As someone who has been in the field of Education since 1965 and still continues to teach and mentor students, parents, and school leaders, I have witnessed firsthand Economist and former Prime Minister PM Manmohan Singh’s efforts in bringing about the winds of substantial change by opening the economy as early as 1991 which in many ways benefitted the educational sector too.
With a huge number of foreign universities visiting Indian schools and colleges, while some even set up centres of education in the metropolitan areas, a desire arose among families and wards across India to fly high for education after grade 10 or 12.
At the same time, educationists in our leading schools desired to bring the best practices possible that could be introduced in the same, which have already been established in the developed world.
Josephine Vaz
International education opens a wide range of avenues
International Education is a better way of approaching various concepts around us by enquiring, analysing, and synthesising information and knowledge that is available to the learner through various sources. The teacher often becomes the facilitator who is assisting students to think for themselves. This encourages the students to solve the problems and find answers to the same.
International practices over age-old strategy
Most of us at schools are familiar with the “Chalk-Walk-Talk strategy” adopted by our teachers. International practices, on the other hand, encourage students to sit in groups, discuss, suggest, and sometimes innovate or at least come to desired conclusions where they own the process of learning.
This is what’s transacted in Education imparted at the school level by Boards like the CAIE-Cambridge or the IBO -International Baccalaureate Organisation.
When students are exposed to these ways of learning, i.e., life skills that concern cooperation, collaboration, and good communication get inculcated, confidence and self-esteem build up. Positive self-esteem is very critical to our performance in any sphere of life.
Why students are attracted to education abroad
Foreign universities in all developed economies provide students an opportunity to continue with better practices so that they can acquire and process the information and add it to their knowledge. This is one of the many reasons why our students look towards the UK, Canada, USA, Germany, Netherlands, France, and Australia for Undergraduate and Postgraduate education.
The eligibility criteria for admissions in the Foreign Unis. is not only academic prowess but the holistic approach where the student has participated in sports/debates/dance/drama/and such co-curricular activities and super curricular activities like the MUN.
There are entrance tests like SAT, AP, ACT, and so on available in our country for an additional effort and additional fee which help students in a long way.
Hope for a reliable future in the Indian education system
The ‘deadly virus’ of private tuition and competition among them may not be so rampant in these advanced countries so students can enjoy their school and college life with activities that encourage them to reach out.
With NEP 2020 expected to come to fruition by 2025, I sincerely hope as a teacher that all students in our country get admitted to the discipline of their choice within India.
Many new age universities have been established in the country today. With Delhi University and Bangalore University providing dual degrees, IIT Madras, and IIT Bombay providing learning opportunities in Humanities, state institutions are playing their role. Universities such as Ashoka, Shiv Nadar, OP Jindal in and around NCR(National Capital Region), Plaksha at Mohali, CHRIST in Bangalore, Krea in Andhra Pradesh, FLAME at Pune, Anant in Ahmedabad, etc despite being private institutions are renowned. St Xaviers and NMIMS in Mumbai, Atria in Bangalore, and Vijaybhoomi in Karjat are a few of the many liberal Colleges that provide Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology (PCMB) as pure sciences as well.
Many institutions in this emerging nation will provide opportunities for our students to get educated in the country and then be further prepared to become global citizens at their workplace. In the words of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, I say ‘Jai Jagat’ to the students and their aspirations.
The author is the former principal of Jamnabai Narsee School, Vile Parle.
