- There has been a lot of research done to find how students learn, and several theories on learning have been proposed. Some of them, like the Constructivist theory and the theory of Multiple Intelligences, stood the test of time and are being widely followed. Based on their own experience and based on their knowledge of theories like this, many educators now know and believe that approaches like making students practice hands-on, asking them thought-provoking questions, making them work on tough problems, encouraging them to study in groups enhance their understanding of the subject. There are many great teachers in Indian subcontinent who, with the limited resources they have access to, have already been following such approaches.So, the answer is no: there is nothing new about this solution in the sense that it neither introduces new learning theories nor new methodologies of teaching. However, based an unbiased analysis of the problem in Indian context, this solution proposes a two-step approach to make quality education - something that teaches for understanding - available and affordable to a large audience: Here are those two steps: 1. Bring a cultural change in the way people look at education: create a culture around teaching and learning for understanding. 2. Commoditise education: make the business of education competitive by creating opportunities for education entrepreneurs.
- The simple answer is no. This solution begins with a clear understanding of smartness. It understands that each student is smart in multiple ways and IQ is not necessarily a true measure of a student’s smartness. That understanding is the core of everything that this solution does, let it be designing lesson plans or teaching and learning aides. Thus, the teaching approach of this solution caters to the needs of those students also who are not considered smart in traditional sense.However, one must realise that it is physically not possible to ‘make’ all students equally smart; we can only make teaching cater to various levels of smartness. In other words, it is possible to reduce the disparities in students’ levels of understanding but not to totally remove them. The good thing is reducing those disparities itself opens the doors to a world of opportunities to students with average smartness.
- Strong understanding of the fundamentals is an absolute must. If a student shifts to this paradigm without such understanding he will have some groundwork to do before he can feel comfortable in a class that teaches for understanding. Once he strengthens his understanding of the fundamentals he can catch up with the rest of the class. However, he will have to work harder to fill any knowledge gaps as they are exposed.The take-away from this is that the minimum knowledge requirements of a particular class must be clearly specified and the students should be required to clear those requirements to get admission to the class. Also, the solution should make the learning-aides available to the aspiring students to clear such requirements.
- Learning is a life-long process. When a person revisits a concept he had learned a few years back he understands it at a completely different level as a result of the experience he had gained with that concept in that period. However, his experience feeds to his knowledge only if he had learned ‘how to learn’ when he was a student. And, that is exactly the goal of this solution: teach a student how to learn. Being inquisitive, trying to understand the connections of the concept to the real world, relating personal experiences to the concept - it is easy to make practices like this part of a student’s learning style when he is young but very difficult when he enters college and finds himself facing fierce competition to get into a professional college or land in a career.So, the main focus of the solution will be on elementary education initially and will eventually expand to higher education.
- Nothing, actually. However, he might enjoy a different line of job altogether if he has a strong conceptual knowledge; he might like more challenges and enjoy working on projects that affect the environment and human lives. The learning style he had developed as a kid is what controls how he reacts to his job. If he finds comfort in his job it means that there is no conflict between his learning style and the demands of his job.
- As discussed earlier, it is physically not possible to remove the disparities in students’ levels of understanding; they can only be reduced. Such disparities eventually produce candidates eligible for different types of jobs. They also contribute to different learning styles, which essentially control how the candidates react to their job duties. So, this solution will not result in a scarcity of people fit for jobs that require only skills. Moreover, it makes a different set of candidates - candidates who are not smart in the traditional sense - eligible for such jobs, thus benefiting students of all levels of smartness.
- If a person is strong in conceptual knowledge but lacks the skills required to do a job efficiently and effectively he won’t be as good as a person who has less knowledge but strong skills, in that job. It might be true that he is in a wrong job; if that is the case his learning style will eventually force him out of it. However, he cannot be really productive even at the job he likes if he lacks skills.A student needs not just concepts or skills; he needs concept-based skills. Practicing lot of simple problems is the way to gain skills and practicing substantial number of tough problems is the way to gain concept-based skills. A person with ‘concept-based skills’ will be able to perform as good as or better than a person with strong skills, maybe after spending some extra effort to hone his skills, in a job that requires only skills.
