A nation’s progress depends on its education system. Education is developing a student’s ability to think and thereby develop his character. Apart from teaching, examinations and evaluation are also important parts of education.
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Copying rampant in corporate colleges
Earlier in +2 examinations copying was prevalent in some colleges. A few lecturers who did not allow copying were abused and beaten. Then all lecturers took a strong decision and curbed copying in almost all colleges. But later corporate colleges came into existence and they encouraged copying for better ranks and consequently more profit. For a boy or girl copying in an examination is the starting point of willingness to do wrong. This is destroying his moral character. When parents, teachers and the managements encourage it, the youngster loses all sense of right and wrong and grows into an adult who does not mind doing all kinds of wrong things without any hesitation. Further marks or certificates got by wrong means are of no use in the corporate culture of the day in which what you can do alone counts.
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Awarding more marks than the students deserve
Another evil of the education system is awarding more marks than a student deserves. Teachers are afraid that their jobs would be in danger if their students get lesser marks. The continued inflation of marks year after year makes a student forget his real worth and he receives a rude shock in the Board examination and sometimes gets frustrated to commit suicide as his inflated ego gets hurt. Unfortunately, most of our corporate colleges have become memorizing centres rather than places of learning thus killing all creativity and thinking ability among students.
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Mad race to evaluate script
Intermediate (+2) and Degree examination scripts were evaluated in spot valuation centres. We had to evaluate 30 Intermediate scripts in a day. Without knowing how many scripts were there and without knowing how many examiners were there the Education Minister would announce a date for publishing the results. Then starts a mad race. The examiners would be given more number of scripts, sometimes double the number and sometimes we were made to work in two sessions. Usually an examiner gets tired by evaluating 30 scripts. But when about 90 scripts were evaluated in a day one could imagine the quality of such an evaluation. If there were to be a live telecast of the evaluation work, students and parents would attack the lecturers and manhandle everybody concerned. Evaluation of scripts of Degree students is not so bad. But evaluation of 10th class scripts was worse.
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Never more than 60% in languages
Language lecturers had been following an unwritten law of not giving more than 60 marks. Students of a particular college were brilliant and never gave me chance to put my red ink on their scripts. So I awarded them 83 to 93%. Immediately there was a commotion and I was asked to explain how I could award like that. Then I asked my superior to tell me whether he wrote such English when he was a student. He was aghast. I asked him why we should not award full marks in languages when in other subjects full marks were awarded for complete answers. He could not answer but considered me a revolutionary. Others followed me and since then deserving students got more marks. Proper evaluation of scripts makes a student know his real worth and do things in life accordingly without blindly aspiring for bigger things and getting disappointed.
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Even after independence Macaulay system continues
Indians are said to be good planners and poor in implementation. But as far as education is concerned we failed to plan or planned successfully to destroy it. Gurukula system was scrapped and English education was started by Macaulay with the idea of creating subordinate staff for the ruling English officers. After independence nobody thought of changing it. Since independence committees were appointed for reforms but reports of committees were never considered. There was no plan about the number of medical, engineering, agricultural and other colleges required in the country in different areas.
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Hope in new education policy
Politicians decided whether Shivaji and Sankaracharya can be taught or not. There was a deliberate attempt to alienate students from Indian history and culture. This created generations which are akin to non native cultures losing their national character. Uncontrolled growth of private colleges without qualitative education helped only in creating unemployed youth. Governing bodies like UGC failed in checking the ills in the universities. A complete overhaul is necessary and let us hope that the New Education policy will set right things in near future.
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