HYDERABAD: On World Student’s Day, which is observed on October 15, the birth anniversary of former President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, students from the city have sought more practical knowledge than what they currently receive in schools. This is especially so for students from government school, who are deprived of on-field and outdoor classes.
According to Sunitha K., a government school teacher, because of shortage of books and teachers, students are usually put into group activities which not everyone can understand. At the end they are all marked the same grade. This may be beneficial for some students but it will not help them in the long run, she said.
She added that although teachers can understand the limited learning capacity of students, they can hardly do much due to a lack of resources. In private schools, students are graded on individual projects but they struggle to understand the assignment and homework given to them.
A Class 8 student, Kanan Patel, said that he was asked to write what he understood from a particular poem.
“I wrote what I understood but was graded less than the others even when my project was more colourful and was submitted on time. I got to know that the teacher wanted us to write what the poem meant in the textbooks rather than what stemmed from our imagination and understanding.”
Often, private school students feel that the activities they are given need more understanding and the grading system must be clearly explained. A Class IX student, Priya Singh, said that she was asked to conduct a science experiment related to fungus developing on bread. While it worked out for a few of her friends on time, it took a little longer for her and she lost marks for late submission.
“Another project required me to make a light bulb. It was prepared very well at home but did not work in school. Instead of giving me an additional day, my marks were cut. This is not fair,” said Priya.
On the other hand, government school students expect better behaviour from teachers, some of whom tend to hit the students. The government school teachers said that they do not hit students except in a few instances and came up with the excuse that students needed to be disciplined.
Some students also said that earlier they were randomly given full marks for activities even on non-submission. They added that teachers cut marks only for late submission as some students are least bothered about the activity. Teachers clear doubts if asked, they said.
