My Expectation About Education

The following essay was submitted by me in the institute essay competition on the occasion of the National Education Day:11th Nov (2009). Though it did not fetch me any prize, I definitely enjoyed writing it and expect the viewers to have the same feeling reading it. So here it goes...

Education is the treasure of a lifetime that cannot be bought, inherited or bargained. All one requires is a heart to learn, and an appropriate place that enhances the process of learning. The quality of education delivered from such a place, usually a school, college or some other similar institution, depends upon the sincerity of the learner and the efficacy of the educator. A proper mix of both the aforesaid components leads to what is called ‘A Complete Education’, one that the student can make use of, as a guide or a tool in the life that awaits him after his formal education is finished. Since I am a student undergoing Higher Education, I would like to confine myself with my expectations from Higher Education. 

I would like to start my discussion right from the point of entry into the college where I presently stand. AIEEE is one good test held every year for admissions into NITs (just like IIT-JEE, BITSAT etc), but the problem starts right there. Education in the area that one is interested in is hard to come by. Students who were highly committed to learning and academic achievement during their senior secondary education might be seriously dissatisfied or disillusioned if they find their academic success at school has been rewarded with a course they find uninteresting or unchallenging. Hence, I expect the education system to try to the utmost, for the dissemination of courses of choice to the students. Higher Education must be such that it fulfils significant functions in our society as well as extols the value of research, both ‘curiosity-driven’ and ‘use-inspired’. It must enable personal intellectual autonomy and provide skills formation and educational qualifications to prepare individuals for the workforce. Effective learning is facilitated by effective teaching, and every institution should focus on the needs of its undergraduate and postgraduate students. A learner-centred institution will ensure that students acquire and develop knowledge and skills that are relevant to the individual, employers, professional associations, labour market and society. They will inspire learning for life.
There must be equality of opportunity in higher education to allow individuals to fulfil their potential, regardless of their personal circumstances and backgrounds. There should be no systemic barriers to participation. There should be provision for the varying needs of students from different backgrounds. Special intervention measures may be needed to encourage participation from groups that are under-represented in certain areas, or to sustain their success, including ‘second chance’ opportunities and dedicated support. Higher education institutions need to generate new ideas, solve problems, improve products or processes and adapt to new and changing environments. The need to be innovative relates not only to improvements in teaching and learning but also to the direction and commercialisation of research and engagement with industry, research institutions and other education providers.
One major expectation from the educational institutions is small class sizes and more teacher to student ratio. With large class sizes and limited teaching staff, students have less access to staff for individual attention, which most surely leads to degrading knowledge transfer process. Moreover, it is easy to uncouple from the university experience if the academic and social net allows you to slip through, perhaps more so when the external world offers multiple distractions and opportunities. If this is the case, then the solution is clear: teaching staff should work more intensively with students during the first few weeks of the year. There must be highly intensive, highly structured academic courses, especially those with small cohorts allowing the development of strong interpersonal rapport between staff and students.
Motivation is another important factor that needs to be kept in mind by the academic authorities when taking steps for the improvement of the university courses. There must be held regular workshops introducing interesting concepts of respective branches, so as to inspire students to indulge into their fields of interest with increased vigour.
The other areas where institutions need to focus are better educational facilities in classrooms and labs as well as new and innovative teaching techniques. Even the sport and extra-curricular facilities provided to the students must be good enough to attract students in order to ensure their all round development. Also, there needs to be a systematic renewal of the undergraduate curriculum. Universities need to carve out a new model for the undergraduate curriculum — conceived broadly so as to embrace what is taught, how it is taught, and how learning is assessed — based on sound educational principles and an understanding of the new realities of the social context for higher education. Not only this, the curriculum must be such that the fundamental concepts of the subject are stressed upon and the concepts are taught ‘step-wise’ such that there is always a link between the current topic and what was taught previously (for better understanding).
Lastly, the idea of ‘student centeredness’, which has become a widespread slogan, must not be interpreted by the academics as the idea of student-as-a-consumer. Student- centeredness brings an emphasis to student needs alongside, or ahead of, institutional/academic priorities. This does not imply, or should not imply, a narrow or thoughtless reactiveness to student expectations. Student-centeredness means educators making informed decisions in relation to students’ developmental needs and placing the best interests of students at the heart of planning. 

Before ending this discussion, let us see what the universities can actually do to come up to the expectations of the students. In the first instance, university advertising and information dissemination needs to incorporate a strongly educative dimension. In addition, greater efforts are needed to manage expectations during the early formative period of university enrollment. This is the time during which much of the lasting nature of the student university transaction will be established and universities need to work extremely hard during this period to influence expectations and capture student engagement. Also, an institutions’ education programme must emphasize both physical and mental development of the student. Sports and other extra-curricular activities are extremely important for a student's healthy growth. After all, all work and no play will certainly make him a dull student! It must not be forgotten that student expectations are not set in stone —they can be influenced and better managed by universities.