Educational reforms: Need for cautious, holistic approach

by N. A. de S. Amaratunga

The government seems to be planning educational reforms in every sector as evident from its proposal to revamp the higher education system by doing away with the UGC (University Grants Commission) and have in its place an independent National Higher Education Commission. One hopes this is not just a cosmetic change and the status quo would continue. The government must understand that higher education cannot be reformed without overhauling the primary and secondary education systems which are its foundation and nothing strong can be built on a weak foundation.

In this regard, serious thought should be given to the quality of products that come out of our schools, our universities, and other higher educational institutions. The primary function of schools must be the development of the child’s inquiring mind, the self-learning ability and the inborn creative talents. These are related characteristics and are inherited from parents. These genetically determined abilities and talents have evolved for generations, beginning from the inception of life, and are of crucial importance for human progress. With these abilities, the child would be better equipped to acquire knowledge, retain it and apply it in his or her career and to solve life’s problems.  This is the best way to learn.  The rote learning, now being carried out, is of little use to anybody and could be the cause of many ills that plague the educational system, from kindergarten to university, in this country. Further, new knowledge, scientific discovery, technological innovations, creative art, and literary work are born out of these talents. The foundation for the development of these abilities must be laid at a very early stage of a child’s formative age.  Therefore, it is the school that must provide the opportunity, the freedom and the facilities to uncover, foster and nurture the inquiring mind, the self-learning ability and the creative talent of the child. This process must continue into the universities and other educational institutions and these principles must form the cornerstone of our national educational policy.

However, our schools and also higher educational institutions do exactly the opposite. In school, the child is not given the time or the freedom to develop those talents and abilities. Only rote learning necessary for passing examinations is promoted to stuff his or her brain with so much material. What is the purpose of such learning, if it can be called as such?  This system suppresses, stultifies and stunts the development of inborn creative talent, the learning ability and the inquiring mind.

Further, it is overwhelmingly burdensome to the students, as well as to the teacher, and as a result both fail to perform. Thus, the phenomenon of supplementary tuition has come into being. Now, there are teachers who prepare notes for their private tuition classes during school hours when they are required to teach and also there are students who attend private tuition classes without going to school.

This kind of burdensome, oppressive ‘learning’ or ‘cramming’, which serves little or no purpose could be damaging to the formative mind. Killing of the natural talents in itself is most damaging but what is worse is that it could produce neurotic, psychiatric, mental wrecks out of our children. Mental illness and suicide are quite common in this age group. The fierce competition and the burden of retaining all that ‘learning’ until the conclusion of examinations could be extremely stressful. Competition starts very early in school, especially with the Grade Five Scholarship Examination.

Thus, the product that comes out of our schools is not a sensitive, generous, talented, kind young person with a developed inquiring mind and self-learning ability and thirsting for more knowledge but an exhausted, mentally unstable youth with a killer instinct which the fierce competition has instilled in him or her.  Violence in universities, inhuman ragging which has become an intractable problem in higher educational institutions are outcomes of the current education system.

The separation of subjects into watertight compartments in the GCE A/Level classes and also in universities is not conducive to the development of inherent talents and abilities. Subjects such as art, music and literature could make a person kind-hearted, understanding and appreciative and tolerant of different points of view. A person’s knowledge of history could enhance his or her vision for the future. It is said that how far you could see into the future would depend on how far you could see into the past. Further, the inborn talents cannot be separated into watertight compartments; the education system has to be sufficiently flexible to provide for individual variation of inherent talents and abilities. An individual may be well-versed in mathematics and in humanities. If he or she is allowed to pursue studies in both fields, he/she would be a better mathematician, more appreciative of different views and even develop into a great mathematician capable of creating literary works as well. More importantly, he or she would be a good human being.  It is perfectly all right to admit to a university a student who has done quite well in a combination of science and humanities at GCE A/L. The university, too, must be flexible enough to allow such students to study both subjects and award a double degree if necessary. An economist, who has also studied history at the university level, would be better equipped to solve economic problems his or her country faces. The freedom of choice of subjects and flexibility in the courses, both in schools as well as in the higher educational institutions, is the need of the hour.

It has been found that medical graduates, who have no exposure to the arts and humanities, tend to be less kind to their patients. This attitude is attributed to the brutalising nature of the subjects they study for most of their lives. It has been found that the introduction of a few modules on humanities into the medical curriculum improves the attitudes of medical professionals.

A university should be a training centre, research centre and a cultural centre, all rolled into one. Everybody in university must have a role and be involved in all three activities and contribute to all of them. A national education policy must take into consideration our history, culture and civilization and heritage, all of which give us a sense of national pride.  At the same time, it should promote the appreciation of other cultures and views.

Universities must have an adequate degree of autonomy if they are to realise their full potential. Regulations the UGC enforces on the universities often have an inhibiting effect. The UGC consists of individuals drawn from the university system itself and their capacity to interpret the University Act and other government ordinances and codes, its members cannot be any superior to that of the members of the governing bodies of universities. Hence, universities should be able to manage its own affairs and for this purpose university governing councils should be able to have expertise from all important fields such as management, finance, legal, medical, engineering, art and culture and also representatives of the Ministries of Higher Education and Finance so that a wide range of opinions would be available for consideration in the policymaking process.

The government, while formulating a National Higher Education Commission in place of the UGC, must take cognizance of the need for greater autonomy for the universities. Financial management and the formulation of national guidelines, in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education, could be the responsibility of the proposed Commission but in academic matters universities must have full autonomy. The requirement for UGC approval for such matters as the creation of new faculties, departments, chair positions, marking schemes for promotions, curricula, cadre and buildings must be done away.