premji Univ) 28th Oct 2014
3)www.wordpress.com Mr Longreads( ref MIT,USA prof.) 21st Nov2014
Thanks to friends who have helped me in preparing this piece. The End