Indian education needs overhaul

I would like to bring to your notice the problems of the CBSE system of education. But before I begin, let me clarify that what it has been trying to implement is not necessarily bad.

For years, children have studied selectively from their textbooks, and they have seldom been disappointed at the exams. They got most of the questions they predicted. Now the board wants to put an end to this practice.

Up to this point it’s fine. But the way it has been doing it is upsetting.

This year, questions for some papers, including accounts and business studies, were not just unpredictable but they were outside of the syllabus. Some papers were too lengthy to be completed within the stipulated three hours.

More importantly, I think teachers should have been informed by the CBSE that it would change the pattern of its exams and that they should encourage children to read their textbooks thoroughly.

While this is imperative, the method of teaching in CBSE schools has always supported selective reading for the final exams. As a result, the majority of children taking their Class 12 exams were baffled when they do not get any expected questions.

Any positive change is welcome, but it’s wrong to make sudden and unexpected changes, so much so that even teachers did not know how to handle them.

I would suggest that the board overhaul the entire system of education to do away with rote learning.

Education should be more practical orientated, as is the case with the European and American systems of education. This is long overdue. Name withheld by request