Brand Bihar: Strength Of Bihar
Posted : February 20, 2006 at 4:00 am [IST]
Why is Bihar branded only for lawlessness, corruption, caste, and crime? Can Bihar get a better brand platform? Will media stop talking of only the bad things about Bihar? Here is something that builds Brand Bihar. That was the inspirations for my writing ‘ Brand Bihar: Glory of Nalanda Days, Bihar as Education Hub ‘
As per an NCERT survey conducted last year, Bihar’s primary class students are the fastest learners.
While six out of 10 students in Bihar’s classrooms understood what was being taught, in Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Chhattisgarh the number did not cross five. Even in highly literate Kerala, less than 50 per cent students understood their lessons.
The survey reinforces what Pratham, an NGO, found out recently and about which I wrote.
Bihar’s students are as good as the best.
The national survey was conducted by the NCERT to evaluate the learning skills of Class V students, especially in mathematics and languages. The study was meant to cast light on the teaching skills, and a detailed questionnaire based on the syllabus was distributed to students in 20 states.
The NCERT was in for a surprise - some of the best students were from the ramshackle schools of Bihar.
About 64 per cent of Bihari students followed their lessons as compared with the national average of 52 per cent.
About 65 per cent understood their language classes as against the national average of 58 per cent.
In mathematics, the percentage was 63 per cent while the national average was just 47. Bihar students thus topped in mathematics with 63 percentage points as compared to Kerala where boys and girls scored a meagre 35. Those from Tamil Nadu came close with a relatively high 58 per cent. Students from UP students secured just 37 percentage points.
And the kids really loved math. A news channel reported some interviews with the kids and the teacher on small screen. “I love tables, calculations and the sums. I love studying math,” a girl student says.
The survey was a proof enough that Bihar’s underpaid teachers are winning a battle that had long seemed lost. “We have a different way of teaching. We teach them by the play-way method. This way, they don’t even feel the pressure of conventional learning,” a schooteacher from Bihar, says.
Though Bihari students were much ahead of their counterparts in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal when it came to numbers, they were lagging behind in languages.
They may not get the right infrastructure or a good school to complement their talent, but Bihar’s young brains are toiling their way to the top.
Bihar is fortunate enough to have many dedicated teachers working with the same sincerity as was shown perhaps by their own teachers and, may be, some NGOs in education who might not even be registered.
And a lot of credit must go to those parents who may themselves, be uneducated but still believe and take responsibility of the education of their children at all cost and with all sacrifices. ‘Badhe poot pitaa ka dharame, kheti upaje aapanaa karame’- Son progresses because of the righteous work of the father, while farming flourishes because of own hard work.
Perhaps there is lot of weight in the remarks from a columnist. “Politicians from Bihar are known for their political arithmetic and caste mathematic. And the students from the state, despite known infrastructure problems, are not far away when it comes to calculating and are much ahead of their counterparts.”
But Bihari parents must not get complacent after reading this or similar news report. There are many miles to go. The number of school dropouts in Bihar is worse than almost all states. It must improve.
Bihari students will have to improve their skill in language. And for that, the responsibility goes to the community. A better model to teach language, particularly the spoken one with intensive and extensive use of audio equipment both at schools and at home may overcome the problem. The government must take up quality education as its main mission. And the guardians and parents must understand, discourage and abandon the practice of getting their kids pass examination by cheating or other unscrupulous means. It will serve no purpose and it is not their dharma.
- Indra
Category: Employment/Education |
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