<div>Kanvi desai flopped on her bed and sent her mother Meghna a WhatsApp message: “Am home. And guess what? Rhea is back! Could I please, please, have her over this weekend?”<br /><br />Kanvi and Rhea were in Class 11, and Rhea had gone to Singapore on a sports exchange programme and hence got to attend her host’s school. Kanvi couldn’t stop talking about Rhea’s experiences: “It seems the teacher asked a student what is the simplest form of sugar, and he did not know. But the teacher was not upset. She made him reach the answer ‘glucose’, by just quizzing him; she even clued him from Master Chef!”<br /><br />Kanvi said she now knew about glucose, just listening to Rhea. But as she observed, “ If it was in my school, and I had said I don’t know, first I would have got a glare, then there would have been no discussion, then some smarty pants kid would have stood up and said Glucose and I would have felt lousy and my ma’am would have told me see how clever she is and I would have felt lousier.”<br /><br />Meghna felt sorry for students like her daughter. We are taking away the step ladder approach to learning, the joy and exploration of learning. While learning has to be an amazing journey, we are in a hurry to reach and, hence, we drag them to arrive sooner because it suits us...<br /><br />That evening, Meghna, an associate director at Bright & Thakur (B&T), met Principal Achyut Manek at the Sprinter’s Track, where she went jogging. “We want readymade answers from them, that is why our exams ask objective questions,” she told Manek, who had been managing the educational trust for the Morro Group for many years. Their net worth evaluation was done by B&T, that was how their acquaintance went back in time.<br /><br />Recently, Manek had helped Morro take over the running of ABC School and was appointed the Principal.<br /><br />“The teachers are also in a hurry to perform and elicit performance according to template, because it is all about targets,” she told him. “The children will learn nothing even if they end up knowing a lot. I wonder about the kind of management pool getting built. Our system is not developing the right software in them.”<br /><br />Meghna had seen that whatever the books taught did not convert to knowledge. The kids were nothing but a bag of data. For instance, Kasi, her son in Class 10, had a unit test question last week — ‘How high is the blast furnace at the Bokaro plant and how wide?’ Kasi had some numbers in his head, which he threw right in but he had no idea what a blast furnace was, or WHY it was so huge. In fact, he did not even think it was ‘so huge’. The book said ‘big’ so Kasi agreed it was big. And somewhere in his head he was not connecting that Bokaro uses coal as both raw material and fuel! What amazed her was that with all the brouhaha over the cancellation of coal mining blocks by the Supreme Court, there had been no discussion in the class! “How could you not have discussed it!” she asked the class teacher at the Parent Teacher Interaction. “This is the moment in their life to raise a sound debate on power and ethics! And this is best raised by a dispassionate teacher than a cloying parent! You could have talked about systems, truthfulness and fair play and that it applies at all times in life, no matter what your age or status!”<br /><br />Meghna had grown up in Bokaro and knew coal like Kasi knew the Ambience Mall. She had asked him, “Do you know why it needs so much coking coal? Do you know that the blast furnace needs a whole year to shut down? Kasi’s “wowwwwww”, lasted 10 full seconds.<br /><br /><strong>Meghna:</strong> Standing tall at a height of 41 metres, and 12 metres wide, it was our pride, India’s symbol of self-reliance, of her scientific journey… There were no cranes to reach that height. So capacity was built to make 10 cranes of that height…Will you believe it? And do you know, there are five like that? That is where the coal production of Jharia goes!<br /><br />Back at the PTI. Principal Manek who had been actively listening to the Class 10 parents, took Meghna aside as she said, “And the textbook says all that steel is used for the manufacture of engineering goods...? School students will identify better with cars and washing machines, won’t they?<br /><strong>Manek:</strong> I agree. But kids are smart, they pick up all this quite fast.<br /><br />Vivek Sinha, Meghna’s colleague, also had a daughter in Class 10. Seeing him walk their way, Manek hailed to him. Manek, who had known them since their work with Morro Group, took them to his office. He enjoyed a good debate on education.<br /><br />As Vivek sat down, Meghna said, “Seriously, there is too much to be crammed. Schools are deliberately creating a difficulty level to make the Board exams look that much more daunting! Instead of teaching 100 things, teach 60; at least the students will internalise them well!"