LEARN TO STUDY OR STUDY TO LEARN?

 
They have the grit of steel. They are no less nor do they think themselves to be. But they face a humungous challenge: to compete in a non-level field. I am talking about my students of St Francis Home Society, which is a school for disabled students. Students who are deaf, mute, and hard of hearing or who have diseases such as cerebral palsy get educated here. The school also provides boarding facilities for girls.

The education system in India is fairly skewed and archaic. The purpose to impart knowledge has been obfuscated by the need to score high. It will definitely not be an exaggeration to say that one’s capabilities are judged solely by one's academic scores. Many of us have already adjusted with the system and many are under the process to do so. But the process of adjusting and aligning is very difficult for children with disabilities, who are fighting to secure a place for themselves in this fiercely competitive world.

I had the first-hand experience of the difficulties faced by the children while teaching them at St. Francis. I could see that the students were literally scared of mathematics. When I was a student, I used to dislike studies but love math but the hostility of students towards mathematics didn’t amaze me because I had a sibling who was scared of mathematics. What surprised me was the inability of students to comprehend and perform simple calculations and understand relatively simple concepts. In no way, I mean to undermine the sincere efforts being taken by Father Joseph and his team in providing education to the children. Father’s sincerity and dedication are absolutely unquestionable and his efforts have led to the creation of opportunities for the children to learn and evolve. I want to question the quality of teachers and students our system is producing and the skewed curriculum that doesn’t provide a level field.

During my interaction with father, I came to know about the challenges he has been facing in finding suitable teachers for the school. Father has been stringent in accepting only the teachers who have the required credentials to teach in such schools. But the sad state is that the teachers applying for have all the “documented qualifications” to teach in the school but not the actual skill set required.  With so much still to do so for basic primary education in India, the goal to provide education to disabled children have not gained the required momentum. There are virtually no incentives to acquire the necessary skill set to provide education to such children.

The students know that they need to pass intermediate to get a job. The teachers are also aware of the fact. All that the teacher's endeavor is to make sure that the students get the required passing marks and get promoted to the next class. So the skewed education system plays ugly and impedes the children from all the miracles that they can create. While teaching my students, I see in them the desire to learn and understand. They have limited interaction with people in the outside world because of the language barrier, and thus have lesser opportunities to learn via interactions than the rest of us. So education is the most important element of learning for them. Due to the absence of qualified teachers in the field and the system’s focus on grades, their experience of learning has been cumbersome. They have started dreading subjects that they don’t understand.

I would like to conclude that by not nurturing our children properly, we are losing critical human resource and making them dependents. An investment in them today is an asset tomorrow. Volunteers and NGOs have a very crucial role in facilitating education to the children. Let us all take a step towards the same and not shy away from our social responsibility.