Technology in Indian education system
It is not every day that one of the world’s largest technology companies announces a new CEO. So when Google announced the restructuring in its top hierarchy with Sundar Pichai, formerly senior vice-president of product and engineering becoming its new CEO, it undoubtedly occupied the media space worldwide, more so in Sundar’s country of birth, India.
Technology, by itself, is a disruptor. One of India’s contemporary advantages is its “much-hyped” demographic dividend. Developed countries have largely completed a “demographic transition” phase—the transition from a largely rural agrarian society with high fertility and mortality rates to a predominantly urban industrial society with low fertility and mortality rates. During this transition, the labor force temporarily grows more rapidly than the dependent population. With this dividend there is a great potential for economic gains. India is presently in the early part of its demographic dividend, this will last for another four decades. A third of the population is under the age of 15, more than half under the age of 24. There are two aspects that determine the extent of benefits reaped from this population dividend: education and employment. I will restrict the scope of this post to just education.
Indian education system has more than enough woes. Technology can help solving or reducing lots of these woes. One of the primary ills of our education system are the dull, drab and sometimes outdated text-books, deterring interest on the subject content. Interactive ebooks and activities can conjure more attention and interest among students. Also, these books can be updated and distributed more easily. Problems with attendance and drop-outs can be tackled with a repository of recorded classes and videos. This can help students to go on in their own pace of learning. More visual and interactive learning allows students to repeat and revise an activity, think out of the box, thus enhancing creativity. The adoption of interactive and visual learning allows students to get a more real glimpse of the workings of a field of interest and guiding them in choosing their career path. In the present system, lack of proper guidance results in misplaced assumptions and misguided choices. A more connected learning place can easily share ideas, devoid of institutional hierarchy. Together these can foster a joy of learning and reduce the burden on students.These are very broad ideas. But things should move faster in this direction and they come with their own challenges like cost, teaching skill, electricity, internet connectivity, educations standards, syllabus etc., yet these can be tackled with proper planning and execution by both the government and the civil society.
A nation develops in relation to its achievement in education. Education is the live wire of a nation’s industries and also the foundation of moral regeneration and revival of its people. And no nation rises above the level of its education.