B Kanishwarya

Education, especially, primary education is very vital both at the micro level for the individual citizens and at the macro level for the country. In India, both private and government (state as well as central governments) claim to provide primary education to the future achievers of the nation. However, one can observe many paradoxical and comical issues with respect to primary education, especially at the metropolitan cities of India. And for many parents getting admission in a primary school in India is one of the major missions of their life.

A claim of several urban private schools every year during admission period is that their school has highest ranks in higher secondary public exams. Good. It depicts their standard of coaching is the perception created in the public. However, this is not 100 per cent true. These so-called superior schools do not train average students. They select only intelligent students at the primary level itself by keeping tests/exams at the age of three and a half. Thus, the high degree of positive results are due to the intelligence of the students too and not merely due to the teaching skills of the schools.

There are schools, which literally auction a primary school seat. They leave a column in the application form, which reads something like your contribution to school building fund? And the highest bidders will get admission. Following the tradition, now even nursery schools (play schools) have started demanding building fund. Can you believe this? You have to; for example, a Chennai-based nursery school by the name of Sherubs is asking for a building fund.

There are schools where getting the application form itself is a different exercise and rather a difficult job than getting admission. A leading Chennai-based school - SBOA - issues only 100 forms every year. The remaining applicants will be put on the waiting list. Thus, there is a huge rush to procure the application forms. In fact, one can see parents literally sleeping on the road outside the school in on the day prior to the issue of the forms. Educated parents (or more appropriately, educated fools) do not use their brains and think. They are the customers of the school. And why they should put their children in a school, which treats them like street dogs even before extending admission and runs a school like a factory.

Can anybody assess the intelligence of a child at the age of three is another critical point. Even global psychologists are finding it difficult to answer this query. A child is comprised of different levels of psychology and behaviour. It will smile sometimes, it will dance sometimes, it will sing sometimes or it will do nothing sometimes. And a school calls for an interview, they tell them it is from 9.00 a.m. A three year old interviewed at 2.00 p.m. would have lost all stamina and joy. He/she would like to eat and sleep for sometime. And at that point if you ask the kid to display his/her talents what will be the outcome? A strike non-cooperation movement, even from the most talented kid.

Parents should realise that most successful personalities in this world have very little educational background and very high level of commonsense. Parents should not force a child to do what they want them to do; rather they should allow the child to do what they want to do. With the world becoming a global village, thanks to the improved communication facilities, one can sit even in a village and do what he/she wants to do and be happy. Schools should, on the other hand, use eliminate nonsensical admission procedures. This is only a prayer of a common Indian who hopes that the Indian primary education system will improve in logical manner. To sum, let school and parents do not interfere in a child’s education, thanks to Mark Twain.