But back to this Delhi school. Because many of these children from poor families were first generation literates, their standard was very poor and marks normally in single digits. To help them, better students like me - ahem - were encouraged to spend time with these children helping them learn at least the basics. I had Tamil medium till 4th, and from 5th to 8th, Tamil was compulsory. Again, that is an aside.
Did it bring my quality of education down in any way? Many of my classmates who completed their education there are in senior positions in multinationals. My own brothers - from a different branch - did their engineering at IITs and one did MBA from IIM and the other is in the US after having completed his MS/PhD and now a research scientist. When I was in 7th or 8th, 14 students from the 12th that year had got into IIT. One of the seniors got state rank in the boards - I know of only that for it was a target I was not practicing for so had no interest in knowing more. There could have been more then, later and earlier too.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the letter some principals have sent to the parents on RTE. They believe that the standard of education will fall if poor students are allowed to study in their schools and fees will have to be raised - a veiled threat to create public opinion against this?
I know many "good" schools in Chennai retain their image because they have filtered out average performers. I wonder, if the role of schools is only to bring out toppers, or impart education? What if some student is an average performer or less? Doesn't he still have right to access the resources. Maybe the marks are low, but is that the only measure of intelligence and capability?
And if you filter out the average performers, then is it to the school's credit that there are only toppers? Aren't the genes of the better-performing students to be credited more for their performance? What is so great about shining an already shining diamond? Isn't it the duty of the teachers to help the below average and raise the level to the extent possible.
In India, teaching is a thankless, low paying job... But if our focus itself is only fame and money, is it to be wondered at? Who is to blame for this? Parents, who want only the "best" for children and queue up day and night in front of some schools for forms, or schools that ensure that their fees and selection criterion give them an edge in bagging high performers?
A note: My Delhi school - with its 7 or 8 branches - is in poor condition. Needless to say, the government subsidies have been cut. And no marks for guessing that no part of that 200 crore is being diverted to improving it.
You may also like: Bringing Up; A Framework for Children; Getting Used to the Luxury
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| DTEA Mandir Marg Entrance |
My brothers and I studied in a school in Delhi. It was subsidised by Tamil Nadu government and meant for the labourers who had migrated there. So a typical class of 40 till the 8th would easily have at least 50% "poor". I don't know how many studied beyond because I think education was compulsory till 13 years of age.
I was one of the brighter students, and I wonder if it weren't because of the class composition. For when I moved to Calcutta in 9th and went to one of the "better" schools, I was given provisional pass in 9th. It's a different story that I passed with disctinction in 10th and so probably wasn't so bad.
But back to this Delhi school. Because many of these children from poor families were first generation literates, their standard was very poor and marks normally in single digits. To help them, better students like me - ahem - were encouraged to spend time with these children helping them learn at least the basics. I had Tamil medium till 4th, and from 5th to 8th, Tamil was compulsory. Again, that is an aside.
Did it bring my quality of education down in any way? Many of my classmates who completed their education there are in senior positions in multinationals. My own brothers - from a different branch - did their engineering at IITs and one did MBA from IIM and the other is in the US after having completed his MS/PhD and now a research scientist. When I was in 7th or 8th, 14 students from the 12th that year had got into IIT. One of the seniors got state rank in the boards - I know of only that for it was a target I was not practicing for so had no interest in knowing more. There could have been more then, later and earlier too.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the letter some principals have sent to the parents on RTE. They believe that the standard of education will fall if poor students are allowed to study in their schools and fees will have to be raised - a veiled threat to create public opinion against this?
I know many "good" schools in Chennai retain their image because they have filtered out average performers. I wonder, if the role of schools is only to bring out toppers, or impart education? What if some student is an average performer or less? Doesn't he still have right to access the resources. Maybe the marks are low, but is that the only measure of intelligence and capability?
And if you filter out the average performers, then is it to the school's credit that there are only toppers? Aren't the genes of the better-performing students to be credited more for their performance? What is so great about shining an already shining diamond? Isn't it the duty of the teachers to help the below average and raise the level to the extent possible.
In India, teaching is a thankless, low paying job... But if our focus itself is only fame and money, is it to be wondered at? Who is to blame for this? Parents, who want only the "best" for children and queue up day and night in front of some schools for forms, or schools that ensure that their fees and selection criterion give them an edge in bagging high performers?
A note: My Delhi school - with its 7 or 8 branches - is in poor condition. Needless to say, the government subsidies have been cut. And no marks for guessing that no part of that 200 crore is being diverted to improving it.
You may also like: Bringing Up; A Framework for Children; Getting Used to the Luxury
