| Curriculum design and student capability |
Education |
 Looking at my son's textbooks I wonder if I would pass the twelfth standard, if I were asked to do so. Today's eighth standard studies more advanced sciences and mathematics than I did in my graduation. The reason is obvious - explosion of knowledge in the past two decades. So what was high science then is now elementary. Which means that the student today not only carries a bigger satchel on his back, he has to stuff his brain with greater amount of information and data.
Each student is different
 On the other hand, forces of human evolution endow the subsequent generation with greater prowess, be it intellectual or physical, depending on the lineage. That is to say that all the students are not gifted the same way academically. Some cope with the increased burden by increased number of study hours, better learning techniques, additional coaching etc. There are others who still would not be able to cope with or without the above efforts or aids. Simply they are not equipped to tackle your differential calculus and salt analysis at the age of fifteen or so.
This is where curriculum designers are left with not many options. They try to match the knowledge-explosion rather than the differing capabilities of students themselves. And they have on their hands the unenviable task of having to prepare the students to be ready for the engineering courses. None seems to want arts, pure sciences or pure mathematics! (That is a sad story and calls for a separate discussion). Students too are under pressure to score astronomical marks bordering on the centum so as to gain entry into a course of their choice.
 Different streams at different paces
Now the question is whether two or more streams are possible whereby we enable a student to keep his own pace, matching his intellectual equipment. Now also we enable them to do this by failing them in a class, thereby undermining his confidence in himself. A glimmer of hope seems to be appearing on the horizon with the advent of online education. The Net has opened up universities where people can pursue any course, any time, anywhere and at a pace that suits his requirements. But then still Net education is in its infancy.
With the changing scenario, brick and mortar education too will have to adopt itself. It is high time all those educationists, educational psychologists and administrators put their heads together and came out with a solution. This has to be done before the younger generation is pushed to the wall and loses faith in the system altogether.
S. Ganapathi
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