Introduction

Indian education system is considered to be one of the best in the world. This is primarily because there are many students scoring good marks across many subjects. Though the HRD ministry introduces new reforms every once in a while to improve the quality of education, students still feel that the education system focusses more on rote learning than on actually understanding the topic. This is true in a few cases. Teachers and the administration encourage students to score more marks than encouraging them to do more research and projects to understand the topic better.

What and How

At the inaugural ceremony of the Panjab University Youth and Heritage festival (2016-17), Kirron Kher, popular Bollywood actress, and MP from Chandigarh addressed students at the MCM College. In her speech, she pointed out that the present education system needs to change as the system is creating bookworms instead of scholars. She believed that the student who is scoring 97 or 98 percent marks in the boards ends up only studying for hours together every day and don’t participate in leisure activities. Though the child is performing well in terms of academics, his/her overall development is being hampered by putting too much emphasis on studying all day long. She is of the view that society needs youngsters who have a well-developed personality and not bookworms who can only study.

College cut-offs

Kher felt that the main reason for such a situation is because the college cut-offs are really high. She complained that if colleges fix the cut-off at 90 percent then, the students who score 60 or 70 percentage wouldn’t be able to pursue their studies. The students who score 60 or 70 percent might have a better skill set that the students who score 90 percent but, they would be denied admission due to their low percentage. Kirron Kher suggested that such students should join skill development courses where they could acquire new skills and gain better job opportunities. The irony is that the students who get admissions in good colleges are finding it difficult to find a job after graduation. This is one of the main reasons she claimed that the education system needed major reforms.

Solution

Towards the end of her speech, Kher also suggested a few changes that could be made in order to improve the present conditions. She said that colleges should consider the co-curricular activities the student has participated in along with his or her academic grades during the admission process.

Will the HRD ministry consider these changes and actually implement them in order to produce students with a good educational qualification and overall development? Only time will tell.