Raina is a student of Bai A. F. Petit Girls’ High School
I am often told that our education system gives us, Indian children, a ‘solid’ foundation. Although, I must admit that at the early ‘secondary education stage’ it is difficult to see this.
Most schools in Mumbai follow the evaluation-driven model just like in the West. However, some schools have gone that extra mile to lighten our burden and do away with examinations. Most schools have only assessments till grade 5. If we are marked based on grades and actual marks, we get stressed out. Nevertheless, if our progress cards highlight our progress without assigning us a grade it’d help us know where we stand without drawing us into an unhealthy competition. It can help us and our parents understand areas of improvement. I feel the exams should start in the seventh grade, the time when we are entering our teens. As I am on the threshold of my teenage years, I feel emotionally balanced to understand and accept a more formal grading system.
My experience is that learning is much easier when teachers are friendly and reach out to each one of us. They should know us personally. We should be able to have fun and joke with them (within limits). Schools should have a good balance of work and play if we are going to spend more than five hours there everyday. With the growth of technology, we need smart classrooms and digital libraries. In some schools, children are encouraged to do projects on computers as well.
However, I seriously feel that our education system should reduce school hours. Global warming is making it difficult for us to sit through classes in warm weather. Also, in our Indian set-up, often political parties insist that we have certain festive holidays, which means we end up working on Saturdays for no fault of ours, in order to comply with the required number of working days. Festivals are generally celebrated for a part (evening) of the day. But we sit at home idling away our time, all day.
The education department should seriously consider insisting on a particular number of working hours in a year as against number of working days.
And last but not the least, we all need lessons on civic sense — both as a pedestrian and a driver.
(Raina is a student of Bai A. F. Petit Girls’ High School)
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