Reduce the burden
R. KRITHIKA
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Three publishing houses have come up with the concept of using just one textbook a term.
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These are the subjects for Std. I — English, Maths, Science, Social Studies, Hindi, General Knowledge and Computers. Including textbooks, notebooks and workbooks, a child (about five to six years) winds up carrying at least 25 books a day. As good as a laden porter on a mountaineering expedition.
This issue is discussed seriously in the beginning of every academic year. It made headlines when eminent writer R.K. Narayan pleaded in Parliament that we look into the issue and reduce the burden on the kids. Paediatricians talked themselves hoarse about early onset of spondylitis and spinal curvature.
One textbook a term
Finally it seems that people are waking up to the problem. Welcome to the "one textbook a term" concept. The books, published by Orient Longman, Macmillan and Tata McGraw Hill include four subjects - English, Maths, Science and Social Studies - with worksheets for every lesson.
While Macmillan and Tata McGraw Hill have concentrated on Tamil Nadu's Matriculation syllabus, Orient Longman introduced the Sangam series based on the NCERT guidelines all over the country. Dr. Vani Vasudevan, Associate Publisher, Orient Longman, says, "Our market survey showed that schools were aware of and very receptive to the idea."
While the concept is definitely appreciated, what about content? Dr. Vasudevan points out that the matter normally found in one textbook is parcelled out into three.
Teachers like Yvonne Vanhalrem, a Std. IV teacher in Holy Angels school, Chennai; Padma Srinath, with 20 or more years experience; and Malathi Gopalakrishnan, who has been involved with primary education since 1964 agree that while content is not compromised, there is scope for improvement. One point is using more pictures especially for the lower classes. Ms. Vanhalrem also feels the book could be smaller, while both Ms. Srinath and Ms. Gopalakrishnan would like more pro-active exercises, especially in Science. For a topic like pets, direct observation would teach more than reading a textbook.
Weave in the subjects
While Ms. Srinath suggests tagging or colour coding to differentiate the sections, Ms. Gopalakrishnan feels the differences could be done away with. Her idea is to weave the different subjects around one topic. For example, plan a trip to a crocodile zoo, maybe for Std. IV. For Maths, they could calculate how much each one will have to pay. In English, the teacher could introduce rhymes and make a list of words centring on the trip. For Science, they could learn about reptiles. Limit it to three topics a term and give combined exercises for all the subjects.
Ms. Srinath refers to the internationally accepted method for evaluating writing — Ideas, Word Choice, Voice, Conventions, Organisation, Sentence Fluency and Presentation. Of these, she says the Voice is most important since the written piece has to inspire the child to read further. Another point she makes is that, since children pick up patterns as they learn, the books need to be error free. She also feels that children need to be led into concepts like `air has weight' gently rather than as a blanket statement in the book, while Ms. Gopalakrishnan points out that words like `maternal' and `paternal' need not be introduced so early. Ms. Vanhalrem, however, says that much depends on the teacher. "We use experiments like filling a balloon and other methods to show that air has weight before we actually begin teaching from the book." All agree that more experiments or `do-it-yourself' exercises would be welcome.
A lighter bag
The children have welcomed the introduction of these books, says Yvonne. It's not just that they're carrying less weight; taking care of their books is much simpler. The teacher keeps the class workbooks and homework is the worksheet in the book itself. Also the wear and tear is less, she smiles.
Now that the load on the primary has been eased, what of the higher classes? Dr. Vasudevan points out that there's a quantum leap in information from Std. VI, so this concept may be difficult in the higher classes.
"Maybe we could combine the science subjects into one book," she muses, "or the humanities ... but I'm not very sure how it would work out. The school may not want to be limited to one publisher — they may want a physics book from one house and chemistry from another ... it's more difficult."
Now that an attempt has been made to lighten the load at least for the primary classes, is it too much to ask for a review of content?
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