NEP - Closing Statement

 

I' am sick and tired of writing about new educational policies. Of course not many read my posts but I don't see a reaction from the educated society around me. I feel each and everyone is living inside the box of their own ideas. No one wants to break it, come out and rethink. 

I am not going to share the link of this post to my friends, as I always do, because no educationalist is going to read my post and none who read will protest and protect their children.

Therefore I thought of giving a closing statement and leave it. Maybe in the future, like Keezhadi excavation, someone will find this post and wonder how correct I was or what kind of stupid knowledge I had about this topic.

My closing statement begins with my opinion of the experts who did a fabulous job of researching to come up with such policy changes. I mean, the people who got educated in the same system they studied. It makes sense, right? Because to reengineer you should know the system entirely. But what I fail to understand is - why the people who were not happy, who couldn't succeed, who hated the existing system and last but not least who got educated but found it is useless for their future - were not part of this reengineering team? Who can point out flaws better than them? Ultimately, we are trying to cure a disease, without even knowing the symptoms!! 

I wholeheartedly welcome the point of teaching in regional language (or common language is a catch) up to 5th standard. I'll even recommend that to be extended till the 8th standard. In the early years of life, learning in the mother tongue or the language a child hears mostly will give the benefit of understanding the topic pretty well. I don't say this; many researchers have already confirmed this.

But how are the teachers going to be changed? Will current teachers, who know teaching in English are going to learn to teach in regional language? We can make the children learn, but teachers? No way. They are set like cement and water. We can't blame them. They have been doing the same work for many years and suddenly if they have to do it in a totally strange way, how can they do it?

Learning three languages: It is not necessary. When the child is going to shift to English from say 6th standard, that child has to learn English from 1st standard. So it learns Regional language and English. Where is it going to use the third language? Who knows where the child will énd up in the future? If she goes to France, she can learn French at that time. Or, if you feel Hindi is the national language (that itself is being questioned by many, not me) and the child must learn it - I have a point for you to ponder.

In my life, I didn't work in Hindi states so I was not required to learn it to converse with vegetable, fruit vendors. The two places where I had faced difficulty, I mean a couple of times, were in Mumbai and Delhi airports. Security staff asked something in Hindi for which I had to reply that I didn't know Hindi. They shrugged shoulders and let me go. The main point to be noted here is both these airports are international airports and every day they are filled with International passengers - some may not even know what Hindi means. If I had looked like a European would that question be asked to me? Unfortunately, I look like a south Indian!!

If needed, we will learn Hindi very quickly. We see many Hindi movies. How many Andhra or Kerala people see Tamil movies in their states? But when they move into Tamil Nadu, they quickly learn Tamil and speak better than some of Tamilians. I never had a worry of - Tamil will die, if a Malayalee moves into Chennai. We are humans. We adapt to the situation. Then why be so concerned about knowing or not knowing a language? 

Anyway, in this topic's purview, do you feel a third language is necessary for a child? 

I may have to press more on this point by citing a scientific development that we have seen. I have a mobile phone, just like all of you, the mobile connection speed is increasing - 3rd, 4th, and the 5th generation. Data rates are affordable and India is pacing into total digitalization objective. Now, if I have a translation app on my mobile, it is going to translate from any language to any language!! Why are we imposing a limitation on our digital path? 

Coming to vocational training from the 6th standard, my doubt is whether the research team toured entire India to understand what rural India has and what is not at all heard of? 

Vocational training means hands-on training, isn't it? If I think in the field that I worked, I can envisage some training for village students. At present, we are threatened by cyberwar from few unfriendly countries. They hack our servers, steal information, change, or even damage the content. So why not give training to village students about cyber safety, data protection, or reverse hacking (a word I invented)? 

Wait...I think Iám way too ambitious. Have my village children seen a computer? I doubt if they have even seen a tractor!! Iám not exaggerating. That's the truth. So this proves that my idea was a stupid one. 

What other vocational training? Training in manufacturing? There are no industries. Training in Automobile technology? There are no automobile factories. Hmm...What else? One person, I know suggested music. I failed to confirm with that person whether it was Karnatic music or rap-singing. Either way, I don't think Eminem lives somewhere nearby. So rap is also not possible. 

On our village main road, I have seen a timber merchant and carpentry working happening. If we force, he may train 10 students. But if he is an opportunist, he may insist on timber to be used for training should be bought from his shop only!! Who is going to handle this? Only one training place and that too is complicated.

Well, there is one another place. Farming. That's brilliant. Every child in a village can be trained in farming as part of vocational training. Depending on the water availability children can be trained on what and how to farm, which may be useful in the future. A child's relatives also can become teachers and practical labs are out there, as empty lands. That can be a good solution for a village child but what about the city brought up child? She can't learn farming in a city where there are no empty fields. This glitch can be overcome by taking that child to the village and make vocational training as a vacation enjoyment.

But aren't the poor children already helping their parents during non-school timings? Child laborer is banned but a boy or a girl working in fields is common. Let's not jeopardize the only vocational (decent) training. If they do extra timings it is good for them only. Because we will make sure that those kids will come back to fields after finishing some level of schooling.  

When I thought many problems can be solved by short cuts and cross-cut strategies, a problem still exists. Oh my! is it? Yes.

See, Foreign Universities are coming into India to give value to our knowledge through western methods. In a course of time, they may feel that our education policy is still inadequate to compete in International standards. 

(International standard is a magic word. It can be used to add high value to anything. For example, if I say that our toilet flushing tank is of international standards, it's resale value may increase. Try it in OLX).

Going back, a foreign university may ask us to revisit our educational policy, not to the national level but to the International level. Subsequently, we may have to re-engineer the already re-engineered process. 

And the final output may be named as - IINEP.

(Internationalised Indian National Educational Policy).

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Thanks very much for reading,

R.Bharathram

21/08/2020