All eyes on education reforms, but teachers also must ‘grow’

Indian spiritual teacher Sadhguru says that when you identify yourself only with your profession it creates a sort of a restriction

The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is planning many reforms to make education in the country a pleasant and rewarding experience. 

This is what we gather when we read about what President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Premier Harini Amarasuriya have to say about education reforms through our browsing of newspapers. We are made to understand that the government is planning to change the education system from being an exam related one to a module based system.

For many years, generation after generation, parents and students have kept wondering whether classroom education can produce students with an education which helps them make a smooth transition from classroom to an office environment. In other words, is the classroom syllabus job oriented? This topic can generate a healthy debate. 

Indian spiritual teacher Sadhguru says that when you identify yourself only with your profession it creates a sort of a restriction. Sadhguru talks about an existence in the world which is rewarding after you have evolved to your true potential. Schools in Sri Lanka are attempting to shove into little brains large amounts of content from books. This forces students to memorise content to pass exams. 

The President has said that the school system must be structured in a manner so that students receive 13 years of continuous education. President Dissanayake has also said that no child must drop out of school. These are all very bold and positive statements. But what if school education is boring or lacks innovative teachers? 

There was a time in Sri Lanka when tuition classes could attract students away from school even during morning hours. All this goes to prove that tuition masters are innovative and go that extra mile to make the lessons interesting. Premier Harini Amarasuriya wants to restrict the numbers in a school classroom to a count between 25-30 students as opposed to the count now which exceeds 40. Successful tuition masters might have something negative to say about this because they have had much success addressing an audience exceeding 1000 students. So it’s not about making the numbers. It is about the teacher expanding the audience and still producing results. This is an aspect in education where school teachers can take a cue from tuition masters. 

When we scrutinise the teachers and the training they receive, the curriculum that is used to train teachers hasn’t been changed for the past 16 years. 

The Premier has said that the reforms to the school education system will be implemented next year, starting with grades one to six. She has said that individuals are welcome to send in their views regarding reforms in education. But Teacher trade unions, university teachers and other stake holders are up in arms against these proposed reforms. They complain that all stakeholders in the education system weren’t consulted before these reforms were proposed. But the premier has maintained that three years will be taken to study how education fares with these changes and amendments would be made accordingly. 

Parents would certainly welcome these reforms because the lawmakers who have initiated these changes promise that students will get to engage themselves in diverse learning activities and be continually assessed. Critics air the view that in the same way, teachers should also be assessed. 

Education reforms must be introduced, but attention must be paid to one aspect that’s neglected till now. The curriculum must include lessons on how students can deal with reality in this era where the smartphone and the internet conveniently replaces the actual situation and the ‘teacher’. The actual teacher in a tough situation is the experience one gains. Just the other day, this writer overheard a conversation between two agitated students who were apparently subject to intimidation by another student. One student was heard telling the other: “Go to this website which teaches how to wrap a handkerchief around the fist before you go to a battle. Blows with that have the impact of a knuckleduster”. In my teenage years I would have asked my cousin brother, with a karate black belt, to give me some help in such a situation. Present students must be taught that ‘if you don’t take care of reality, reality is going to come one day and start living with you’.