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April 14, 1998
SPECIALS
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How Readers reacted to Dilip D'Souza's recent columns
Date sent: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 08:22:03 +0530 Keep up the good work. Wishing you all the best. Sheela
Date sent: Thu, 09 Apr 1998 20:09:20 -0500 My personal opinion is that the tuition racket is driven by the parents aspirations, rather than the child's requirements. Every parent wants his child to be the best, overlooking his/ her capabilities. And, the paranoia for engineering and medicine (these are not the only jobs on earth) makes matters worse. Always remember that we are responsible for India's problems because we succumb to illicit activities. Debasis Rath, Madison WI
Date sent: Thu, 09 Apr 1998 10:34:25 -0400 As usual, your analysis was insightful. Above all, your columns provide meaningful information communicated in a simple, lucid style. Indeed, the past couple of decades has seen significant increase in the number of coaching classes. Attending coaching/ tuition classes has become a norm and considered trendy. These operate like parallel colleges and have come here to stay! Although your article touches upon this issue, the causes of this trend have not been addressed. Surprisingly they are rooted within our decaying education system! Some of them are: The syllabi and options available to students has not changed significantly over time. In this rusty and redundant system, a higher percentage of marks can guarantee an individual's choices. Rather than obtaining meaningful education, students are caught up in the marks rat race. The teacher/ student ratio has skewed considerably. This has resulted in lack of individual attention, thereby contributing to the problem of inferior education. General lack of infrastructure in schools/ colleges (eg. laboratory, library facilities), compounds this problem. Students have to compete their counterparts while appearing for public exams. Classes help in making up lost ground. And finally, that our teachers are paid pathetically is no big secret. Adequate compensation, monetary and non-monetary rewards help retain a motivated lot. Teachers naturally feel disgusted and look for other options (classes) to bridge the gap! Irrespective of affordability, students are compelled to seek this alternative. Even after 50 years of Independence and several governments, our education system is still reeling under the British legacy. My suggestion is to privatise education and make it competitive -- based on one's achievements rather than background (caste/creed/religion). Lawrence
Date sent: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 02:01:30 -0700 (PDT) I was reading the article on tutions by Dilip D'souza and I cannot agree more with what he says. At a primary level, education is just a means of learning how to read and write. But once a person graduates to the higher levels, the schooling system should also inculcate in him/her the basic values of human decency, how to treat others with respect, how to live life with dignity and other such important lessons in addition to his/her formulas. This is where the Indian education system is really missing out -- in relentless pursuit of more marks. Education, I believe, should be an enabler for people to develop their powers of thinking. The sad thing is that even those few who think differently and start schools with alternative methods of teaching end up joining the rat-race in the later stages, once ground-level realities set in. I am left wondering what we must do to get out of this mess that we find ourselves in? Jagannath Moorthy
Date sent: Wed, 08 Apr 1998 13:08:18 -0400 "Great teachers are great motivators." I don't know who said it first, but that is something I very firmly believe in as it has been a constant feature of all great teachers that I have come across. So I believe that 90 per cent of what the tuitions and classes do is to motivate. They convince the student that they are being given the best material (notes, guidance) to work with, but they also stress that it is what the student writes in his answer book that matters. No one promises miracles. What is funny is that professors often teach the same material in a college classroom as in their private classes: same notes, same solved examples, even the same exercise problems. The difference then is partly the perception that 'private coaching is better,' and partly the personal attention that students et in private coaching. It has more of a psychological benefit for the student than a material one. For the student, a combination of getting their money's worth and making the best use of what they (or their parents) have paid for, acts as a great motivator. If Chirag's parents had not paid the Rs 50,000, he may have whiled his time away, what with the many more distractions available these days. The desire to use what he has been paid for (and the associated guilt if he fails to) fuels this learning. There is a saying in Marathi: "Sonaarane kaan tochale pahijet," which means that a child will not accept something deemed unpleasant from his parents, but accedes that coming from an authoritarian figure. That, in my mind, is the function and the utility of tuitions and coaching classes.
Date sent: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 08:17:48 -0700 The doctors in public and municipality hospitals always run a parallel private practice, and most of their patients come from their day jobs in public health clinics. Teachers and professors hardly ever get paid well if compared to inflation and the living index, this makes them seek other avenues and nothing is wrong with it. India is still the only country in the world that gives world class education with third class facilities. Of course the poor cannot get the educational advantage that the rich will get but there is always "Hard Work," which cannot be taken away from anyone. In temples etc there are separate lines for people who have money versus people who don't. Has the author ever gone to Puttaparathi Sai Baba or Balaji temple in Andhra? Even god's path is laden with the rich having the first shot at darshan.
Date sent: Wed, 08 Apr 1998 11:39:12 +0530 I follow your columns regularly and respect your concern about the various social and political issues. In your column on April 7, you said, "How, I'm longing to know, is it possible to get 100% in PCB and NOT top those subjects?" It seems you don't have a child in class X or XII! It's elementary, dear, that in any of these subjects, say in Physics, about 20 students get 100 marks. Hence the subject topper is the one who has got the highest aggregate marks (in ALL subjects, including English, one more language or one of the "scoring" vocational subjects) in addition to scoring a perfect 100!! So not only do you need to score 100 out of 100 in a subject, but also ensure higher marks in all of them!! Sameer Chivate
Date sent: Wed, 08 Apr 1998 01:50:29 -0400 Excellent article. But I think there are some other ways to look at the scenario. What seems to be happening is a natural evolutionary process. Of course, people are to be blamed for neglecting their duties in class and paying attention outside, but they are part of that evolutionary change. Let me explain: we had an enormous growth in enrolments in schools due to a higher standard of living and greater emphasis on education. Hence, crowded class rooms and competition. The obvious result is to have a section break out, and invariably, this section consists of the rich classes and resourceful teachers. As a result of this restructuring, which we should not shed too many tears on, we will have a slightly modified educational system, wherein both schools and tutors exist together. However, I believe school administration must begin to rethink their internal setups, culture, pay scales and so on, in order to maintain their status as good educational institutions. They must attract students and teachers alike. I would like to see the government of India implement a nationwide standardised exam that takes care of the near-100 per cents. The present situation is because different states and boards use different scales, which results in each area wanting to boost their students chances, while the internal competition is undisturbed. Sanjay
Date sent: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 18:24:55 -0700 In the past I have criticised your articles, mainly political in nature. But your apolitical article on the tuition "scam" is a real eye opener. It is a touching article. Sameer
Date sent: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 19:11:14 -0400 Good column. Nagendra Rao
Date sent: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 12:10:48 -0500 Dilip's article hit the nail on the head. There is also the equally big racket at the engineering entrance exam level... wonder if someone has looked into that and the millions of rupees subsidy that students studying there enjoy from the tax payer's pocket. Anand, Champaign IL |
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