Post-independence India adopted and adapted an educational system bequeathed to her by the British, who built it to meet their own need for engineers, doctors, civil servants. However, more than 70 years after independence the requirements of the new global marketplace has been completely redefined. If we are to compete, it is vital that our education system respond efficiently to this new need. Authorities at BDMI, one of best CBSE schools in Kolkata, believes that awareness about the need & the steps to be taken to meet this new challenge is of paramount importance. Here’s a few of the changes that is needed-

First of all, education must be delinked from any ideology. Without this an education system can never deliver the real goods. School education must also be defocused from the job market — at least in the very direct manner that it is at the moment. The current trend seems to be to use schools to prepare for a career, primarily in engineering and medicine. Schools need to provide a liberating experience, not a confining one. The student must be able to explore the wonderful world around, be it through poetry, math, music or history. She or he will then be truly equipped to make a choice of career, based on a real and deep understanding of the world around.

There needs to be a serious revamping of curriculum to move away from the current technique of test and teacher-driven model to a system that enhances curiosity, creativity, and sharpens the ability to apply that knowledge in a practical manner to the real world.

Here’s a couple things that we need to emulate from the Finnish education system, which is deemed to be the best in the entire world-

• Invest heavily in teacher-training.
• Teaching should be an “aspirational” career and the ones making that choice must be professionally trained and handsomely remunerated.

The idea of creating an “elite corps” like the IAS with several top-class training academies all over the country should be implemented. The private sector should be encouraged, but closely monitored. Investors should be discouraged from viewing a school only through the profit-prism.

We must fulfil our ancient ambition to be a global leader, we simply cannot afford to be dabbling in the prejudices of caste, class, region and religion. To become politically, economically and civilisationally global, we will have to globalise & open up our souls. Needless to say that to imbibe this into the hearts of the Indian population this crusade must begin with school education. It is the teachers and parents together who will have to play the role of crusaders. For economic prosperity our education system will have to hammer home the ageless truth that genuine wealth creation happens only when resources are equitably distributed.  In order to make our country truly evolved & developed, simple things like observing civic niceties with regard to traffic rules, public property, environment, respecting diversity, empathy and gender sensitivity must become primary part of school education. It should not be just a boring lesson in a civics book.

In short there has to be a paradigm shift in the way we view school education. We do need our doctors, engineers and lawyers. But equally, if not more importantly, we need a society based on honesty, equity and justice. That is what the Indian education system should direct its energy towards.