<br /></div><div><a href="http://www.businessworld.in/news/case-studies/analysis-more-pixels-less-picture/1620537/page-1.html" target="_blank">Read Analysis By: Rashmi Chandra</a><br /><a href="http://www.businessworld.in/news/case-studies/analysis-of-templates-and-targets/1620504/page-1.html" target="_blank">Read Analysis By: Gautama G.</a><br /> </div><div>break-page-break</div><div><br />“For example, the steel plant story is done to death, cramming the chapter with inane details. But the plot itself is lost! For each of the 17 integrated plants, the child has to learn where each one gets coal, manganese, limestone, water and electricity from! Why? The names of some of these are the smallest of small coal mines, Mr Manek, which don’t matter! Would it not serve if they leave it at Chhota Nagpur belt or Jharkand? If the child encounters Jharkand so many times, he will retain that Jharkand is so rich in raw materials. Isn’t that more important? But the textbook talks about Jharia, Palamo, Dugda... and the student is not associating it with Jharkand, the state!<br /><br />“Then again, and this is my point: I wanted to hear Kasi saying, ‘Oh, Jharkhand is a rich state, then why is Jharkand backward?’ But Kasi has no news on Jharkand’s economy. When you have resource rich states with corresponding poor standard of living, how come you do not debate this in class? I think this is very critical for developing the ability to connect issues. Don’t you think this conversation needs to happen?<br />Manek: We try, we really do! But when you put it that way, I do see how thought-building can be encouraged. But to be fair, development is covered in Economics...<br /><br /><strong>Meghna:</strong> But who will link geography and natural resources to economics for the student? You need to do that for that inner coin to drop! The expectation is for them to memorise ‘Palamo and Dugda’, I see; ‘Jharkand’ is not your focus!<br /><strong>Manek: </strong>Help me understand. What is the difficulty you see in the way these are being taught?<br /><strong>Meghna:</strong> Students are not thinking with agility, seamlessly. They are thinking in silos. They are seeing Iron and Steel as Geography and Development as Economics. They are not seeing an integrated picture of the region. It is not about who gets limestone from where, but who grows as a result of what natural resources! Do they have this knowledge? No. Do we want them to have it? Yes! You must train them to integrate information!<br /><strong>Vivek:</strong> Or the case where a child who scored 98 per cent in Class 12 exams hadn’t realised that “infrastructure” which she studied in economics was the same as “sadak, bijli, pani”. She had crammed it and got full marks! We discovered this after we hired her!<br /><br />See, schools get them to ‘learn the dots’, not ‘connect the dots’. The first improves memory but connecting the dots improves ‘judgement’ and managers need ‘judgement’ the most. Judgement gets supported by emotional and social IQ which strengthens through getting challenged and winning and losing the challenges.<br /><br /><strong>Meghna:</strong> Therefore, an essay that elicits a comment from a teacher: ‘Good content, can improve,’ means nothing to the student. If Kanvi’s essay is a B and Rhea’s is A, then Kanvi needs to know what she needs to do to take that B to an A.<br /><strong>Manek:</strong> But when you are hiring a CEO, do you look at CBSE results? How is all this connected to producing better managers, since you say that schooling must build great foundations for a good manager to grow...<br /><strong>Vivek:</strong> The entire system threatens to produce a future that is both emotionally and intellectually challenged. Let me address the intellect first. The ability to make connections. To link data A and data B to produce information C. For instance, for one of our starch producing clients , one key area on which business continuity depends is supply of corn 12 months of the year. But for close to five months in a year, only Bihar can supply corn to whole of India since only Bihar has a winter corn crop. But then again, those are the very months when Bihar is also peaking in coal supply to whole of India. This makes securing rail wagon supply a huge challenge for all starch producers. The client field agent cracked the disadvantage by leveraging the coal carrying wagons, and negotiated with Railway officials and coal agents for first right on all spare capacities! So, the same coal wagons carry corn alongside, marrying Geography with Economics!<br /><strong><img alt="" height="427" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=1ef34a2a-2c4f-43ca-b98c-073fc30e07e7&groupId=222861&t=1415795532408" width="600" /><br /><br />Manek:</strong> Come on! These things are learnt on the ground!<br /><strong>Vivek: </strong>Sure, they will learn on the ground, but only if the student is trained to think cause and effect, to link one sector advantages with gains for another, ... these are skills that are planted early in life. This is intellectual agility, which has to happen at school. The time to perform is not at MBA, but in school.