Deccan Herald - DH Forum Responses


Deccan Herald � DH Forum



Reading The Score Card

Are poor SSLC and PUC results a sign of falling educational standards in the state? How can students’ performances be improved? DH had invited readers’ opinion on the issue. Most of the respondents placed the blame on the mounting channels of distraction that keep students away from their studies. Suggestions to the extent of parents and teachers guiding students into the pursuit of knowledge rather than learning by rote, and revision of syllabi were given. A couple of readers felt that evaluating methods should be revamped and that corporates could be brought in to improve the quality of education. By editor

Political reasons

The poor results seen in the recent SSLC exams are an indication, not only of a fall in educational standards but also in the country�s administrative and political standards. To improve educational standards, the necessary requirements are quality infrastructure and well-educated teachers. The government does not provide teachers who should be chosen based on their merit and not on the basis of caste and religion.

B S Ganesh

Revise syllabus

Karnataka possesses excellent educational institutions which impart quality education to millions of students from around the world. Parents and the teaching community are sincerely doing their best. Students today possess improved IQs but are constantly distracted. This leads to their poor performance in examinations. What is needed is a refurbishing of the syllabus with the inclusion of contemporary elements.

Vasanthkumar Mysoremath, Mysore

Blame idiot boxes

Blaming educational standards for the poor results in SSLC and PUC examinations is not in good taste, since the chance of securing good marks in examinations lies with students and their parents. The poor results have to be attributed to the frequent cricket matches held and telecast on the television. This causes students to neglect their studies. Parents must keep their children from wasting their time in front of the TV.

B S Raghavendra Rao

Teaching by rote

The unsatisfactory results in the SSLC and PUC examinations cannot be construed as signs of falling educational standards in the State. They are primarily due to lack of concentration and determination among students, as well as to a total failure on the part of some teachers who do their job mechanically. It is the collective responsibility of teachers and parents to ensure that better performance is achieved. Parents have to infuse the importance of education in their children, as well as drastically curb distractions.

S Nagarajan

Faulty methods

The poor results every year in SSLC and PUC examinations are sure signs of a fall in educational standards. The fault seems to lie in the methodology of teaching and the techniques being adopted therein. Dedication, hard work, initiatives, orientation courses for teachers, students� learning answering techniques, fool-proof question papers and flawless evaluation processes can bring about a marked improvement in performance.

P V Prakash

Distractions galore

Currently, there are far too many distractions for students: TV serials, films, cricket matches, easy access to pubs and so on. These divert and dilute a student�s concentration on studies. In schools, classes are overcrowded, and overburdened teachers cannot impart quality education to each student. It becomes the responsibility of parents to help organise their child�s study pattern and keep him or her from falling prey to distractions.

Mandikal S Ananda Rao

Knowledge ignored

The results of the SSLC and PUC examinations indicate that students are not aware of the importance of education. A majority of subjects are only from an examination point of view. And teachers, in their zeal to lure students to tuition, hardly do justice to their profession. Clearly, the acquisition of knowledge is not getting a priority. Students must be motivated and inspired to acquire knowledge.

K V Seetharamaiah, Hassan

Involve corporates

The majority of students are from rural areas where standards of education are abysmal and contribute to the lower pass percentage in examinations. One way to improve the situation would be to urge big corporate companies to adopt schools in taluks. The government could provide tax benefits for these corporate companies in return. Companies looking to expand would then consider moving into second and third-tier towns to reduce their costs considerably.

Ranga Kanadam

Ensure continuity

Poor results in examinations are due to innumerable factors like the institution chosen and the child�s family background. One thing, however, is for sure: there is an alarming fall in the standard of education, specially in government schools. To improve results, a uniform mode of conducting examinations must be adopted and authorities must arrive at a consensus while framing the curriculum so as to ensure continuity. Teachers should be given more freedom so that they can evolve their own methods to help students academically.

Inamdar Ramachandra

Uniform standard

It is sad to note the rapid decline in educational standards in the state, the root cause being the lack of proper direction in the education department. Unfortunately, students are bearing the brunt of this lacunae. It is time that a uniform standard of education is incorporated in schools. The performance of students in the preparatory examinations should be the basis of eligibility for the board examinations, and core subjects like mathematics and science should be made simpler.

K Amul Chander

Evaluation of the good and bad

How do we rate a good result and a poor result? Is it just the percentage of passes which outlines the criteria for good results? We should consider the quality of the result as a parameter for indicating whether the performance during a particular year is poor or good. The evaluation of any student should be on a continuous basis and not on one examination. The results should reflect the quality of education imparted.

Sudhir