Need for Education Reforms in India

The Macaulayan habits die hard – the clichés will be overworked and the stereotypes reinforced ad nauseam - the reformist fervour of the recent academic and pedagogical discourse has to calm down on the backburner, the cold feet are here to develop and stay- the school examination and admission season has set in. Following an eventful year of public debate on our education system in general and school examination paradigm in particular, these months are poised to have an air of banality, the moments of insipid reality check when the procedural demands of the entrenched system will take precedence over the substantive vision of reforms. It is in this context that the terms of discourse, and the resultant debate, on the education system need to be recast, preventing it from degenerating into a diatribe between ivory tower mandarins and ardent reformists.

The reconfiguring of the public discourse on the education system has in some limited sense captured the popular imagination, fuelled as it has been by an unlikely combination of catalysts- Yashpal Committee’s recommendations, HRD ministry’s proposed reforms and a celluloid product from the tinsel town. However, as the devil of any blueprint for reforms lies in details, the crusaders for reforms have opted to be angelic and serve as obfuscating pedants.

The glaring limitations of the school education system should not act as a red herring for ignoring the dismal state of the higher education system in India. The higher education system in India has a behemoth structure, almost representing a cumbersome monstrosity with 214 universities

, 38 institutions ‘deemed-to-be universities,’ 11 institutes of national importance, 9,703 colleges, and 887 polytechnics

. The government has gone through perfunctory rounds of critically reviewing the existing system and the diagnosis as well as prescription runs on predictable lines. Last year the final report of the Committee on ‘Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education’ (Prof. Yashpal Committee Report) was another addition to it. Committing itself to implementation of the core of the recommendations, the HRD Ministry sought to blend the reformist orientation with the tenets of access, equity and excellence. However, beyond perfunctory lip service, the qualitative and logistical aspects of the reform need to be addressed with a blend of strong political will and pedagogical imagination.

The question of reforming an entrenched system of pedagogy and academic evaluation is a question concerning socio-economic and cultural milieu, epistemological outlook and the nature of professional classes as well as a question of a society’s quest for excellence, sense of intellectual inquiry and logistical feasibility. Diagnosis of the rut in the academic system has to be sympathetically understood in its historical context and the strange blend of objectives that it sought to achieve for the cross section of professional classes in India.

The Macaulayan minute on Indian educational system had the imprint of Benthamite utilitarianism, wedded to the condescending civlizational objectives of carrying “white man’s burden”. T he utilitarian objectives of equipping the British rule with English educated young men and modern professional classes not only served the British rule in good stead but also ushered in the first serious interface of the educated Indian class with the western science ,philosophy and literature . However, the success and survival of the Indian functionaries in the Government and the educated Indian professional classes was a product

WAY OF GETTING COMPITITIVE

                               WAY OF GETTING COMPITITIVE

1.     Self Belief: You should believe in yourself and your abilities. You should believe that you belongs to the competitive arena and you can clear these competitive exams if you can perform to best of your abilities. Belief is everything and everything can be achieved through belief. There is a famous quote: “The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen

2.      Knowledge: Knowledge is a necessary element to clear competitive exams. You should have proper knowledge about your concepts. We don’t have to acquire extra knowledge as conceptual knowledge is needed for competitive exams. We can prefect our conceptual knowledge by practicing questions based on these concepts

3.     Time Management and Data: We have to study minimum of 4 hours a day for competitive exams. We can manage this time by preparing time table for each day. We also have to record weekly data which ultimately helps in representing our performance graphically. We can take inputs such as time for each subject, part of syllabus completed, time for revision, questions attempted and so on to record data.

4.      Sharpness: Sharpness of mind is mandatory for competitive exams. A sharp mind has many advantages such as concept understanding, quick response to a tricky question and speed. Main purpose of these competitive exams is to differentiate sharp minded students from others. A normal mind can be converted into a sharp mind by regular brain exercises such as puzzles, crosswords, Sudoku. You can also play games such as Chess which helps in sharpening the mind.

5.     . Sample Papers: Here comes my last and most important trick.The best way to perform in any exam would be to do so many similar types of such exams or Sample Papers. With the help of these sample papers, our mind is able to build so many stragies and tricks about particular type of questions which ultimately helps us during Entrance exams.They have huge advantage as you can feel the mental atmosphere similar to that in competitive exams through these sample papers.Attempting so many sample papers helps in mental coherence during main exams.Sample Papers also helps in achieving a hard, stable concentration during competitive exams

                         Hope these methods can help you some way

How to Make a Study Plan

For most students, the most difficult part of any exam is the actual studying.  Typically, there is so much material to study that students begin to procrastinate, putting off studying until the night before.  After a late-night cram session, students arrive at the exam tired and feeling dazed by the sheer amount of information they’ve tried to absorb.  The easiest way to study for an exam, and avoid the cram sessions, is to make a study plan.

Group or solo? – The first step to making a study plan is to decide whether you want to study alone or in a group.  When planning study times and organizing study sessions for a group, the needs and schedules of the group are a factor.  As a result, you must decide whether you will be studying with a group before continuing with making a study plan.

Time – There are two time elements that are crucial to an effective study plan.  The first time element to consider is the amount of time you have until the exam, while the second is the amount of time during the day that you can set aside for studying.  Try to study for at least two hours per day for major exams, like entrance exams, and at least thirty minutes per day for lecture exams.  If you are limited on the amount of time until the exam, such as one week or less, then you will need to increase your daily study time.  Set up a schedule with clearly marked study times for each day.

Content – The content to be studied depends on the type of exam.  For placement exams, entrance exams, and licensure exams, there are no specific textbooks or prior lecture notes.  There are, however, commercially available review guides, and textbooks and lecture notes from past classes often contain a great deal of material that will help with the exam.  By looking at the content areas of the test, you can determine what readily available material to study.  For course-based exams, textbooks and lecture notes are both ideal study content.  Break the content into chunks, and then assign specific chunks to the study times that you have listed on your schedule.

Chronological – Assign chunks of material to study times in chronological order.  In other words, study the material in the order that it was presented. Remember to allot more time for studying the most important information.

Critical first – Assign study times so the most critical method is covered first, and then work down to the least important information.  Allow more time for covering the most critical information.  If you are having trouble with the most important information, re-assign time from the least important information.

The Studying Process

Once you have set up study times and assigned material to them, it is time to study.  When reading textbooks, take notes on the information.  With lecture notes, write notes in the margin.  Use a highlighter.  The idea is to make key information readily available for review.  In addition, making notes and looking up ideas to supplement notes reinforces the material in your mind.  Quiz yourself as you finish each area you are studying to determine what you still need to review.

Study plans are as unique as the person making them.  The most effective study plan will take into account your schedule, the times each day when you are able to study without interruption, and the amount of material that needs reviewed.  By spreading out the study times and breaking up the information, you make it easier for to absorb and retain the necessary material before the exam