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Ellen Greaves, Ed.D., J.D.,
Executive Director,
Professional Educators of North Carolina |
LEARNING
FROM INDIA:
How Education Policy Has Impacted India’s Rise as
a Global Economic Power part
3
In previous articles,
I shared an overview of our delegation’s trip to
India and some of our observations about the nature of
education in India. In this article I will also
focus on the nature of education in India. In
a subsequent article, I will describe what we learned
from the high tech companies we visited and, finally,
I will set out our suggestions for how North Carolina
can learn from India in making sure that we have the very
best education system for our children.
In 2002, India made
education mandatory for children ages 6-14, currently
a population of approximately 200 million. Of
this 200 million, 59 million (30%) are not in school and
35 million (59%) of those not in school are girls. Nearly
half of the students currently in school will drop out
by the 5th grade.
Funding for higher
education in India is disproportionately high when compared
with the amount of funding for elementary (6-14 years
old) education. The government
pays for and runs nearly 90% of the schools, but many
lack basic structures such as classrooms, toilets, and
drinking water. Nearly 25% of the teachers
are absent on any given day.
The
curriculum for primary and secondary education is set
by the state or federal government. The teachers deliver
this curriculum. When I say deliver, I mean that. Instruction
in India’s schools is from the teacher to the students.
We never once observed a student asking the teacher a
question. There the teacher poses all the questions
to the students and the students respond. When
the curriculum is revised, teachers spend 20 professional
development days learning how to deliver the new material.
The
school year in India is 210 days long, which means students
in India attend school 30 days more a year than students
in North Carolina, or 390 more days over the course of
the K-12 years—more than two years of instruction
more than students in North Carolina.
When you factor in the after school tutoring that many
students in India take to prepare them for their exams
from the middle school through high school, the
gap between what a student in North Carolina receives
in her or his education and what an Indian student receives
is even greater.
Recently, an article
in the New York Times* reported
that schools across the U.S. are responding to the reading
and math testing requirements set forth in “No Child
Left Behind” (and the “ABCs” here in
North Carolina) by reducing class time spent on other
subjects. We have seen that same trend here in
North Carolina as our students receive less art, music,
dance, and physical education, not to mention the lesser
emphasis on those subjects not tested (e.g., civics).
We observed that in India the school day begins at 8:00
a.m. and ends somewhere between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m. In
each day, students in India get coursework in reading,
writing, math, and science along with social studies,
art, music, dance, and physical education. Thus,
not only do Indian students get over two years more instruction,
they also get instruction across all subjects—not
just a few.
Indian students
learn at least three languages: Hindu, English, and their
respective regional language. We
also noted that students in India are well versed in current
affairs worldwide, not just those in India.
At the Salwan School outside Delhi, students reviewed
world affairs each day and were tested on what was going
on in the world. At the
Navodaya Vidyalaya School, a student presented a comparative
history of democracy in the U.S. and India that would
have been the envy of many civics teachers here in North
Carolina … and he referenced characteristics
of North Carolina specifically for our benefit.
The women in our
delegation experienced a special bond with professional
women in India during the course of our visit. One woman
presenter at the State Education Department of Karnataka
(state in which Bangalore is located and serves as the
capital), described their efforts at improving the literacy
of its women. The presenter
was nervous and the women of our delegation made a special
effort to thank her and express appreciation for her presentation
(it was the best presentation of that particular visit).
We noticed that the other women watching responded very
positively to the strong women in our delegation and how
we interacted with the men in our delegation. At
the schools we visited, we asked about opportunities for
girls. I spoke with the principal of the Navodaya Vidyalaya
School, in my role as the spokesperson for the delegation
at that site, and asked her if our observations of increasing
opportunities for girls in India were correct. She
summoned up all of her 4-foot-something stature (I towered
over her at my height of 5'5"), and beamed as she
told me that girls now represented 50% of her students
and that girls were pushing out boys who were less qualified
than they were. She then gave me a high ten, highly uncharacteristic
of her demeanor until then and what we expected from Indians
in general. She told me she believed that those
in the U.S. and India have much more in common than differences.
I left there thinking the same thing.
*Dillon, Sam. “Schools
Cut Back Subjects To Push Reading and Math.” New
York Times, March 26, 2006, Section 1.
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 Dr.
Ellen
Greaves
became
Executive
Director
of
Professional
Educators
of
North
Carolina
in
December
2003.
Dr.
Greaves
is
an
educator,
an
attorney,
and
a
professional
association
manager
with
years
of
experience
representing
state
employees
and
managing
non-profit
organizations.
She
served
on
the
Illinois
State
Treasurer’s
Advisory
Board
on
Women’s
Issues.
She
served
as
senior
staff
attorney
and
corporate
counsel
to
the
Illinois
State
Employees
Association,
representing
approximately
1,000
management-level
state
employees
in
civil
and
administrative
matters
concerning
their
employment.
She
was
a
faculty
member
and
Director
of
Campus
Recreation
at
the
University
of
North
Carolina
at
Greensboro
for
twelve
years,
where
she
built
a
large
and
diverse
campus
recreation
program
culminating
in
the
design
of
an
$8
million
facility
devoted
to
student
recreation
on
that
campus.
Dr.
Greaves
holds
a
law
degree
from
the
University
of
Illinois,
a
Doctorate
of
Education
from
the
University
of
North
Carolina
at
Greensboro,
a
Master
of
Science
degree
in
sports
management
from
the
University
of
Massachusetts,
and
a
Bachelor
of
Science
degree
in
Physical
Education
from
the
University
of
Illinois,
receiving
certification
to
teach
physical
education
in
K-14.
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In
the
last
year,
Dr.
Greaves
has
served
on
the
NC
State
Board
of
Education’s
Task
Force
on
Teacher
Recruitment
and
Retention,
Teacher
Quality
Committee,
Task
Force
on
Physical
Education,
and
the
Special
Committee
on
Graduate
Pay
Approval
and
Non-Teaching
Work
Experience
Policies.
She
is
also
serving
on
the
Board
of
Directors
of
the
Public
School
Forum
of
NC.
Her
responsibilities
at
PENC
include
serving
as
its
CEO
and
influencing
education
policy
on
a
statewide
level.
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| Dr.
Ellen C. Greaves
Executive Director
Professional Educators of North Carolina
309 W. Millbrook Road, Suite 111
Raleigh, NC 27609
919-788-9299 800-542-8844
ellen@pencweb.org |
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