The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Education reforms

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Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009
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Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Education reforms

The UPA government’s proposal to make the class 10 public examination optional is meant to reduce the stress on students. But won’t the move lead to more stress two years later? Stress at 15 is not higher than it is at 17. A little competition is necessary to enable a person to succeed. Competition will always exist among human beings. Stress is a fundamental facet of survival, and abandoning a public examination is no easy way to reduce it. Students should be trained to deal with stress.

K.A. Solaman,

Alappuzha

* * *

The Centre’s bold proposal is welcome. But reforms should be undertaken with caution and in a phased manner. There is no doubt that a vast country like ours needs a uniform syllabus and a suitable language policy. At under-graduate and post-graduate levels, it is better to have a uniform curriculum in all universities. Admission to various courses should be based on a single entrance test. It is heartening to note that a debate has, at last, been set in motion for changes in the education system.

V.V.V. Satyanarayana,

Tanuku

* * *

While I am all for reforming the existing education system, the UPA government’s proposal to make the class 10 examination optional is hardly a step in the right direction. Schools will start making a distinction between students who wish to write the common examination and who don’t. Parents will bring pressure on their children to be part of the group that is considered elite. And the children, as always, will end up suffering.

Sandeep Gopalakrishnan,

Ernakulam

* * *

Nowhere in the world do lakhs of students score 100 per cent in the examinations conducted by their boards. Only in our country, at least 90 per cent of students score centum in science practical examinations in schools where there are no labs. The rat race to score more has made the student a mark-scoring machine, a teacher a calculator, and the school an industry in India.

Rettavayal K.S. Krishnasamy,

Chennai

* * *

We need to have a full-fledged qualifying examination at some level to evaluate the knowledge and understanding of students so that their performance can be rated on some scale. This helps students choose their career. There is no point in arguing that the examination brings undue pressure on students — they have to write a public examination at some point of time. The class 10 examination should be viewed as a qualifying, not competitive, one.

A.L. Narayana,

Visakhapatnam

* * *

Any attempt to dilute the examination system will lead to poor education standards. The responsibility to make students perform will fall on the teachers who prepare them for the class 12 public examinations. As a teacher and administrator, I know that teachers give their best only when they are answerable for the failure of students. In order to equip students with the skills required to face challenges, we must make the public examination more objective.

S. Paulraj,

Tirunelveli

* * *

The proposal to make the class 10 examination optional may appear revolutionary to the elite but it makes no difference to the children who either do not go to schools or drop out. So far, the government has not spelt out how it is going to make education compulsory. The proposal to invite FDI in the education sector — and foreign universities waiting to open shop in India — amplifies the commoditisation of education. As long as education is not considered a social obligation by the government, it will remain a privilege of a few.

Syed Sultan Mohiddin,

Kadapa

* * *

Major decisions such as making the class 10 board examination optional, setting up a single school board at the national level, winding up the University Grants Commission, and opening up FDI in the education sector should not be made in haste. The government must learn from its mistake of trying to introduce sex education in schools without a debate or consultation with experts. Although we are not great admirers of the present system of board exams for class 10, in a federal country like India where education is a vital part of society changes cannot be introduced in a hurry.

Zain-ul-Pasha,

Hyderabad

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