India has seen a very traditional approach towards learning. We have been following rote learning principles which is a widely used memorization technique based on repetition; used to learn phonics, multiplication tables in mathematics, periodic tables in chemistry etc. This model works well in the foundation courses; however when it comes to secondary school the principles of Indian educational system calls for a big change.
India has seen very few entrepreneurs, because of the fact that we have not included critical thinking in the curriculum which inculcates a student’s probing ability which will help them dive deep into the subject. The primary reason for India to perform better only in the services Industry is because of the fact that we are good at executing, but when it comes to critical thinking we are far behind some of the western countries.
Indian educational market is estimated to grow to a $ 12 Bn Industry in the current year and therefore there are several new organizations coming up in this space. However there are only a few trying to create autonomous thinkers and for those who are planning to venture out in this space, there is a huge market potential.
Recently, I have undertaken a simple survey to understand the vocational training market in India and I was surprised to find out that a brand alone does not impact a buy in the educational sector. (The target Audience for this brief study carried out were students.)
About 96% of the respondents said, they will not be interested in participating and a 1 out of 25 would be interested in such a training workshop by a reputed institution.
Two major reasons behind this decision made by the students are:
- Financial constraints
- Time Constraint
Some of the other reasons that I have seen is very interesting and thought it would be worth sharing in the own wordings of the respondent:
- “Most of the faculties in the branches of these institutes present in small town are not efficient enough (communication skills, technical knowledge) to provide training.”
- “Can’t concentrate on too many things at same time. It may result in poor grades in college.”
Disclaimer: I am not mentioning this to de-mean any teachers in this country. To be honest, I have the greatest respect for all teachers in this world.
However, it brings back to light two major concerns faced by our nation:
- Dearth of quality teachers in our country
- Grading system that we follow in our educational system which is pressure cooking the new generation
Initiatives like Teach for India, which is a movement in itself trying to create a revolution in education by helping under-privileged students, has not taken off on a large scale to meet the expectations of the people.
Tomorrow as we celebrate the 66th Independence Day, it’s high time for our policy makers; wake up and live up to the expectations of the young India.
Good One Ajeesh