Education News

Delhi Soul-less education In a historic, first ever national survey of its kind conducted by the Union ministry of human resource development (HRD) among the country’s public (or privately-funded) schools, some shocking facts have come to light. Foremost among them is the verdict that while India’s independent schools pass muster in imparting quality education, they are pathetically inadequate in creating good citizens out of their students. According to the survey — conducted within 80 schools in the four metros (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata) and Guwahati — private schools are spending a piffling Rs.1.50 per month per student on community service programmes, care for the disabled and other socially useful productive work. The report — prepared by the Media Management Group for Literacy and Development, a Delhi-based NGO — has created a stir in the national capital following its release on October 14. Applying 14 parameters of socially-responsible behaviour to the country’s much-hyped independent or private schools, the report concludes that their social commitment is “abysmally low”. According to the survey (for the year 2001-02), 51.2 percent of the inspected schools don’t provide any scholarships for poor students and an overwhelming 81.3 percent don’t offer fee concessions to the disabled. However, simultaneously, the survey has also drawn up a list of the top 10 philanthropic schools in several cities across the country. Topping the list is St. Mary’s, Delhi, which though less renowned for its academic scores, is engaged in a gamut of charitable activities (including care for the disabled and a raft of scholarships for the underprivileged) which, say the authors of the report, is “definitely worth emulating”. According to the survey, in 2001-02, St. Mary’s spent a whopping Rs.31 lakh on charitable causes. Interestingly, half of the top 10 most charitable schools are in the national capital. Apart from St. Mary’s, there’s Sanskriti School, St. Columbus, Holy Child and Delhi Public School, Mathura Road. In Mumbai, the honours go to Don Bosco and Villa Theresa while Chennai features only one — Chettinad Vidyashram. Kolkata’s most socially conscious is the Lakshmipat Singhania Academy and Guwahati’s the Miles Bronson School. Inevitably the report has stirred a controversy in academic circles with several private schools debunking the survey as “totally unnecessary”. Their claim is that though charity is a “laudable” objective, there’s no reason why private schools should be singled out for attention. “Given the intense competition for good grades,” asserts a school principal, “we can’t afford to be in the business of charity. It is PCM (physics, chemistry, maths) percentages which determine student admissions into the best colleges, not community service.” School managements argue that there is already tremendous pressure on infrastructure and resources with classrooms bursting at the seams due to the paucity of good private schools. In such a scenario, the prime objective is to impart quality education. The dilution of this objective will erode the ability of their students “to cope with pressure in today’s competitive environment”. However, liberal academics dismiss this self-serving argument. “The whole point of…