Change: The end result of all true learning
Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit
One would find that in the present day schools the children are oriented in a defined way of learning where the teacher imparted a systematized way of education through which children acquire some general and professional skills etc.
But the home learning has tended to orient itself to goals which are of fundamental importance to a community where in social change the children marks the crux of its further development in their life.
Normally our schools are closed for summer vacation when the children are not demanded to take part in economic activities. It is necessary that the schools timings have to be adjusted to the needs of the community, depending on the locality etc. It is also found that majority of parents particularly in the rural areas send their children to school till they are grown up and capable of taking up economically gainful activities and the percentage of dropouts is significantly much higher among girls than for the boys.
The Supreme Court has held that the right to education is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution and that the state is obliged to provide education to children at the primary level.
Good education is not only desirable in itself but is also essential for the empowerment of our people. Education should be viewed as a basic human right leading to empowerment and awareness. The politicization of education poses a serious threat to society.
It is necessary for the authorities to investigate whether reservation has genuinely helped the backward sections of society. The government should address this problem on an urgent basis and take a holistic approach to it. Granting everyone the right to education is not enough in itself.
It is the duty of the State to ensure proper implementation of this law in every section of the society. The 25 per cent reservation for poor kids is a terrible insult to the majority of India’s children. It is like the ‘two-tumbler’ system that prevails in many villages. The government should take effective steps to provide sound education to students from the backward classes rather than just creating quotas.
What is more important is to ensure that proper facilities are provided in schools and the best teachers recruited to teach children in their formative years. Right to education will remain a dream unless sincere efforts are made to create the necessary infrastructure.
Today one would clearly find that the child is by no means a helpless victim of parents and teachers who are active agents of change in their life. The conflict between the child and the adult is not confined to home.
Today the child insists on doing something whose consequences the teacher or parents in his mature wisdom thinks will be unpleasant where the parents prevent their child to do so but it must be remembered that sometimes-unpleasant consequences also remove the illusion which the child may have nurtured about his ability whose outcome is defiance.
It is also found that parents and teachers praise the child sky high for every achievement but over praise makes the child an addict like an alcoholic and he never wants to do anything if praise does not comes and he is not ready to listen critics of his performance.
As the child grows up, he should be allowed to become independent and should be allowed to make mistakes so that he can learn from them. There are many parents who are too sensitive about what people will think of their children. A child should never be bribed to do what he is asked to do but he should always be taught discipline without tears.
(The columnist hails from Jodhpur Tekra Ahmedabad)
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