The gruesome murder of a Chennai schoolteacher by her 15-year-old student should serve as a wake-up call to educators and parents to focus on what is missing in the way we approach schooling.
Shock. Outrage. Fear. The brutal murder of a schoolteacher by a 15-year-old student in a classroom is chilling to the bone. While this atrocious act evokes strong emotions and will rightly be condemned by educators and parents, we simply cannot give vent to our emotions and then carry on as usual. Rather, this gruesome and tragic incident should serve as a wake-up call for us to take corrective action collectively and collaboratively. Both educators and parents have to respond to this alarming and heinous act before another person becomes a victim of unchecked and uncontrolled teenage angst. If we fail to act in a constructive manner, a dystopian future where children have to pass through scanners and their bags X-rayed before they enter schools that have CCTVs surveying every nook and cranny is not so far away.
First and foremost, every school should have a qualified counsellor who is accessible to students, teachers and parents. While the counsellor may address problems when they arise, she must also be an integral part of the school — otherwise teachers and students are unlikely to confide in her. In order to facilitate this process, a school in Chennai has sagely allotted Value Education classes to counsellors. This makes sense as students can be taught valuable and practical skills to help them deal with their confusions and conflicts. Value Education curricula need to be revamped to address real issues that students contend with. Programmes on anger management can be introduced as early as Grade I so that children learn acceptable and unacceptable ways of expressing negative emotions. Through stories, role-plays and activities, schools may impart social problem-solving skills and inculcate empathy.
Teacher training
Schools should also invest more heavily and wholeheartedly in teacher training. One-time workshops are not as beneficial as ongoing mentoring programmes where teachers can give and receive feedback on specific strategies. More experienced teachers may also guide their younger colleagues through buddy programmes. Teachers should be trained to identify children at risk of various psychological problems. Teaching is, indeed, a very taxing profession that is not accorded the status it deserves. Instead of working in isolation, managements should encourage teachers to work collaboratively on lesson plans, behaviour management policies and co-curricular activities. If schools have regular and frequent staff meetings, problems are more likely to come to the fore before they grow out of hand.
Another aspect that is seriously lacking in many schools is an open channel of communication between parents and teachers. Parents are as much to blame as schools in this regard as parents often make unreasonable demands. Further, some parents view “education” as a commodity that can be purchased and expect their children to be served like customers. This consumerist view of education is counterproductive as teachers feel belittled in the process and do not receive the respect that is due to them. As child psychologist Tamar Chansky points out, “children will pick up on any conflict between the parents and the school and will side with the parents, thus devaluing the school...” Schools may also have a grievance cell where thorny issues between students and teachers are raised and addressed confidentially.
The fact that media have infiltrated every aspect of our lives is another issue that we need to contend with. While there are immense benefits to digital devices, parents and students need to be cautioned about their ill-effects too. In addition to limiting television viewing to strictly not more than 30 minutes on school days, parents should also encourage children to self-monitor the content they view. If children happen to watch inappropriate content, it is best that it is followed up by a discussion. Almost every school introduces Computer Science as early as primary school; if schools can allot at least one period a week to Media Studies, children can be taught to discern and critique the information that bombards them from various channels.
Shun the utilitarian model
We, as a society, have embraced a very utilitarian model of education. For most Indians, the main aim of education is to get a good job that pays a lucrative salary. As a result, parents put undue pressure on their wards and teachers to obtain stellar results on examinations. Schools have also succumbed to this unidimensional perspective and advertise the number of rank holders and professional college placements. In the process, education has lost its soul.
The cultural critic Neil Postman writes, “There is no question that listlessness, ennui, and even violence in school are related to the fact that students have no useful role to play in society.” We need to reinvigorate our curricula so that students see meaning and purpose beyond fulfilling parental ambition in schooling. Is the goal of education simply to balance chemical equations and factor polynomials? In addition to learning literature, mathematics and science, children have to feel empowered and not enervated by going to school.
Students also have to be equipped with skills and techniques to cope with life's strains and stresses. If we want a holistic education, we cannot ignore our interests and emotions as feelings are an integral aspect of being human. Both in word and deed, we, as a society, should learn to be more emotionally sensitive and responsive to each other. Our education, in turn, will reflect our humaneness and humanity.
