Education is the quintessential passport to greater opportunities — be they economic, academic or social.

Private schools differ vastly in terms of the quality of education they provide. Why?

1. There are serpentine queues from the early hours of the morning for admissions into kindergarten in a few reputed schools.

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        2. The scramble for seats is evidence of the dearth of quality education. 

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         3. Just herding children into private schools is not going to ensure their learning unless     

              teachers are sensitised and trained to deal with children with different profiles. 

Three factors abroad: Why government and private schools need to implement systemic changes?

 We cannot overlook the fact that our educational system, both government and private, is in need of serious overhaul. In 2007, McKinsey and Company published a report that analysed why some school systems in the world ranked highly in international assessments of literacy, numeracy and problem-solving year after year. Top performing countries included Belgium, Finland, Japan, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Singapore and South Korea. While the countries sported vast differences, both culturally and politically, three factors regarding their education systems were common to all high performing nations.

First, a teaching job in these countries, unlike in India, is a high-status profession. In addition to receiving salaries comparable to other well-paying jobs, teacher training courses are highly selective and admit only the cream of graduates.

Second, teachers are provided intensive training and new recruits are mentored on the job. In our country, teachers tend to work in isolation and inexperienced teachers are expected to handle a class on their own without additional guidance.

Third, in the top-performing countries, schools try to offer the best possible education for every child by supporting those who lag behind. These schools monitor student performance closely and intervene when children fall behind by employing special educators who are trained in remedial instruction.

Thus, both government and private schools need to implement systemic changes. 

Our educational establishments are generally insensitive to children with learning difficulties with most schools lacking formal remedial programmes. 

(The Hindu, April 17, 2012)