I had an argument with my brother yesterday about the educational system in India. There's no doubt that it is messed up and needs fixing. But S (my brother) believes in replacing the current "exam factories" with Valley School-type places where children learn at their own pace and are allowed to use their imagination (cue in Spongebob creating a rainbow and saying the word here).

There are several flaws in this theory in my opinion -

The "imagination" brigade is based on the principle that every child is a superstar at something. While I agree that every child is special, the cold, hard truth is that most children, and by extension, most adults, are average - average students, average shopkeepers, office workers, data entry clerks, stewardesses or even captains of industry. And does the "imagination" school prepare a child in leading a productive, yet average life?

I say no. Schools like Valley may be good for kids from elite backgrounds who can afford to learn arithmetic and reading at their own pace, while they paint watercolors and skip stones in the pristine lake next to the campus. But most kids go to grimy schools in urban (or rural) neighbourhoods - the toilets are dirty, kids sit on rickety benches or concrete floors, teachers are underpaid or undereducated (or both), classrooms are overcrowded ovens in the summer and chilly cages in the winter. I ask, where is the scope for imagination in this context? Can children really be educated at their own pace in such environments?

It is simply not possible.

Second, again, if you pass out of the imagination schools with a board certificate, you most likely will join an elite college where your tryst with imagination continues - an elite college where humanities are treasured, where you can discuss current events and history with inspiring teachers, and your peer group consists of people from similarly elite backgrounds. Or, you may yet join the BE/MBBS grind for a few years and then escape to the clean, green environs and "open your mind" educational atmospheres of graduate schools abroad.

But this sort of education is something beyond the grasp of most Indians. We should really think, and think hard, before removing, say, the Class 10 board exam. What is the benefit of this? That children have one less board exam to face among 20 others? Well, how about this laundry list for starters, before we go about slashing board exams -

1) Airy classrooms with clean toilets for ALL children in the country. Period.
2) Hot, cooked, mid-day meals for ALL children in the country.
3) No donations, no building funds, no capitation fees. A cap on annual fees.
4) Hire well educated teachers at decent salaries in ALL schools - not just central board urban schools.
5) Educational loans at low interest rates for education starting from LKG.
6) Compulsory sports/outdoor hour every day.
7) A single extra-curricular activity compulsory every day.
8) Strengthen the public/government school system, bring it on par with private schools. Then make it possible for children to attend the public school nearest their house.


Do all this first. Then think of slashing exams.