Although the experiments were simple, the questions they posed were interesting to the kids, and they were curious about the results. Also the kids were free to choose the topic of their project, i.e.; whatever piqued their natural curiosity (which are many things) ! I’m not sure how scientists are made but this seems like an interesting way to start. Instead of following strict rules, let them ask questions and work towards the answers.
I’m filled with something approaching awe, with this concept. Seriously. When I did my schooling, science was this subject where you answered pre-decided questions, not ones you thought were interesting. But to create the new generation of thinker, researcher, scientist one must allow him/her to think out of the box, not be subject to memorization and learning by rote. Scientific curiosity at it’s most basic level does come from one’s innate curiosity of the world around oneself, and if you tamp that down, then you force that child to not think creatively.
My nieces and nephews who are approaching the 10th grade or are at the 10+ level in India, have their lives blighted by unending classes, both in school and then after school. The after-school tuition teacher (and sometimes it’s the same school teacher giving tuitions!) will prep them for subjects being taught in school, and generally gets them to complete their syllabus well before it is finished in school. Then they do revisions and more revisions. And all these tuitions they go to – they go because they have to, it’s not like they are hungering for knowledge that their class teacher cannot provide them. And there are many reasons – everyone else is going, peer pressure, parental pressure, that big question about getting into a good college after school.
Seems nasty – but so it is. Few colleges and lot’s of students. Kapil Sibal recently decided to do away with the Boards, which is great. But seeing that that does nothing to increase the number of colleges, the problem still remains. The student-college disparity will have to be resolved somehow. Just because the Boards go away doesn’t mean that the fear goes away too. The kid’s school performance will still be judged and the seats in colleges will still be accorded to those deemed the most “worthy”. And the rest of them ? Perfectly intelligent, able kids, who don’t make this artificial “cut” will have to resort to the second-best thing.
There are still too many kids who want to go to college, compared to the number of colleges, and only those who make it through with scarily high percentages in school or the entrance tests will get to study where they want. In this rat race, what dies first ? Yes, the poor kids suffer, but among those who survive schooling, the need to learn, actually learn, takes a backseat to getting those high marks. And that is such a pity.
The prime need here seems to be to lessen pressure in Indian students – by establishing more colleges and reduce the amount of learning required at the school level (after all the ones really interested will learn what’s necessary in college anyway). If everyone who wanted to go to college could, and didn’t have that noose of having to score 99% hanging above their heads , maybe kids would actually be interested in the stuff they were learning ?
