Page 62 - February EW 2024 PDF

Cover Story

made to diagnose the cause of the
problem, and there is also an incentive
for school leaders to hide problems for
fear of punishment.
Both intuition and evidence sug-
gest that systems that support weaker
schools are more efficient than sys-
tems that are punitive. Of course, this
is not a black-and-white situation
and both strategies have to be used in
some cases. But the common factor of
efficient systems is that principals of
the best schools are asked to help low-
performing schools. Moreover, suc-
cess in more challenging situations is
considered an important step in their
own career progression.
W HILE STUDENT tests Primary school in Maharashtra: system supporting weaker schools more efficient

measuring how a
school is perform-
ing in its core area School Quality Assessment and Assur- 6, a requirement backed by research.
of equipping students with skills and ance framework and tests like CBSE’s However, an increasing number of
knowledge are at the heart of these SAFAL (structured assessment for parents send their children to coach-
assessments, the overall institutional analysing learning). These initiatives ing and tuition classes too early, be-
assessment framework covers other should be made compulsory rather cause of societal peer pressure. More
aspects as well. Schools which un- than optional. than children, parents are addicted
derstand the importance of hands-on English — the aspirational medi- to high marks. All these issues need
projects, technology usage in teach- um of instruction. It is understand- to be addressed in public campaigns
ing-learning, and other areas such as able that most parents want their and debates. Although there are pub-
including sex education in curricu- children to speak fluent English. But lic campaigns for health, tourism, safe
lums, are rewarded. Efficient educa- parents assume this objective will be driving among others, there are few
tion systems signal schools that they achieved by ensuring children study for education. Effective campaigns
must give importance to these issues. in English right from class I. This as- are necessary for implementing some
In Indian education, all these exam- sumption is erroneous. For children of the ideas discussed here.
ples — hands-on projects, technology raised in vernacular language environ- NEP 2020 is a well-considered
application and sex-education — are ments, it is better if there is a strong policy document and covers many
optional and entirely dependent on grounding in their mother tongue. The important issues such as strong foun-
the school leadership. medium of instruction could switch to dational literacy and numeracy, mov-
These ideas stem from the ba- English in higher classes. ing board exams away from encour-
sic philosophy that schools should Public education campaigns for aging rote learning, reforming teacher
have wide autonomy without being education. A large omission in public education and utilising technology to
controlled or dictated. In India, we policy has been education campaigns improve students’ learning outcomes.
need a framework that prompts every directed at parents. NEP 2020 wants Many of its recommendations are in
school management to think about students to enter class I only at age the process of implementation. But
issues like “Are my students’ learning as discussed above, several major is-
levels improving?”, “Are we harness- Although there are public sues remain unaddressed. If we can
ing technology and AI in the school to fix them, K-12 education in India can
improve learning outcomes?”. When campaigns for health, improve rapidly and significantly. We
school leaders and teachers address tourism, safe driving among need to address them without delay
these issues, schools improve their and in all earnestness and seriousness.
performance which should be commu- others, there are few for (An alumnus of IIT-Madras and IIM-Bangalore,
nicated to parents and society. Baby education. Carefully designed Sridhar Rajagopalan is co-founder and Chief
steps have been taken in this direc- campaigns are necessary... Learning Officer of the Bangalore-based
tion in India with measures like the Educational Initiatives Pvt. Ltd)

62 EDUCATIONWORLD FEBRUARY 2024