THE INDIAN EDUCATIONAL GENRE

In the era of the democratic fest, the general elections, a post away from the conventional streets might not earn an expected response, but there are some stuffs, which, being an editor, you find crying at you to chip in with a word file for the same.

A decade back when I used to travel Bihar, I found a lot of cuties of my age (even I was a red rose then with bulging cheeks J ) begging to the travellers on the streets (those days even the national highways in Bihar were no less than local streets!) ,or perhaps some were seen wandering around naked. I often used to ask my parents that why are those children in such a stature. Their reply used to be that there exists no scope for them to be educated.

Last year in July when I visited the same state, I found the kids of the modern era, smartly dressed up in school uniform with school bags hung to their shoulders and rushing to some or the other building, buildings which had the word “Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan” boldly embarked upon their walls. Then again I asked my parents that what has brought about such a pleasant change in the stature of those kids, their reply this time was, ‘the urge to get educated’. Well, I find no hesitation in congratulating the Bihar C.M. Nitish Kumar for the same.

From Bihar one could easily recall the super 30 batch. The batch is known to yield about cent percent results in the I.I.T.-JEE. Then advancing to a higher scale, the most respectable exams in India, the UPSC witnesses more and more selections from the state of Bihar. (Aren’t these the indicators of a ‘Brilliant Bihar’?)

Not drifting away from the topic, the example of Bihar was just taken to depict the advancing scenarios in the education system of our nation. Off course, the most relevant quotient to indicate this could be the recorded increase in the literacy rate of India every decade. A congressman may boast upon this in the present era of parliamentary elections. But, one thing for sure, the increasing literacy rates are a source of comfort to most of us.

As usual, I haven’t gone much into the statistical genre, but the changing scenes can be felt by each one of us. Just give an eye to the number of students appearing in the Board examinations. Every year the count is heard to increase. Now, just bring into account the number of candidates appearing in the various competitive papers held on a national basis. The number of candidates taking up the exams is increasing superfluously. Even the international courses are now witnessing a larger number of Indian students. Not sure who deserves the credit for this, but yes the need of the hour has been beautifully catered by the Indian government in the past few years.

There are always two aspects to judge something, quality and quantity. Quantity in the Indian Education has registered a massive enhancement for sure. But has quality seen an enhancing is some thing debatable. A brilliant mind is murdered by certain existing ‘reforms’. A non-enlightened mind makes to a coveted college because of again, certain existing ‘reforms’. See, I am talking about the monetary issues faced by some people. (Being a general, I cannot afford to block my way by commenting upon the reform known as ‘Caste Reservation’!) Perhaps the government has to try out increasing the funds available per capita so as to defy the curse of poverty and break the shackles lying in the way of diligent but deprived classes.

If this odd fought out, it can surely pave way for more and more genius minds to earn a deserving spot and perhaps will contribute towards the national upliftment, because as they say “Har Haath Shakti, Har Haath Tarakki…!”