the case in a rural settingwhere a primary, secondaryor high school tucked away inthe boondocks has virtuallylittle to look up to.

There are numerous thingsthat have to be addressed intalking about the educationalsystem before we even startcondemning the ability of ourstudents. Let me just addressthree of them:

First, the need to empha-sise substance over form, if

quality and all-round educa-tion is going to be imparted toschoolchildren. For goodmeasure, there is an over-em-phasis on “form” in our sys-tem — teachers must bedressed in a particular fash-ion, must go to class on timeand stay there for the entireperiod and stick strictly to thesyllabus; and students mustbe made to either mechani-cally take down notes and spitit back during examination

time or learn “by heart” whatis put out in a textbook. Thereis nothing wrong in asking ateacher to be on time, comeproperly dressed or makinghim/her stay for the entireduration of the class. But thebottom line is rarely consid-ered: staying for the durationin class versus what has beenactually taught.

Second is the absolute im-perative of having qualityteachers, especially in gov-

ernment schools. Criticising15-year-olds for not measur-ing up but looking the otherway when it comes to qualityteachers is simply wrong andpathetic. And the media re-ports of rampant corruptionin recruitment are simplyhorrifying, to say the least.How can we ask for qualitystudents when incompetentsin search of “job security”weasel their way into thesystem?

“Indian studentsfare badly,” “Indi-an students sec-ond to last” were

some of the recent headlinessummarising the perform-ance of 15-year-olds from Hi-machal Pradesh and TamilNadu in an international“test.” This was sufficient fora lot of chat on the internetalong with many thoughtfuland insightful comments.

Forget about the manythings we do not know —whythese two States were evenchosen for the testing; thebackground of the schoolsfrom where the childrencame or of the kids them-selves, whether they hail fromrural or urban settings. Andmore important, even forgetthe fact that standardisedtesting scores are slowly be-ing discarded by top universi-ties in the West having cometo the conclusion that, amongother things, the scores ob-tained do not accurately re-flect the knowledge orpotential of a student. A goodall-round student need not bea good standardised testtaker!

A critical look at our educa-tional system at the schoollevel is required if the countryis to really emerge as a knowl-edge-based economy. It is onething to look at the so-calledIslands of Excellence in thedisciplines of engineering,medicine and managementand pat ourselves on the back.But it is quite another story tostart examining the rut androt that has set in our educa-tional system at the schoollevel. And this is especially

Finally, governmentschools, especially in rural In-dia, need better infrastruc-ture rather than the simpleincentive of a mid-day meal tochildren for just coming toschool however commend-able this programme is. Mod-ern education goes far beyondproviding computers, laptopsand tablets. What is the use offilling up the classrooms withthese gadgets when there areno competent persons toteach the kids how to operatethem?

It is indeed a long way to goin cleansing the system and inthe meantime we have to stopthis comparison of kids fromIndia with these in the Westor Asia Pacific. Other devel-oped countries have had a sol-id educational system forseveral decades; we have beenaround several decades butare still groping for a soundeducational system. It is timeto wake up and smell thecoffee!

(Having taught in a privateuniversity and in a privateschool, the writer currentlyteaches at a government highschool and can be reached at

arul.archana25@gmail.com)

Archana Arul

Wake up and smell the coffeeA critical look atour educationalsystem at theschool level isrequired if thecountry is to really emerge as aknowledge-basedeconomy.