SCHOOLING FOR EVERY DAY LIFE

SCHOOLING FOR EVERY DAY LIFE

Education is the process of instruction aimed at the all round development of individuals, providing the necessary tools and knowledge to understand and participate in day to day activities of today’s world.  It is the only wealth which cannot be robbed. It builds character, provides strength of mind and increases knowledge.

The education sustains the human values which contribute to individual and collective well-being. It forms the basis for lifelong learning and inspires confidence to face challenges. It provides the skills to individuals to become more self-reliant and aware of opportunities and rights. It also enhances the ability of individuals to manage health problems, improve nutrition and childcare, and plan for the future.

                The education not only impacts on human development and economic growth, but also is the fundamental requirement of democracy. Through education people become more responsible and informed citizens.

Concept of Schooling

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students (or "pupils") under the direction of teachers. The school is a highly structured and closed social environment with rules and regulations. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools. The names for these schools vary by country but generally include primary school for young children and secondary school for teenagers who have completed primary education.

          In ancient India, schools were in the form of Gurukuls. Gurukuls were traditional Hindu residential schools of learning; typically the teacher's house or a monastery. During the Mughal rule, Madrasahs were introduced in India to educate the children of Muslim parents. British records show that indigenous education was widespread in the 18th century, with a school for every temple, mosque or village in most regions of the country. The subjects taught included Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Theology, Law, Astronomy, Metaphysics, Ethics, Medical Science and Religion.

Under the British rule in India, Christian missionaries from England, USA and other countries established missionary and boarding schools throughout the country. Later as these schools gained in popularity, more were started and some gained prestige. These schools marked the beginning of modern schooling in India and the syllabus and calendar they followed became the benchmark for schools in modern India. Today most of the schools follow the missionary school model in terms of tutoring, subject / syllabus, governance etc.with minor changes.

SCHOOLING IN INDIA

          According to the 2009 Right to Education Act, schooling is free and compulsory for all children from the ages of 6 to 14. The schools are established in order to provide access for all children to primary school or its equivalent non-formal education. The main objective was to reduce overall dropout rates, increase average learning achievement levels and reduce gaps in enrollments, dropouts, and learning among gender and social groups. The state governments maintain the expenditures on elementary education at the state level. The Indian education system is structured as follows:

• Pre-school: Education at this level is not compulsory. The Montessori system is especially popular at the pre-school level
• Private playschools: Catering for children between the ages of 18 months and three
• Kindergarten: This is divided into lower kindergarten (for three- to four-year-olds) and upper kindergarten (for four- to five-year-olds)
• Primary school: First to fifth standard/class/grade (for six- to ten-year-olds)
• Middle school: Fifth to eighth standard/class/grade (for 11- to 14-year-olds)
• Secondary school: Ninth and tenth standard/class/grade (for 14- to 16-year-olds)
• Higher secondary or pre-university: 11th and 12th standard/class/grade (for 16- to 17-year-olds). This is when students choose an academic area on which to focus
• Undergraduate: A BA is a three-year degree. Specialised courses such as medicine and engineering can be longer
• Postgraduate: A 2 year course

TYPES OF SCHOOLS

• Public/government schools: Most schools in India are funded and run by the government. However, the public education system faces serious challenges including a lack of adequate infrastructure, insufficient funding, a shortage of staff and scarce facilities
• Private schools: Since many government schools do not provide adequate education, Indian parents aspire to send their children to a private school. Some expats choose to send their children to private Indian schools
• International schools: There are international schools in all major cities. They are attended by expat and Indian children
• National open schools: Provide education up to the higher secondary level for children whose schooling has been interrupted and have been unable to complete formal education
• Special-needs schools: Provide non-formal education and vocational training to children with disabilities.

BENEFITS OF SCHOOL KNOWLEDGE IN EVERYDAY LIFE 

The aim of school education and learning is to bring pupils out of darkness into light . This view focuses on learning outcomes in terms of knowledge gained. Going to school enables a child to ‘read and write’ which are important things in everyday life. 

Literacy, one of the most tangible products of schooling, is considered as highly relevant in everyday life. Parents recalled how their school going children assisted them in communication . Children on their part aspired to gain the literacy skills for their own use in everyday life and to assist 0their parents in communication.

 Numeracy skills acquired through schooling enable children to do simple arithmetic calculations and even keep records. In local discourses non-school going children are often teased that ‘they should have gone to school just to know that one plus one is equal to two’.  Literacy is considered a significant aspect of school knowledge and an inherent quality of the educated person. Literacy leads to new possibilities for accumulation and sharing of knowledge.

 Individuals who acquire literacy skills in reading and writing use it in practical matters such as reading and writing letters, as well as reading other material like the Bible and newspapers. Similarly literacy in numeracy skills enables one to do simple arithmetic calculations and even keep records. Such skills are relevant for individual and societal functional needs in everyday life and are highly cherished.

 School knowledge is believed to equip children with credentials necessary for entry in the job market. Schools are the gateway to the job market since they prescribe who is educated and who is not. Schools engage in the production of educated persons by equipping students with knowledge taught through the formal curriculum. Through learning students acquire a series of competencies .

School Knowledge and Its Relevance to Everyday Life Holland 1996: 2) and thereby increase their chances of success in everyday life, for example, getting a good job. Modernity is the dominant discourse in the production of educated persons in the study schools. An educated person is also a modern person distinct from others in the community. Through their formal classroom lessons teachers espouse ideas that link school education to modernity. The school transforms children and distinguishes them from the “unschooled villagers”.

School knowledge is considered to introduce children to modern values and improve their chances of success in everyday life. In the public sphere schoolchildren are expected to behave differently – dress nicely and maintain proper hygiene. The practices and values surrounding schooling have found their way into the fabric of community life where styles of living of the educated persons are admired.

The school presents students with an opportunity to acquire a modern identity through formal learning and social practices at school. Children are aided in this process by drawing upon a shared understanding of success and how success works to form a valued and legitimate self. This opportunity to express self and develop autonomy is offered and supported at school. The formal educational experience of learners was also found to contain a wide variety of informal experiences of relevance in everyday life. This experience has often been referred to as the ‘hidden curriculum’ – lessons taught unknowingly by the teachers and school personnel .

The experience of being in school transforms an individual’s worldview and consequent experience of every day life. The concept of time was specifically pointed out as something that tremendously changes with the experience of being in school. Adults pointed out that by experiencing school life students learn many aspects of daily life including marital, parental and occupational roles. Students experience from the way the school days are structured that time is a resource that can ‘be put to best use or wasted’. This aspect of school knowledge was said to be useful in planning or arranging one’s daily activities in a way that ensured efficiency . Women with some level of schooling have been found to plan their lives better, take care of children appropriately and seek health care promptly.