'Top scoring graduate' to 'top thinking graduate'

摘要

The current education system in India recognizes high test scores as the cornerstone for evaluation of talent. High scores determine the success of students in making a career of choice. This situation has put teachers under pressure and led to evolution of a typical Indian style of pedagogy that focuses on completion of syllabus at any cost (extra classes, exam drills and private tuitions) to make sure that the students consistently secure higher grades. The resulting examination anxiety has even affected the parents of young children and led to spread of strange practices like abstinence from non-vegetarian food, frequent visits to temples and churches, conduct of special pujas, fasting and turning to just about anything that will help their children pass with flying colours. Anxious parents enrol children as young as first graders into private tuitions after school and during weekends. Sample this: The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry has estimated the size of the Coaching Class Industry for the IIT entrance test to be Rs 10,000 crore and the online tuition market is estimated to grow from a current worth of Rs 105 crore to Rs 1092 crore by 2012. Similarly, private coaching schools for other courses and entrance tests have also mushroomed and are banking on the anxiety of parents arising out of cut-throat competition to secure higher grades.