Tweak school syllabus to resolve controversy

 

From Moaz Nair

The school syllabus controversy, as aired by some teachers, needs to be addressed professionally.

A static syllabus may remain for years but a flexi syllabus is dynamic and can be suitably tuned to cater to the real needs of students without teachers facing much stress. It is high time our schools adopt a flexi syllabus in their curriculum.

Teachers, not armchair educationists or the “know-all” non-teaching experts and consultants, know best what and how to educate students. Armchair teacher education is a product of failed policies in various countries. They spend huge amounts of money paying “consultants” to come up with educational blueprints which more often than not turn into naught.

These educationists sit in a cosy office, producing only theoretical work without spending time in schools with teachers and students. They etch out syllabuses on what teachers should do without observing and taking part in the performance and the wanting tasks of teaching and learning in schools. There is little insight from students and teachers in these syllabuses.

The consequence of this policy discrepancy could be damaging to teachers and students. And the effects may often be irreversible.

Dealing with large classes

Research has shown that one factor contributing to stress among teachers is the students’ inability to cope with the heavy and superfluous contents of the syllabus that must be covered within a certain span of time. The syllabus contents can be beyond what the students can digest, as they are prepared at the top level by those who have little exposure to the real problems.

Dealing with large classes constitutes a real challenge to every teacher in developing countries. They face a diversity of students and are hampered by a lack of flexibility and facilities as they try to cope.

The situation is worsened when teachers are bogged down with too many classes and extraneous paperwork, giving them too little time to pay individual attention to their students.

Only a flexi syllabus will enable teachers to concentrate on difficult study topics until they are cleared up. It can also provide an extra incentive to the fast learners by teaching beyond what is required of the syllabus.

Added to this, teachers are required to set a standard to meet their own KPI and that of the superior officers. So, stress could be a reason why some of them opt for early retirement.

The syllabus is often blamed for students’ failure to complete their formal education. The use of a standard syllabus and examination for all students – slow and fast learners – has not created a fair and favourable learning atmosphere in schools.

What more when there are too many irrelevant subjects to learn and the syllabus is loaded with irrelevant content to meet the flavour of some politically connected officials.

Back to basics

In the local context, perhaps the ministry may have overlooked the fact that there’s nothing more practical than going back to the basics in teaching. At times, without a reasonable grounding in literacy and numeracy skills, students will lose interest in their studies when the syllabus demands that subjects taught in school be grandiose and extensive.

Adopting a flexi and dynamic syllabus and giving more autonomy to classroom teachers to create lessons and content and handle students will make teaching less stressful. Teaching content should best be improvised by teachers to suit the students’ specific needs and ability and not be solely decided by those who do not face the real classroom setting.

The path to success in a progressive education system is when the school curriculum caters to students’ varied interests and abilities.

Armchair teacher education has failed

Armchair teacher education, too common in some developing countries, has failed to address the needs of teachers and students.

Teaching is a highly embodied process and profession. The ministry should listen to the grievances faced by teachers, not only to those so-called educationists who design the curriculum and syllabus.

The gap needs to be closed to reach achievable goals in education. Political and social dynamics may lead to armchair teacher education, and the onus is on the authorities to look into this. - FMT

Moaz Nair is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.