It has become a common practice to send children to tuitions so that they score better. In some cases, it is a matter of pride if one has secured admission in this institute or that, almost as if the child has got admission in some prestigious IIT! Even children as young as 4 years old are sent for tuitions especially in the metros, where the parents are too busy climbing the corporate ladder or too involved in their social whirlpool. Rarely is it because they are not literate or having some health issues. Our education system has given rise to a parallel system which sometimes threatens to overtake it. The question that needs to be addressed urgently is, whether children need tuitions at all?
Does this question give rise to the thought that is there something wrong with our teacher-education, or selection of teachers that students run to these tuition centers? Are the teachers not devoting sufficient time and energy to the classes or is it the system which puts a lot of pressure on them? Whatever be the reason, one can find some good teachers everywhere but great teachers are few and far between. This lack of a role model, to look up to, makes the students run in search of additional reinforcements.
The unrealistic marks that the Boards allot and the obscene cut-offs that colleges demand forces even the best student of the class to attend tuitions! So, every child is trying to get an extra edge over the rest. In this race to reach the top, many children especially those who are not equipped to deal with the stress, fall by the wayside. They are sometimes not able to take failure well and resort to taking extreme steps. Additionally, between school and tuitions, the student’s independent thought process is weeded out effectively. We are producing more clerks than innovators, it seems.
On the plus side, students who are unable to cope with the pace of the class manage to do reasonably well with the help of outside tutors. Here again, the quality of teachers needs a closer look.
