Uncovering Potential, Not Covering Syllabuses: Education Needs Change
The educational syllabus should not be covered, instead, it should be ‘uncovered’, said V. Venkata Ramana, Vice Chairman, Telangana State Council of High Education at the BW High Education Summit in Hyderabad on Thursday, December 7.
“I think nobody should cover the syllabus; one should uncover the syllabus. You should make the students know what he does not know rather than asking them the same thing again,” he said.
Ramana said that there should not be any examinations such as entrance exams with limited seats as it puts real pressure on the students. He lay stress on looking beyond the the predictable pattern of admission, examination, selection, marks and jobs while striving to unlock the potential of the students.
In terms of teachers’ duty, Sudhakar Rao, Director, ICFAI Group of Educational Institutions, stated that the teachers should be the role models for the students as they look up to them,
“Ethics is something less talked about and more demonstrated. As institutions, we should be role models, our practices will be seen every day,” he said.
He gave a metaphorical example of a notice board where notices are pinned up for the students and if the promises are not fulfilled on the notice board then the respect would be gradually lost in the eyes of the students.
“If it is okay informally within your institution to violet those norms then slowly it will percolate down to the student and the social culture will get moulded in a wrong way,” he highlighted.
Furthermore, he also emphasised how important it is for teachers to treat their colleagues with respect as the students are looking at them and if the respect is missing then they will not prove to be right role models for their students.
The demonstration of practices need to be carefully done. Some of the trance while cracking a joke, should be very professional as students notice these things.
“When we are speaking behind the podium, it’s the position of power as well as the position of responsibility,” Rao stated.
He stated that both institutional practices and individual practices together build institutional culture.
