The Present Scenario in Education Part-I

 

An evaluation of the situation cannot ignore the fact that the present lack of science and technology literacy observed in many countries is the result of shortcomings in the school system. Many teachers of mathematics, science and technology have an excellent command of their subject, but do not have sufficient teaching talent or training as teachers. They find it difficult to make knowledge taken from their own world of experience understandable to children on the basis of examples, evoking their enthusiasm for the subject in question, and arousing their scientific curiosity. There is too much lecturing, mechanical memorization, and asking of quiz questions. The critical abilities of pupils are not always developed and it is precisely these abilities that are of importance for basic education in science and technology. In Eastern Europe teachers are poorly paid in many cases, which is why it is often necessary to employ teaching assistants who do not have the necessary qualifications and why qualified teachers move into other professions.

School textbooks and other teaching materials are often written in highly academic, abstract language, hard to understand, inappropriate for the age group in question. Not enough consideration is given to the range of experience typical of young people. Textbook exercises are often not based on the pupils' life experience. Similar deficits may be found in pupil assessment and marking. This process is often focused too strongly on abstract problem-solving ability and gives too little consideration to the fact that children have different kinds of ability that they approach things differently, and that abstract thinking is not something that comes easily to everyone. Bad marks in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology have frustrated many young people and destroyed their interest in science and technology once and for all.

Advancing basic education in science and technology from secondary to primary education (to the age group of eight- and nine-year-olds), as ordered by numerous Ministries of Education, has not been successful in some countries, since primary school teachers were not sufficiently well prepared for the new task and had themselves not been particularly good in mathematics and science at school. In a number of countries the use of computers as teaching aids in various subjects taught at school has resulted in a radical change in teaching methods and led to more group work, to learning more from one another. It has created an additional motivation for pupils. In other cases it has failed to produce results, since in particular older teachers have been unable to cope with the challenge.