India once was the epicentre of learning. Today it appears to be in a mess; the desire of learning is simply missing. Indeed, the quality teachers (gurus of the past) too have becomne a rarity. Government schools are in a shambles. Though government teachers are well paid, there is complete lack of supervision in these schools. The result is chaotic. I know of teachers who cannot name the days of week and cannot spell them properly. At least that is what we see in the teachers who have been recruited in large in Bihar on a fixed salary. It is not just English. They can't write properly in their mother tongue as well. It is simply a case of no body doing his or her job with any degree of sincerity or efficiency. Teachers don't read. Therefore, they cannot teach. If situation is somewhat better in some big schools, it is because of supervision and the fear of being thrown away. Go to any public school, you find the basis of language not taught at all. I mean they do not lay the foundation of grammar. They simply cram up things. And there is this tendency of not taking suggestions/corrections in good spirit. Since the desire of learning is not there, those making mistakes continue to make mistakes. We always encouraged our peers to point out mistakes so that we could rectify them. Today, if we try to tell them of their mistakes, we are asked to mind our own business. We are asked to accept 'tooti-footi English' as a necessary evil or even part of our life.
If education suffers today, it is because we have contributed to its downfall. While supervision is the key, the question that should disturb everybody is who is going to supervise whom. The other day I happened to visit a very prominent school at Patna. Prominently displayed on several walls including in the principal's chamber I found a notice that read like this:"Admission to all classes are closed". I was there on an academic mission and the principal was lecturing me down on the quality of English of his school. When I drew his attention to the notice, he politely told me that admission was closed. Obviously, the mistake was not obvious to him. But I do not let go a mistake like that. I asked him 'what is closed: admission or classes? He replied:admission. "Then should your notice not read as: admission to all classes is closed?" Or, why don't you simply say: admission is closed?
Clearly, education has ceased to be education. It is now only a business. But the problem is--our governments cannot even do business properly which is why while public/private schools are thriving, government schools are stagnating. If the government schools are to compete with the private schools, infrastructure must improve. That means you must get the quality teachers. They may not have done B.Ed or M.Ed just as Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam or Dr. Amartya Sen have not done any of these. Yet their credentials as teachers cannot be questioned at any level. There are quality teachers in our midst as well. You have to find them and demonstrative method is the only correct method to find them. Let loose a class to them. They will be tested. Since students have to be taught, let these teachers be evaluated by students.