Ishika Agarwal
The diversity of teaching is known worldwide. In Finland, for example, it is known to have a learning environment with no learning pressure. They pride themselves on short school days, long vacations, and 2.8 hours of homework per week. On the contrary, in India, we follow a tactic where coursework holds a proud position in our daily lives. Indian students spend 12 hours per week completing extra assignments and homework assigned by the school. We can understand how the teaching methodology in India is disparate from the other countries.
Dr. Harris Cooper, a professor in psychology and neuroscience, and a keen researcher of education stated, “Homework is like medicine. Too little and it will have no effect, too much and it will make matters worse.” Dr. Cooper has been doing studies on the effect of classwork and homework on children and he has said, again and again, that too much written work kills the curiosity of the mind.
In Uttar Pradesh, there are 2-3 main boards that are followed, the U.P. State Board, CBSE Board, etc. As we all know, the Central Board Of Secondary Education (CBSE) has started incorporating audio and visual aids in its classes to help children retain more information. They have adapted to a new learning pattern where education does not rely solely on textbooks. But still, notebook work is the main priority of schools. Students are expected to jot down everything following the principle of written literacy, ‘Everything once written forms an imprint in the mind’.
Though the CBSE Board is trying to focus and implement conceptual learning, most schools are still continuing with rote learning. CBSE syllabus more or less focuses on preparing students for Engineering and Medical entrance examinations. The board emphasises on the use of NCERT Books which form the basis of all entrance examinations conducted in India. The main way of communication between students in this board is English.
The Board Of High School and Intermediate Education Uttar Pradesh (U.P. State Board) has its own educational approach. It focuses on state level topics and content of local relevance which helps students in preparing for state level engineering and medical entrance tests. The syllabus is usually limited but deep when compared to other boards. Regional languages and culture have a prominent place in the syllabus. In the State Board, the teachers focus on specific information about the state’s culture and origin, whereas India as a whole is not considered. But, the CBSE Board somewhat tries to follow a holistic approach.
Students of the UP Board are not taught about other states, national heritage, or foreign countries. But, students of the CBSE Board, who are educated about their country, cannot answer simple questions relating to their state’s heritage. Both the factors prove lack of knowledge in some areas. The government should be inclined to create a balance between the two factors which would ameliorate the learning of children. All students should be educated about their heritage as well as the whole nation’s heritage.
The CBSE Board also under-represents the North-East region of India. The North-East states are not counted as a whole of India and are not mentioned in its curriculum. Children are not taught about their country fully and this also amplifies cultural imparity, because later on, people refuse to count them as Indians, and count them at Chinese.
On assessing the syllabus of both boards, it was emphasized upon that fact, that even though up till Class 9, the same curriculum is followed in both the boards, the explanation of concepts in school are quite contrasting one from the other. To bring both curriculums at par, the government had ordered for the UP Board to replace its textbooks with NCERT books. NCERT will be made mandatory for Class 9-12 except for the two subjects, Study Of Agriculture (Krishi) and Study Of Business (Vyavsayik).
According to the views of parents, the UP Board is harder than the CBSE Board. Though the curriculum is less, it is all taught in depth. This is where the CBSE Board lacks in the eyes of parents. The UP Board teaches less but in a detailed format. The CBSE Board covers a vast range of topics, but they are vague and skeptical in some areas.
A noticeable growth has been charted in schools. More and more students are enrolling every year, and 95% of the rural children have registered in the state boards in the past decade. Both boards receive equal importance and all students are beneficiaries of the knowledge provided.
“This is the thing with an urban setting – there are more children going to private schools. However, the national ratio of government to private schools stands at 60:40. In some places, it is even 70:30,” Anita Rampal, a professor at Delhi University’s department of education, stated.
As per the Economic Survey of 2019-2020, the government allocated Rs. 6.43 lakh crore for education. Out of this, Rs. 56,637 crore went towards school education and Rs. 38,317 crore went towards higher education. The federal government provides 7.7% of the funding and the state and local governments provide 46.7% and 45.6% of the funding, and it all goes to public education. In 2014-15, Uttar Pradesh spent Rs 13,102 per elementary school student, from Class 1-8. This is higher than the all-India spending of Rs 11,252 per student.
