CAN WE DECIDE
Can we decide the right time to put our children in schools? The High Court in India is in a dillema whether to listen to the Committee Report, School Authorities, Parents or just allow children not to be put under pressure at a very young and impressionable age.
A child today enters the arena of guided education from the age of 2 to 3 years. Is it just and fair to put a child under pressure when he is so young and delicate? It will not be unfair to suggest that a child starts the education process while still in the embryo stage. The development and growth of the child till a certain stage is totally dependant upon the behaviour pattern of the parents and their habits. It is also a fact that all children have a varied degree of competence and intelligence at a pre pre-nursery stage. The background of the parents and their social standing has also got a direct impact on the childs intellectual level.
The second major aspect is to compare the exposure a child gets in his tweeny days. A house full of modern gadgets and toys compared to one with less exposure would produce two diverse personalities with different levels of understanding of the world. The attitude of the parents towards the child will have discernable effect.
The committe has recommended the abolition of nursery classes ( pre nursery obviousy stand abolished) and have recommended that this part of education be handled by local play schools. The regular schools however do not want to do away with nursery classes. The complete scenario has developed out of a thought process where the parents feel that the present system is putting too much pressure on young minds.
In a typical scenario as above the guiding principles need to be firmly laid down. A single opinion of one committe may not be the answer. This kind of a situation would be confronting all nations. It may be better understood at International level.
It is to be understood that learning is a continuous process and no two individuals of the same age can have same amount of intelligence and knowledge. It may therefore be theoretically very difficult to fix a minimum age for a child to go to school.