Tamil Nadu's "activity based learning" gets recognition from China

Yet another reason to smile: "China seeks state expertise on activity based learning method" (ref. The Hindu, Front page, Nov 16, 2009, http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/16/stories/2009111657980100.htm).

Tamil Nadu government and education department can be very proud of this, along with the central government; and thus, all Indians can too. The Hon. Adviser, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Tamil Nadu, Mr. M.P. Vijayakumar says "... The Chinese delegation was impressed with the way our students of government schools were enthusiastic in classrooms because of the interactive learning and teaching style". Once again, this proves the importance and efficacy of activity based learning.

Kerala has a state designed system of similar kind for government schools. It is called District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) and is supported by the World Bank. People were very scared of this system, and still they feel that this system will only spoil the education of the children who study in government schools. They feel that the rich people will send their children to private schools, where DPEP is not established, and the poor students have to "suffer from DPEP". And they feel that teaching students through "dancing, singing, collecting all the unwanted stuff from the surroundings, etc." will make them morons!

I don't know what is the difference between the activity based learning in Tamil Nadu and DPEP. However, I believe, from my own experience, that learning by doing is more effective than learning from the usual lectures and through writing exams. If I take the sum of all what I have learned, say in engineering, the amount I learned from lectures will be insignificantly small; I learned more myself by direct reading, thinking, experimenting, and discussing with my peers.

I hope things will change and education system will improve. In fact, I know teachers who are steadfast in changing their own teaching methods to make learning process more effective. However, sadly, a vast majority still believes that "we can only teach, it is the student's responsibility to read the books and learn by himself/herself. And if they do not come up to a good level, it is because they don't have aptitude and ability, or because they don't work hard".

I wish to quote what Dr. K. B. M. Namboodiripad, who is the dean of Amrita School of Engineering, Kollam, used to tell us, when I was a lecturer there: "So far teachers have been focusing on the quality of their teaching. Our objective is to shift the focus from teaching to learning". How thrilling, intelligent, wise and moving are these words! Aren't they? Yes, like those of Karl Marx's: "Philosophers have defined the world in many ways. The point is to change it".

--Sandeep Palakkal