Mumbai parents feel more can be done to boost ongoing education revolution

With reforms in the education sector gathering a heady momentum, both at the Centre and in the state, the stakeholders — students, parents, teachers and administrators — are grappling to keep up. To put a finger on how the churn is affecting parents, perhaps the most affected of the lot, DNA brings them together to discuss issues ranging from pre-school blues, junior college admissions’ policies, and the Right to Education (RTE) Act.

Mandatory promotion from Std I to VIII harmful
Rajshree Natu, parent of Std VII student: This clause can do more harm than good. Even if a child is promoted to Std VII, despite failing in the previous exams, what will happen to him in Std IX? How will the child cope with an advanced syllabus without understanding the basic concepts? The government should create a separate assessment pattern for assimilating these children into higher classes.

Lata Nair, PTA Forum member:Also, the teachers will get demotivated since they have to pass all the students anyway. Schools should now instruct teachers to focus on the academically weaker lot, and there should be a monitoring body to ensure quality. Also, once these children enter a higher grade like Std IX, teachers should make extra efforts by giving them

Focus on teacher salaries, ratio with students
Raju Tirmalle, parent of Std VI student: Of course. But another reason for the growing disinterest among the teachers is that they are too busy taking private tuitions after school. The Act should include a strict policy barring school teachers from taking private classes.

Atul Mathuria, parent of Std X and VI students: We cannot blame only the teachers. They are underpaid and overworked. Unless the government decides to raise their salaries, they will keep looking for alternative means of income. It is a vicious circle and the government will have to intervene. Reforms are needed at the grassroots level in schools and not just in Std IX or X.
Poonam Singh Sarkar, parent of Std III student: One of the major challenges today is the teacher-student ratio. Most classes tend to have more than 60 students. In such a scenario, children cannot get individual attention. Though the Act has laid down the ideal ratio, it is very difficult to implement with the kind of infrastructure available.

Jabeen Rangwani, parent of Std VII and V students: Another problem now is that adjusting to a new school is a harrowing experience for most children, and since private schools will now have to include students from the lower economic strata, they will find it difficult to adjust with classmates from richer sections. Children are not always politically correct; they like to boast and can be really harsh sometimes. So, maybe, schools can design counselling programs to build an emotional equation which will help these children mix with the rest.

Law for mushrooming pre-schools must
Reyni Mathews, parent of a junior KG child: Even though the Act does not include children below the age of six, I think that the early years, from one to six, are the most influential in the development of children. Parents are increasingly looking at pre-schooling. I started looking out for schools for my child ever since he was six months old. There should be some law or policy governing early education as well.

Disha Bhatija, parent of pre-school student: The government does not have any regulations on pre-schools, and anyone can open one today with no one to check their credentials or the quality of their teaching. Some pre-schools do not even let the parents check out their classes before admitting their children. If a three-year-old is to be let into an unknown surrounding, the parents at least need to ensure that their children are in a safe school.

Focus on outcomes, not exams
Raju Tirmalle: The exam-oriented assessment system is no good. It only adds to stress and rote learning. The law should focus more on outcomes. If a child goes to school for three, five, or eight years, what should his learning achievement be? If some basic learning is not achieved, should it not be considered a violation of the child’s right to education? There should be text-book independent, stress-free, on-demand examinations.
Atul Mathuria: The new system of continuous assessment and evaluation is good. But, it is necessary to also focus on what are the parameters on which the schools will assess students.

Is the best-five policy fair to all?
Mahesh W, parent of Std VIII and IV students: It only boosts the students’ performance, not their learning. The students will completely ignore the subjects they are not good at. It will restrict their overall development.

Anagha Nagwekar, parent of Std IX student: The policy was needed for SSC students to equate their scores with those from the ICSE. ICSE students have also had a similar system, they have best-seven subjects, and that too subjects like physical education, cooking and baking, etc.

Raju Tirmalle: The best-five policy has done more harm than good. Since the past three years, admissions are getting delayed. It cuts short the academic year. Students lose out on academics in their FYJC, as teachers are forced to cram the syllabus, first term exams get cancelled, etc

— Compiled by Puja Pednekar  & Yogita Rao