By: Prof. A G Madhosh
This rejoinder is the result of my close reading of two brilliant presentations by Muhammad Rafi former Director School Education Kashmir, and the present Director Mr. Muhammad Yunis Malik (Kashmir Images, Jan 11, 2021). What are our children getting in the schools? Looking at the 5 year data life and career skills, it seems imperative that our schools going children are to be aggressively trained for the careers recently hitting the market.
Secondly an immediate review of the teaching learning models must be made. This may include evolution of standards, assessments, and the curriculum as well as the professional development programs that we do with teachers.
One last point, to take a decision around the use of technology in our class rooms, I want to point out the risk involved that we may still end up with instructiveism. A successful jump into technology must be woven around a theater concept of a class room. Here essential pedagogy is mixed with learner performance.
It is a pleasant merger of Paulo Freire’ critical pedagogy with cooperative learning techniques whereby students work in groups cooperatively, with specific role and responsibilities.
The theater concept does not, however, absolve our student community from the societal responsibilities.
A host of high technology capabilities provide the instruments that support a creative disposition to social structures rather than the passive transitions, so far known to us.
The same spirit was echoed by the great educationist and humanist Dr Zakir Hussain when he said, “Education is the life breath of our democracy. It is education that can give us a common vision of the future that we are striving to fashion and generate in us the intellectual and moral energy to create it. Education alone can preserve the old values worth preserving and education alone can give us the new values worth striving for.”
The master question still remains: is our education system ready to change before claiming to be the change agent?
- The writer is a scholar, academician and educationist.