(Aruna Sankaranarayanan is director of PRAYATNA, a centre for children with learning difficulties in Chennai and Bangalore. E-mail: arunasankara@gmail.com )
Keywords: Chennai teacher killing, student kills teacher, teacher student relationship, value education, education model, teacher training
It is easy to comment or criticize any existing system rather than correcting them. Myself and millions of others got educated through the same system. We every now and then, hear about some sort of violence exhibited by individuals. It is highly unfortunate to generalize this and create a panic. The kid was taken to police station. Rather, he requires attention and treatment from a psychiatrist. God bless!
It is very sad, but how many students would have secretly imagined 'this ' in their minds? With pressure building around the student from all sides ,the young minds with no comfort zones to share their views,seem to take to such drastic measures which to their minds seemed like an instant solution.The core issue has to tackled.No laws can change the mind set.The parents have to 'BE THERE' for their kids at all times.The children should trust the parents at all times and especially in times of need.The parents cannot force their kids into doing something where they don't have the heart.The teachers cannot insult the kids at any point of time.Instead the whole society is in a constant state of denial..
yes it is very important for scool teacher and parents also to find out the reasons of this type of incidents. we have to make sure that in the future this type of incidents will not happpen in the scool and society also. we have to ensure that what are the missing goal in our education system which make the students to do this kind of behaviour. an extra pressure on students mind and mishandling the students also cases this type of behaviour. in the end i want to say that parents and teacher(school management) both are equally responsible for this.
The chennai incident is heart-breaking and a wakeup call for our education system. It's very true that there is no one in particular you can blame for this entire fiasco. Educational institutes which don't care about educating as much as earning. Parents who are busy making money without even spending a modicum of time with their children.Society which considers getting a 6/5 digit salary as the entire point of life and education is just a way to attain that goal. Exams which evaluates students based on their memorizing power.
Not only the educational system employed in schools, the parents and society is equally important in building the character of a student. Especially parents' behaviour in the presence of children have a great affect.
The main problem here is the owner of the Private Schools, whose main aim is making money. Teachers are simply pawns in this game.These corrupt owners employ inadequately qualified teachers at very low salaries and also make them work like slaves. In many private schools one teacher of one subject may have to cover all the classes. There is also no back up when a teacher for a particular subject is absent.The businessman owner makes a fortune out of parents' money. The school promises a lot during admission, but after admission, everything seems to be forgotten. Parents also are afraid to raise much voice against this cheating, as such schools have been given a free hand by the Govt to victimise the complaining parent's children. While parents pay whatever money is demanded by the school, they do not get the value for money.It is same all over India and we say India is booming.I do not understand how. Private schools are hubs of corruption & fraud in this country.
I am in complete agreement with the author about 3 things. Need for an holistic approach , value based education and empowerment. Holistic & value based system is a global problem. I had a course called Business ethics in my MBA program. The professor was asking about the feedback on the course and course content. When my turn came I told I felt ashamed about this course. She was shocked. I was not complaining about the content but the fact that I had to take an ethics course after 20 years of education was a shame. That's where we definitely need a holistic & value based education so that you can look beyond just contents of education. Talking about empowerment, the author is so right. What education today is only for survival. Be an MBA or 5th Std both are only for survival. Survival at a different level. For this the objective of education has to change. From survival to evolution. I am not talking about Darwin. From a state of don't know to "know" streamlined by value.
Welcome suggestions, Aruna. I cannot speak of earlier times, but to infer from what we see around, education is not an end, but simply a means to something. That 'something' has no concrete definition, but in the end, it simply narrows down to maximization of wealth in any form. As and when the society grows increasingly competitive, this maximization process is adapting itself to serve as a credible 'means' to that very end. Those values which do not translate into direct gains, are deemed unnecessary. The education policies are not to blame for this. We ourselves are the culprit. An educated man is no where near the status of a wealthy man, by whatsoever means that wealth might have been acquired. In such a situation, to be a 'by the book' academic is tomfoolery. We, as a nation and as a society, have embraced a different set of role models. I believe education is doing it's job, which is , catering to the credentials that are needed to 'succeed'. Success has no objective definition.