“The budget has a provision of ₹ 783 crore for improvement of education, sanitation, health, drinking water and basic infrastructure facilities under ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram’ in minority-dominated areas,” Finance Minister Suresh Khanna said in his budget speech. Through 2020-21, the budget also has a provision of ₹ 479 crore for educational facilities for modern subjects.
Literacy rate rose 13.45 percentage points in UP over a decade from 2001, but there are wide regional disparities: In the Northeastern district of Shrawasti, the literacy rate is 49%, while in the best performing district, Ghaziabad (in north-western Uttar Pradesh), it is 85%.
The pupil to teacher ratio (PTR) in the decade 2011-2020 has been recorded at an average of 39:1 whereas the ratio all over India is 23:1. About 23% of all elementary teacher posts in government schools in Uttar Pradesh are vacant and the state should have 8,40,000 teachers but is short by 21%, or 1,76,000. Uttar Pradesh also reported the second-highest teacher absenteeism (31%) in rural public schools among 19 surveyed states in 2010.
Uttar Pradesh has more than 9000 schools for all levels of education. Students get access to more than 1000 colleges and 63 universities for higher education. The government and private colleges of the state offer multifarious degree programs in science, arts, commerce and other professional and technical streams. Infrastructure such as science labs, math labs, libraries, computer labs, etc. is a crucial element of learning environments. There is strong evidence that high-quality infrastructure facilitates better instruction, improves student outcomes, and reduces dropout rates, among other benefits.
Teachers in public schools earn upto Rs. 468,948 per year, while teachers in private schools earn upto Rs. 201,840 per year. Uttar Pradesh has a large population of children aged 5-14, but the correlation of teachers is less. Since the PTR in government schools is greater, the salary is also greater in the public sector. Though more posts are occupied in the private education sector, the teachers are paid less.
The yearly fee of private schools is 6 or 7 times that of government schools all over India. In Uttar Pradesh, it is mandatory to have some schools free of education for the poor, who cannot afford education. Most private schools in UP cost Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 15,000 per month. Government schools range up to an average of Rs. 1500 to Rs. 2000 monthly. Due to the pandemic, the Uttar Pradesh Government has banned any increases in the school fees, and additional fees have been slashed off the accounts. Some private schools are in fear of closing due to the notice of abrupt decrease in fees. Whereas, government schools are receiving extra funding for online teaching.
As per the DISE data, only 0.02% of scheduled caste students were admitted while the school participation rate was just 0.01% under Section 12(1) (c) of the RTE Act 2009. This section aims at social integration in private aided schools by mandating admission of children belonging to socially disadvantaged and economically weaker sections for 25% of the seats in each class.
In the highlights of a recent survey, we observed that there are more girls than boys in government schools, but more boys in private schools. The survey, released on Monday, showed that a total of 6.28 lakh girl students were enrolled in private schools. The same figure for boys stood at 9.37 lakhs. According to the survey, the same data for government schools differs drastically, registering enrollment of 8.10 lakh girls and 7.18 lakh boys. In private schools 47.9% boys go to private schools against 39% girls indicating that parents prefer private schools for boys and government schools for their daughters.
There is no direct link between wise and illiterate. Our society condemns those who are academically weak and stereotype them as unwise. Philosophers express that wisdom comes with experience, not knowledge. I have come across many illiterate people who are much more wise than others.
Our schools impart knowledge and means to migrate, but don’t teach the basic values. What use is higher education when it doesn’t teach us how to respect our values and people? All it promotes is foreign migration. They teach us to enthusiastically move to the US, UK, Australia, France, Italy, Greece, etc. but don’t instill values in us. Shouldn’t we remain and boost our economy and development in India? Why should we settle in foreign countries? It does not impart skills or instill values and honor our country, but teaches us to look down upon the knowledge system of the various communities in diverse India.
We should not only focus on academics and subjects, but also include extra-curricular activities and all skills in our daily life. As someone once said, “Play is the way kids try the world on for size and imagine their place in it.”
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