Prof's dream college likely to remain a dream

In the college of his dreams, there will be no written examinations. Students will interact with common people and collect information on tape recorders and by taking pictures. The students will also prepare a questionnaire based on the information collected by them and the evaluation procedure will accord credit marks to the students.

The strength of each classroom will not exceed 20 and teachers will hold one hour discussions with students everyday Sounds a far cry from the present educational system and of course better!

Professor Madan Mohan Vaishnav's proposed educational system definitely has a wider horizon and looks at education from a broader perspective rather than just mugging up text books which hae no relevance in the practical world.

A retired Economics professor, Vaishnav has worked upon a 'Practical School of Self-Education'-and 'idealistic' system of education which rests on the foundation of 'self-education' with minimal interference of the faculty, the teachers and the administration.

The system, proposed as a three-year graduation course and a two-year post graduation course, will have students who will prepare a questionnaire on the subject of their choice after visiting places and indulging in direct communication with common people as well as experts. "This way, students will hae real-world experience," says Vaishnav.

Civics will not be taught in Vaishnav's educational institute. "It will be ensured that they become good citizens though," says the retired professor adding that this will be taken care of by sending them to old age homes, making them obey traffic rules and also by making them exercise their right to franchise.

Taking pictures of events in the city and the environment will be an integral part of the learning methodology. The tools for education will be tape recorders and colored slide cameras through which they will gather their information.

The size of the classroom will also be restricted to 20 students per teacher. Further, the lecturer will guide a batch of five students for an hour everyday along with an hour-long group discussion.

"Everyday, the student's progress on his or her particular project will be recorded and the teacher will submit his report to the office. The aim here is to take personal care of the student," says Vaishnav.

The evaluation method will accord credit marks to the students, says Vaishnav. "Grades will then be given according to their performance within the fixed time limit," says the Economics professor adding that all evaluations will be through viva tests only.

"The emphasis is on maximum interaction with people from various fields like business, defence, police, government, academics, archaeology, medicine, architecture, science and astronomy. There is also emphasis on practical learning than classroom learning and the syllabus will also include national, international and global issues," adds Vaishnav.

The benefits will be many, "Students will be trained in organising administrative and managerial work. They will be more confident and aware citizens, the research projects will be of use to the society and a publication can also be started on that," says Vaishnav.

An enthusiastic Vaishnav forwarded copies of his 'Utopian Education Institute' to Education Minister Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Narendra Modi. But, there is no further development on the issue.

"The CM was keen and wanted me to meet him after taking an appointment. But, nothing happened after that," says a dejected Vaishnav. "Look at our present educational system. The Government is not open to fresh ideas or changes. With this mindset, how will we progress? But I am still trying," said the professor.

Republished from The Indian Express