I am shocked- not that this child committed such an act- that he was brought to commit such an act. It shows how unsupported by the health care system the school system remains in India. My first thought when I saw this was not "what a horrible child", but what horrors this child has been going through to have done this.
Reason for these incidents lies in less interaction between children and their parents owing to their busy schedule. These days everybdy is mad in the money race putting all their valuable time in the never ending quest. They don't find even 30 min. daily to talk with their kids and expect them to learn everything in school. First teaching starts at home. I am 25 yrs old, today also i go with my father after dinner for evening walk and we discuss about the decadence in the society, it's all about parents giving time to their children. A school counseller can give limited time. The day a child is comfortable asking all sorts of questions from their parents then only we can come over these incidents. PROBLEMS WHEN KEPT INSIDE FOR LONG CAN RESULT INTO DIABOLICAL REPURCUSSIONS.
This article depicts the real situation which is going in schools. Now
a days people have made education a business by teachers. And parents
who are treated like customer are not protesting them. Now a days
relationship between the teacher and students is deterioting as it was
a very divine relationship in the past. Noone is taking the education
seriously. they are just doing for lucrative purposes. Major step should be taken regarding this situation because this will the future genaration. This single incident can lead to bigger psychological change which can hamper the future of youth generation.
I have never read such a brilliant article. This article should be read by every member of society who is concerned about deterioration of values. Suggestions of author should be immediately implemented in order to arrest the decay in our educational system.
I don't see anything wrong in looking for a job that offers a lucrative salary. Our whole society is driven by the same force. If we want to change this attitude, the change should come from gross root level, i.e from parents, teachers, the whole society itself. We never know, when it is going to come. So, Its better to adjust ourselves to this type of education. To prevent these type of incidents all we need to do is, reduce pressure on the students.
To do this there are many techniques from yoga to, as the author mentioned, appointing a counsellor per school, which have many byproducts like confidence, individuality which may help children in the long run. Instead of scolding and complaining against our education system, we can get maximum benifits by looking at all the other possibilities.
We should seriously question the consumerist view of education that treats education a commodity.The privileging of competition over cooperation, quantity over quality and tyranny of parents and managements is the crux of the problem.The victims are students as well as teachers. We have to think whether American type of competitive ethos are suitable for us. In the past knowledge was more respected but now mere information is seen as the end of education leading to unprocessed over information, confusion, and violence.Let us not blindly copy the West in every thing and meet with all the problems associated with their ways of living.
As a member of the Board of Directors of Indian Schools in a Gulf Country I came across many incidents which throw up very difficult
situations.
Parents -having one or two children- believe their offsprings do not
make any mistakes and shield them whenver possible.Very limited parents atend the Parent Teacher meetings called by the school after
the exams which give an opportunity to exchange views.
Some parents criticise teachers in front of their children.Some children of affluent openly challenge teachers in class knowing the
Management will not take action.On the other side insensitive and
over reacting teachers have caused sensitive children take extreme steps-including suicide.
In the Chennai incident No One Can believe that the parents did not
meet the teacher or principal inspite of so many notings about the boy.Hope this incident will NOT be forgotten BECAUSE the children are
our future and we need them mentall balanced
When the educational institutions do not have proper financial resources or when they are all profit-oriented, they cannot appoint a new staff to counsel the children. There is also bargaining for the teachers and some of the institutions prefer to appoint a teacher who demands a lesser salary. Hence, the school administration, experienced teachers, parents and family friends need to guide children on several inter personal skills. The teachers should also learn to be bold and courageous to tackle this kind of disturbed children while showing their love, affection, care, etc towards children.
Well written article. This is the right time to wake up. All children
are eligible to be treated equally whether they are toppers or not.
The differentiation between children based on any factor should be
strictly discouraged. And school staff are to be trained to handle
the students in a neutral way (not biased towards any particular
children).
Institutional education nowadays kills the intellectual that
can be seen in a new born. The curiosity seen in children to know things
surrounding us is not seen when they go to schools. If a child is not
enjoying going to school, then the environment is not right for them.
