Why we don't need educationists to fix our broken education system
When I was in the process of setting up The Levelfield School in Suri, a small town in West Bengal, I had to face many questions.
Some questioned my "foolhardiness" in leaving a high-paying job to set up a school. They would ask me with superficial politeness, "Why did you leave your job and come here?" But their tone was always probing - "What’s wrong with you? Did you get fired or something?" Some were not probing, but their voices were full of sympathy at my supposed misfortune due to which I had to embark on this "ignominious" journey.
The questions and doubts were not restricted to Suri alone. In Calcutta, where I was trying to raise funds for the school, people were sceptical about the kind of education I proposed to provide. They would ask me for so-called "proof of concept", a high-sounding business jargon which asks you to show results even before you set up your business.
It’s a classic Catch-22 situation. To show results, I need to set up my venture. But to generate money to set up the venture, I need to show results first – magically, without even having the business in place.
I pointed out the absurdity of "proof of concept", and some well-wishers proposed a way out.
"Is there an educationist involved with your venture?" They asked. "Get your ideas endorsed by an educationist, then the investors will get a sense of comfort," they suggested.
Or better still, get an educationist in your team, or at least get his permission to use his name. Pay him some fee and take him to the meetings with you. Let him vouch for your concept.
There was something repulsive about that idea. Other than the obvious sense of trickery involved in a stage-managed endorsement, there was something else. Initially, I couldn’t put my finger on it.
We all look for recognition. When we receive appreciation, we publicise it. That's an accepted practice. There is nothing wrong if somebody you respect praises your work, and you are proud of it, and you display that recognition as a badge of honour. There is nothing shameful about showing your work to the authorities in a field, and ask for their feedback. So what is it that was gnawing at my mind?
It finally dawned on me. "Authorities in a field" – that’s the key phrase. Are the so-called educationists authorities in their field? With so many authority figures leading, advising, theorising – why is the Indian education system still so rotten?
The real problem is that we are worshipping false gods. And yes, I wrote god without a capital "G" intentionally.
The educationists are not really experts. They preside over an obsolete system, preaching politically correct truisms.
"Learning should be fun."
"The stress on students must be reduced."
"Teachers should be well-trained."
Oh yes, nobody can dispute those – just as much as nobody can dispute the fact that poor people should be lifted out of poverty. But where is the actionable roadmap?
Well, the problem is that, in India, action and education do not go together. How many principals of reputed schools have actually had a successful corporate career to know the demands of modern jobs?
How many of them are active users of modern technology? How many really believe that education is really a preparation for life, not an endless quest for degrees?
At policy level, we have educationists who sit on committees for years, designing syllabuses that become outdated even before they are launched. We have educationists designing obsolete rules for school accreditations which specify how many square metres a library should be, but does not specify what kind of books should be there.
We have those experts debating over what kind of work of literature children should read and finally taking decades to find a few acceptable ones for their English textbooks.
Come on, we do not have to start off with William Shakespeare or Oscar Wilde. I know people who got started on reading with a Chetan Bhagat novel. That got them hooked on to reading – and over time they graduated to reading better literature.
At the level of implementation, we have venerable principals and vice-chancellors presiding over our august temples of rote-learning, churning out supposedly educated youths without any real-life skills. We have college professors who advise their protégés to go for a PhD, or worse, a post-doctorate degree. Anything to keep you away from the real world.
We do not need the appreciation of such educationists. We rather need people from the real world setting up schools and designing curriculum.
We need successful people from all walks of life to be passionate about education.
In the 19th century, David Hare, a successful businessman, set up high-quality educational institutions in Kolkata.
Rabindranath Tagore, celebrated poet and thinker, set up a school in Santiniketan. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the celebrated social reformer and a key figure in Bengal renaissance, was deeply interested in education.
All these people had diverse interests. They were successful in life – as a result they were good educators.
We need to stop thinking that people who spent their whole life in the narrow confines of schools are the ones who can prepare our children for life.
We need to stop thinking that to teach, you need teaching experience. We need to stop thinking that educationists know the best about how to fix our education system.
We don’t need such a narrow view of education.
We do not need no educationists.