- Right now, based on conservative estimates, there are about 9-crore - many of them qualified - unemployed individuals in India. The United Nations Human Development Report in 2000 said that brain drain represents an annual loss of $2 billion to India. Now, what happens if this solution produces a lot more qualified candidates? Will there be more candidates looking for jobs and will the loss due to brain drain increase further?Not necessarily. A well-trained individual, due to the nature of the projects he takes up, creates opportunities for others either directly or indirectly. Also, a considerable number of those individuals will be entrepreneurial in nature and create lot of direct opportunities. The stories of IITians are the best example.Also, over the last few years the impact of brain drain has reduced considerably due to the availability of more challenging and highly paying opportunities and due to improved living standards in India. India’s current GDP growth rate is about 8.8%. Indian economy is predicted to continue to grow at this rate or above to become one of the top 4 dominant economies of the world by 2050.So, this solution will not result in increased unemployment rate or brain drain. On the contrary, it creates more opportunities and prepares India in its journey to become a dominant force in the world.
- Wayne Gretzky, ice hockey’s all-time great player, said, "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been." It is true that there are about 10-crore students going to government schools right now. However, as discussed earlier, most of these students are from low-income families in rural areas. In urban areas, a hopping 65% of the students go to private schools. The number of students in rural areas shifting to government schools is also increasing rapidly every year. Reversing this trend is not going to be an easy task for the government, particularly when it keeps failing to reach its minimum investment goals and when most of its investment goes to schemes like mid-day meals. (The mid-day meal scheme might be a good programme and might justify the huge sums government invests in it every year; however, core issues like teacher education and equipping schools with labs and libraries also require huge investments, significantly more than what the government invests right now.)Public education will continue to be available, however. Government schools will not disappear. They are here to stay. Nonetheless, the trend towards private education will continue as it becomes more affordable and as the living standards of rural families improve. However, no matter how fast the economy develops, income inequalities continue to exist and those who cannot afford to pay for education will continue to go to government schools. Some of them can benefit from the after-school learning program discussed in this solution, as it costs less than full-fledged private education.
- Focus and innovation are the keywords. A firm focus on making quality education affordable to low-income families drives innovation to make it possible. Innovation affects business models and management practices, and gives rise to lean processes and disruptive products and services.Focus and innovation make a firm search for alternatives to conventional approaches. Sharing a lab or other resource with another school instead of owning one; hiring part-time employees wherever possible instead of full-time employees; using price-driven costing methodology instead of cost-driven pricing methodology - these are a few such alternatives.Also, by following the franchise model, schools can cut down on their spending on creating lesson plans and instructional materials.
- This is definitely a big problem. Students who go to their teachers for tuition after school hours might be worried that their teachers might reduce their marks if they go to tuition elsewhere. Unfortunately, their doubts are not misplaced. Some teachers might be teaching for understanding and they might also be charging a low price. In that case, they become regular competition, which is OK. The after-school learning program that this solution creates only has to perform consistently well on both fronts: quality and affordability, to win the competition. As it consistently does that, and as students and families recognise that understanding is more important than marks (as a result of the efforts of the other components of the solution), it becomes easier to deal with the rest of the teachers who concentrate only on marks.Initially, only a few students might feel comfortable going to the after-school learning program without any fear. As they start benefiting from the program, a trend emerges and more students will be inclined to catch up with it. Once the program gains a strong foothold the teachers who cut marks for students who do not go to them for tuition will understand its strength and accept the reality.
- Commoditisation does lead to price wars, which is OK because it ultimately benefits the consumer. However, companies that fight only on price and not on quality will eventually lose the battle. The franchise model of the solution ensures that schools and institutes that offer the after-school learning program stick to standards of both quality and affordability. Performance of schools and institutes will be reviewed periodically and recognition of those that do not meet the standards will be revoked.
- Teaching a student mathematical and scientific concepts in a language that is not understood by anyone outside his native state is not advisable at a time when the world has transformed into a global village. Doing so severely impacts the ability of a student to communicate in a language other than his native language. It is important that a student becomes proficient in his native language but using his native language as the medium of instruction is not and should not be the only way to make him gain that proficiency. A comprehensive discussion of the approaches a school can follow to make a student proficient in his native language when he is not taught in that language is out of scope of this solution. This solution primarily focuses on using English as the medium of instruction. However, the after-school learning program will be available in regional languages as well because most government schools use only regional languages as mediums of instruction.
- There are only a few thousand students going to IITs, IIMs and other premier institutions compared to about 10-crore students going to government schools in India. Maintaining standards similar to those in premier institutes in government schools is an extremely expensive process. Also, it requires a lot of commitment on government’s part, which, going by recent examples, is not a small requirement. For instance, former prime minister Sri P.V. Narasimha Rao introduced the concept of government residential schools in the state of Andhra Pradesh. These schools were an immediate hit and the concept was adopted nationwide. These schools are now in dilapidated state with insufficient funds. Instead of helping these schools with more funds the government talks about starting new concept schools in every constituency.
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