Institutional education cannot bring social skills to anybody which is
very important for an adult to lead his life.
Excellant article. In an era where money making has become the main object of education. The parents expect a lot from their children. When these expectations are not met their anger turn towards their children. Instead of trying to solve the problem of their children's short commings the parents try to pressurize him to do more than his capabilities, this act of parents push the children to the extreme and he becomes frustrated and his incapability to fulfill his parents desires drives him crazy and he becomes violent. I think the teachers should be more flexible with students they should try to encourage a below average student and be supportive to him than making rude remarks at him in front of other students. My heart goes to the relatives of the teacher.Let's this unfortunate incident be the first step towards reforming Indian education system.
I take strong exception to Mr. Jaison Mathew's viewpoint on movies. All movies, for ages, have shown the destruction of evil by good, the dispelling of darkness by light, and the prevailing of goodness. So can movies take credit for all those who do not indulge in crime, since they have demonstrated how being bad is punished?
Why should movies take the blame for misguided minds, who can in fact, find many more dangerous examples in real life!? A statement from Mr. Narayana Murthy of Infosys fame should make us take notice - that young people of today are quickly taking to corrupt people as role models!
For ages, we have shown apathy towards inefficiency, corruption and the erosion of all things of real value to our nation. Now, we want to blame movies and quietly absolve ourselves of all responsibility?
During our school days parents, teachers and society played important
roles in shaping up the students. Nowadays society doesn't interfere
because that will not be tolerated by parents. Teachers are restricted
in disciplining the students. Parents are busy earning money for
their children. We cannot pinpoint at one person as wrong. The avenues
to make a decent living after education should be expanded to several
areas and to suit people with various kind of abilities. Even in the
case of sports only cricket has been promoted. all the three -
parents,school and society should play their roles sincerely and
effectively to prevent recurrence of this kind of situation. While on
the matter of juvenile status age alone cannot be the criterion. In
the US also, as reported in Readers' Digest, two juveniles were
treated by police as adults due to the gravity of the crime committed
by them.We do treat some children as adult for their achievements -
like Balamurli Ambati as doctor at age 17.
These are times when the poor rich have nothing but money; and the poor, nothing at all. Narrow perceptions of success deny individuals the opportunity to find their worth in a disintegrating social framework. Drastic 'out-of-the-box' solutions are needed rather than the application of incremental palliatives to a broken system. Schools need to be more than a convenient parking-space, a shop for the mechanistic acquisition of the 3Rs (!) with an option for the magic formula for future 'success'. My own fond memories of my 'township' school are the teachers who really enjoyed their tasks and responsibilities beyond the required mandate, in reveling in the extraordinary variety of the putty they worked on; and their ability to encourage those putties to shape themselves. I realise their payback only lay in the respect accorded them in that society. Reform needs to be total; yet w.r.t education, I emphatically endorse the concluding 'shun the utilitarian model' section of the author.
Aruna has rightly said that education is not only about the formulas
and equation! It must teach people the way to behave in situation
which include respecting, controlling temper, helping, "talking to
kids" etc. But today's scenario in education is all concerned of
marks, ranks rather than overall personality development. If this
situation persists we are mere to face many such cases in future. Of
course, I've also seen many teacher looking their students as their
kids and feed the edu-elements rather than just teach! I feel the
article must have also mentioned about them.
This is an excellent article and Aruna has highlighted all the
significant factors with genuine reason!
My appreciation for Aruna and The Hindu!
Only when someone dies do we pay attention to ANY issue. Shows how fundamentally insensitive we are and uncaring about our progress as human beings. Our nation is going down fast in so many ways, and the ways in which it is going up are not that helpful in the long run to our growth as humans.
The basic purpose of education is to mould human beings into better ones
- psychologically , physically and socially - and simply not to create
doctors , engineers , scientists or likewise. This fundamental purpose
has been sidelined and instead , children have been encouraged - and in
some cases , pressurised - to follow the dreams of their parents and
excel in a rat race where there are clearly no winners.