<br /><strong>Manek:</strong> And schools are blocking this ability in students?<br /><strong>Meghna:</strong> They are not actively encouraging this potential. First of all, by testing the students more on facts than strategic thinking, you are not training them to have inner debates. Objective questions are about right and wrong. Life in organisations falls in the grey zone where there is no right or wrong; your decisions have to be optimum. Does our schooling system hone this skill in students?<br /><br />Why is IB seen as a better programme? Because the emphasis is on thinking. IB is not based on multiple choice questions, but questions that make you think, cogitate, reason. The 10 years in school builds the software for learning in general, and can affect your problem-solving capability as a manager, that’s my point.<br /><br /><strong>Vivek:</strong> If anything, the multiple choice system weakens ability to understand contexts and interrelatedness.<br />Manek: Such as your starch selling field agent?<br /><strong>Vivek:</strong> Let’s see. Class 10 Civics discusses the Mandal Commission. I told my daughter all about caste, OBC, etc. But the question at the exam was: Who was the joint secretary who signed the Mandal Commission notification? Really? Three marks? This is what I mean. But the system wants to train them in easy choice questions!</div><div> </div><div><a href="http://www.businessworld.in/news/case-studies/analysis-more-pixels-less-picture/1620537/page-1.html" target="_blank">Read Analysis By: Rashmi Chandra</a><br /><a href="http://www.businessworld.in/news/case-studies/analysis-of-templates-and-targets/1620504/page-1.html" target="_blank">Read Analysis By: Gautama G.</a></div><div> </div><div>break-page-break</div><div><br /><strong>Meghna: </strong>Consequently, no emotional intelligence development.<br /><strong>Manek (now alerted):</strong> What do you see that I do not?<br /><strong>Meghna:</strong> Ok, recall the ‘I Hear You’ sessions for the senior school, where kids aired their feelings? But there was no time for all this piffle-paffle, as your senior school advisor put it. So, it was thrown out but the counsellor, obviously made of sterner stuff, wanted it, as it helped kids unburden and gave clues to understanding their world better. To demonstrate this, she held one IHY meet, and the outcome was stunning. The students talked and talked — from school workload, to tuition, to home, to studies and worried parents, about not having any time to heal and reorganise and take stock... or for laughter even! That it was one large wave for three relentless years — planning, studying, applications, exams; that neither parents nor teachers seemed to care, the attitude being, ‘what’s got to be done has got to be done, so stop whining...’<br /><br />Teachers focused on school grades, performance and statistics of achievements, and school image. Parents on ‘you have to get into the best college!’ There was a no companionship…Even the play field was about performance, ‘You need to show performance sports on your CV!’<br /><br /><strong>Vivek:</strong> Even their summers; my daughter wears a stricken look!<br /><strong>Meghna:</strong> These are teenagers, an important age where new values are entering their mind, so much to grapple with, but instead of dealing with it with the natural joy of teenage, they are yoked to performance anxiety, because there is so much to do all the time, back to back. They go to bed tired, they wake up tired...no let up!<br /><strong>Vivek:</strong> Development of emotions implies developing the skills to manage it. Such as anger. Such as boredom. Such as frustration. Such as disappointment. Discussion helps challenge their concepts and constructs. Hence, hanging out with friends is valuable for redefining emotions. Instead, they spike, they have tantrums because friendship is only virtual!<br /> <br />Today they live and talk social media, often in full public gaze, because they don’t give a damn, which has its own consequences. Plus, sleep deprivation as they are up till late texting. Relationships are mostly superficial and often sour over the internet, being virtual; and as the ads say ‘WhatsApp pe goodbye bol diya’... Relationships need negotiating. But these young have a disconnect. Emotional connect is mechanical. They are never able to have an experiential friendship!<br /><br /><strong>Meghna: </strong>So, is shaping a person and his character important, or is sharpening his abilities of problem solving, etc? Does an organisation benefit more from people who display perseverance, morality, respect for others, integrity, objectivity or from analytical capability, IT knowledge?<br /><br />What is the pyramid of priorities for the education system that we – sitting on this side of schooling, perceive as important? That is the question!”<br /><br />To be continued...<br /><br /><strong>Meera Seth</strong></div><div><br />(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 01-12-2014)</div>
