The
Background: Azim Premji Foundation’s induction program for the inductees of
the 2012 batch is a month-long
program. After the first week at the Wipro Learning Centre, the next two weeks
of the program are being conducted at the Azim Premji University. This part of
the induction program seeks to introduce the inductees with the concepts of
‘education’ and ‘development’.
Besides workshops by other academics, this part
of the program has also included workshops by eminent educationist Dr Hriday
Kant Dewan, aka Hardy. Following his discussion on education policy on Day 3,
Dr Dewan conducted an interesting activity on Day 4. This activity sought to
bring out a child’s learning capabilities at the age of 5 – the age the child
generally starts going to a government school. The activity was conducted by
dividing the batch into 6 groups, and each group was assigned to discuss on the
topic for about 10 minutes and prepare a presentation on their findings. Later
the groups were also assigned to discuss and present on a child’s learning capabilities
after 5 years of education or at the age of 10. The capabilities were to be
grouped as understanding of ‘mathematics’, ‘language’, and ‘environmental
studies’, after categorizing them as ‘knowledge’, ‘skills’, and ‘values’.
The
Deliberation: It is a commonly-held
notion that every child is unique in his/her learning capabilities. But, a
holistic look at 5-year old
children’s learning abilities brings out certain common features. As far as
knowledge is concerned, a 5-year old
child, when s/he normally starts going to a government school, starts acquiring
knowledge on academic subjects like mathematics, science, social science,
language, etc. Bedsides academic knowledge, s/he also develops rudimentary sense
of reasoning. The child also develops certain skills, in very limited
proportion, such as reading, writing, oration, recitation, counting, logical
reasoning, series formation, differentiation, imitation, crisis management, self-defence, sporting skills, etc. As for
values, the child develops senses of mental security, respect, morality, curiosity,
eagerness, likes and dislikes, love for parents, siblings, friends, etc.
These three categories can again be re-grouped under three academic subjects –
mathematics, language, and environmental studies. Skills like counting, logical
reasoning, series formation, etc can be grouped as mathematical understanding.
Skills and values like reading, writing, recitation, oration, imitation, etc
can be grouped as language understanding. The rest of the skills and values,
such as, crisis management, self-defence,
differentiation, mental security, respect, morality, curiosity, eagerness, likes
and dislikes, love for parents, siblings, friends, etc can be grouped as environmental
studies understanding.
This division and categorization can be
extended to children who have completed 5 years of education or to 10-year old children. Children who have
completed 5 years of education in a government school develop higher level of
knowledge, skills and values. S/he also develops additional knowledge like
general knowledge, an additional language, etc. As for skills s/he acquires
additional skills like leadership, rudimentary techabilities, dressing sense,
etc. S/he also develops advanced values like spirituality, religiosity,
friendship, groupism, attraction towards the opposite sex, etc.
The
Conclusion: Moulding the future of the country depends on moulding the kind of
primary education imparted to the children. Children, till the age of 10,
remain most vulnerable, and hence are most mouldable into better citizens. The features
presented above are mostly general in nature. The knowledge, skills, and values
that children acquire depend on respective familial and social environment they
are brought up in. It is upto the relevant government authorities, voluntary
organizations, and teachers to identify the learning potential of the children
and impart holistic quality education in a favourable environment.