The article is thought provoking. However,mere counselling will not improve things. For instance, in this case the boy was motivated to commit the crime afer watching the movie "Agneepath". See, how much evil is injected into the minds of our youth by movies. Though such movies are given 'A' Certificate they are mostly watched by youngsters. Even in adults these movies create impulses of insensitivity to cruelty. So I feel that the so called 'heros' have much role in spoiling youngsters. Such films should not given permit.
The writer's emphasis on value education to be taught independently is taking an instrumentalist view to address the problems at hand. Ironic though it is as in much of her piece she pleads for a less utilitarian approach to schooling. Guess we need to understand such issues in categories other than psychological but more through a deeper sociological and political study of schools. Ergo values cannot be something exclusive, removed from domains of maths or sciences, not to speak of social sciences which fundamentally is value nurturing. The contextual, subjective and deliberative nature of disciplines to
be so discovered, debated and dialogued in the classrooms are intrinsically value laden and value giving. But all these have been compromised and altered to make appear a discipline ‘direct’ and 'objective’. Marketing ethos has engendered performative cultures where failure becomes unacceptable. These generates frustration among both teachers and students resulting in such excesses.
Excellent article on psychological counselling, which is a dire need in our schools...Otherwise we may face worse than this in near future as it is in american schools and colleges... Counselors should be available right from kinder garden till the colleges and for the teachers also. Teachers need to set the right role models for the society, otherwise skewed behaviours like this we deviate the path of the society in more condemned way and also they should understand marks are not the only measure of learning and they should be capable of judging the kids in much better way. The key thing that is missing in our education system.
The aforesaid suggestions are constructive and should be put into a
workable mode, without delay. However,nothing is unknown to today's
mischief prone teens -including sadly, the legal implications and the
extremely lenient laws towards minors, therefore, they indulge in the
worst forms of violence i.e. they don't mind risking the maximum 3/4
remand home term to spite a teacher who is bold enough to unveil their
realities to their parents. There is, therefore, nothing at all, to
deter these "social devils" if I might term them thus. Suitable
remedial measures are the need of the hour. the punitive action for
violating laws must be made more stringent, and suitable awareness of
such laws must made to students in school. This has already been done,
to good effect, in western countries, where the level of violence is
far greater than India.
well cinema has really had effected the thinking of our youth. counselor is a very good option to deal this kind of situation.
The points that Aruna has made are entirely valid and it is also a proactive approach.The key is to be able to focus on the root cause and take constructive steps to ensure that such a gruesome act is never repeated again. Co-operation of parents, teachers along with the students to find solutions to issues will go a long way. Life skills and value education are even more important than academic studies. Our educational institutions have to refocus in these areas, so that our next generation of youth will shine all over not only for their academic skills but also for their integrity and moral and ethical values.
The last paragraph of this open editorial is a beautiful summation of the problems NOT addressed by the present system of education ("utilitarian" as described above) ... parents, teachers, educational instituions must all play an active role to make it happen ...for heaven sake please don't wait for the government to give a lead in this matter ...they ruined the education system sufficiently in the last 62 years of independemnt India ...as Aruna Ji rightly says let us not make schools look like our airports / other centres with those metal detectors / scanning machines ...Our school used to be under trees / thatched huts in the campus of the Theosophical Society and the school was an extended family, not a factory where education was sold for a price. Is it that difficult to replicate such simple systems - they didn't cost much and we were very close to nature.
Scanners and X-ray are very much part of the US school system now. I hope the
educational policy makers in India stop aping the west and invest more in value-
based education that has always been India's strength.
Do anyone remember anything what they learned in school? I am not even confident about writing Hindi/Arabic, because I never used it after school. The (only) good thing about schools is that kids get a chance to teaches themselves how to socialize and behave. By having a counsellor to tell them how to think and what to think, aren't we making schools more like a factory, producing 'assembly line' citizens devoid of emotion and don't know how to act by their own? Lessen the burden on kids. Instead of teaching endless theories and formulas, just teach them how to acquire knowledge or whatever they want in life. School education alone won't guarantee a job. In a country where majority can't afford the higher education, the educational system need a revision.
