Terminators

When I was in school I used to get a standard report card on an A2 or an A3 size paper. My report card had two folds and it contained my progress for the year. It was possible to have this because it contained my score only for my regular academic subjects.

However nowadays in many schools in India and around the world report cards run into many different pages. Today's English grades/scores are on a special sheet and the students are evaluated in Reading, Writing, Grammar, Listening, Speaking etc. The report is detailed similarly for other subjects and also have scores on neatness, punctuality, socio-emotional development, mental development, food habits, motor ability etc. Therefore the reports cards might be called report books. If you are a parent reading this blog or anyone who cares about education ask yourself what is it that you really want your child to be able to achieve?

I think every parent would want his child to be polite to them, should be able to make the right decisions, enjoy diversity and the list is endless.....

I am also asking myself does this report book/card mean anything to the student who is the most important stakeholder in the entire education system? After personal introspection I feel younger kids need to be encouraged for whatever they can do now which they were not been able to accomplish some days, months or years before. Therefore these kinds of report cards might mean a lot to their parents or teachers but they may not be important for a child.

Also in the 21st century the character of the student is being considered equally important as academics. Currently fortune 500 companies need and employ people who have strong leadership qualities, people who can work on teams, people who celebrate diversity and the list goes on... So who do we think really can help students achieve these skills?

A dedicated teacher and a right environment.....

This can only be done if we have great teachers. Today we need teachers who are really interested in overall development of the child and are genuinely interested in creating a global citizen. Otherwise looking at the current scenario it seems that we would create a society full of people who know very well how to write/give/crack a test but cannot do anything else.

Therefore rather than creating test taking "Terminators" we should create a generation who can serve their parents, the society and become global citizens of the world. I dedicate this post to all those teachers working around the world helping children to remain human and who are trying to make a child's learning journey a legacy.