Hi, I am working in a school as a KG teacher. I too agree with you that nowadays education has become a commodity. Parents demand education. Teachers are being exploited by the management. Too much work load and too much expectations. Long working hours and six working days a week, both for teachers and students leaves them overworked. Pressure from management makes teacher pressurize the students. I personally feel that there should be a personal bond between the teachers and learners. A bond of trust and love.
The Indian culture permeated the notion of 'mata pita & guru' as the semblance of God and it maintained a sense of reverence and it seems that sentiment is breaking down. The modernity is teaching individualism against the collectivity the East has been familiar with. There is a tremendous cultural tsunami of change that is lashing the Indian shores. Such incidents could be a result of such changes. Ofcourse, the teen age group is more susceptible for Psychotic illness that could be mistaken for behavior disorder. One has be vigilant about those Psychiatric problems of this age group and support offered.
Among many things, I agree with the accessibility to "qualified" counselors in school. But I also know from personal experience that most of these counselors have personal prejudices and baises which only make the matters worse. Imagine the state of a person who confides in the counselor and in the very next moment the so-called counselor goes and tells it all to others whom you did not want to >share it with. I have also heard them mocking somebody else's case loudly in a group. And have seen the kind of counselors who try hard to make you understand everybody else's point, even mildly threatening you with what you have already been hearing from others. Emotional healing is an art. We need a lot who are more accountable and emotionally stable in the job, and not just who cleared all their papers with great writing at college. I am not sure if I am putting this in the right forum.
Parents need to assess their children's intelligence and study interests instead of forcing them into private schools and Donation colleges with their own goals than those of the children .Hindi Film really highlighted our education system to a Great extent.We should learn some lessons there.
What "Shock. Outrage"? Is it new that students respond to their teacher's psychological violence by physical violence? Teachers have to be more delicate dealing with students.
Students time in this age cannot be limited to watching TV for 30 minutes. Today one has ipod, iphone, ipad, XBOX and so on replacing TV. so trying to restrict is going to fail.Instead we need to encourage them to limit their time viewing content voluntarily not strictly.
Instead of marking the student bad on his personal diary to be shown to his domineering parents (which the boy would not do it anyway), the teacher should pass the confidential info to the head of the dept., and the head passes in turn the remark to the parents. Thus paving a way to deal with the burden of correcting a kid is not squarely thrown on the shoulders of the boy himself.
Students from very rich background are pampered right from the start of life. A boy entering 9th standard is given a motorbike instead of advising to go on bicycle. Big birthday parties are held. And great promises are made that he will one day be made as doctor or engineer by taking admission through donation.
Many of the doctors who come out to day are made in this mold. Nearly 50 lakhs are spent by the time he attains a MBBS. What kind of moral value can you expect from these doctors. So also in all professin. The very nursing admission is after money. And even in this school the admission must have been on donation. So they have wealthy and immoral students enrolled as the School authorities were more interested in money than moral value. This is the outcome of the School's violation of admission policies. Hope they will hereafter admit the value based students rather than money based students.
As rightly said in India education is used only for getting a well paid job which obviously means parents want their children to excel. First we systematically spoiled joint family. Be it is story writers, media, all potrayed saas-bahu can not live together. Now We do not have any support system in our old age. Nobody wants to give space to others. All children are geared to amass more and more wealth so as to secure their future (?) as cost of medicines/other materails are affordable only by wealthy people.
The malasie is deep rooted. Upbringing plays an important role. parents need counselling not children.
What you are proposing here is not new, but a copy of the educational structure in western countries. I think we have to start embracing more western values, which really provides a safe environment for everyone.
Excellent article...the author (Aruna) have nailed the issue "reinvigorate our curricula so that students see meaning and purpose beyond fulfilling parental ambition in schooling."...Indian education system should be completely re-hauled and strongly suggest the author be in that panel to devise a better model than the western counterparts.
By looking at the replies to the news piece that detailed the horrible incident which happened a few days ago (read - Teacher /15 yr old kid) and the response to this article...it is very clear that we are happy with pointing fingers and playing the blame game rather than accepting changes required in our moral and social perspectives that would truly minimize if not avoid such horrors in the future.
One way I have seen in United States is, the great educative cartoons.
You would be amazed how quickly kids learn from these cartoons and they
simply love these.
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