India scored so low on PISA score at 72 ranking that embarrassed, it pulled out of the Ranking System back in 2013. Indian education methodology remains backward & believes in maxims like “Spare the Rod, Spoil the Childâ€, exposing their inability to treat the child as a unique individual & violating the protection given to child.
Finland ranks best in the world today because it teaches just20 hours a week and 190 days a year. Despite RTE act mandating only 200 days for primary school, state governments violate this by having 235 days and on top of that pvt. schools, in name of syllabus non-completion, gobble up holidays as well. Teachers are strained with 40+ hr working schedule whereas in FINLAND, teacher is the highest respected profession & most desired, not an engineer or doctor. Schools believe in giving more rest to teachers & enjoin only 25 hrs per week to teachers.
Finland schools do not believe in homework, which they believe is their strongest Aspect since children learn other hobbies and spend more time with their parents. Some learn music while others focus on sports. No wonder Finland scores in top 5 in PISA scores as well. In India, intl schools & large corporate schools are adopting Finnish methods by mandating 5-day schools & zero homework. Even CBSE has mandatory 5-day schools & minimal homework.
Some pvt.schools still today use wooden sticks to hit children. Last week, a upcoming school P.T.Sir hit kids ruthlessly with a stick. One kid got hit on Knuckles. He didn’t bother to even assuage the kid who was crying continuously. When the parent asked the teacher, he said he wanted to discipline them. The teacher doesn’t even know that Corporal Punishment is a CRIME in India & that barring the Principal, no teacher has a right to even use the hand on the child.
Several sections protect the rights of the child & allow law to prosecute perpetrators. Summarizing a few:
Article 19 of U.N. convention of rights of child 1989 declares that any form of discipline involving violence is unacceptable.
IPC Section 83 states that any child who has not done any homework or not dressed in appropriate fashion should not incite corporal punishment in schools.
Section 17 of RTE act imposes absolute bar on corporal punishment. It prohibits physical punishment& mental harassment of child.
IPC Section 323 & Section 325 state that causing grievous hurt amounts to a crime.  Supreme Court prohibits teachers from practicing power on children for any reason since a frequently hit child will be more problematic than disciplined.
IPC Section 305 will punish teacher in case of Abetment of suicide committed by a child;
IPC Section 326 causing hurt by weapons or other means
The child has the right to directly take the matter to the lawmakers if there is any deviation to the above. The school shouldn’t encourage such outdated disciplinary methods. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has already given guidelines to end corporal punishment in schools. The guidelines ask schools to refrain from all kinds of corporal punishment, mental harassment and even discrimination on the basis of caste, community and gender. NCPCR forces teachers to give written undertaking that they wouldn't discriminate, cause mental harassment or indulge in physical punishment.
In Maharashtra,government has asked schools to form Corporal Punishment Management Cells for reviewing corporal punishment complaints. The committee comprises of teachers&elected parents (two each) apart from a doctor,a lawyer, a counsellor, a child activist & two students.
Indian education remains backward despite so many new Activity based teaching methods coming up because schools do not practice them. Politicians managing school chains have already destroyed education in the county using their clout. This has led to large number of Alternative education schools getting popular acceptance across the country.
India is afraid to participate in PISA ranking because of its outdated education methodologies. Some changes have been enunciated at National Level like banning homework, school bag size, etc., which seems to have emboldened the govt to participate in 2020 PISA ranking.
Indian education system needs to respect the two most important stakeholders in the education system- the teacher and the child. By straining teacher with rigorous schedules, not leaving time for the teacher to rejuvenate harms quality of education. The more happy the teacher is, better the output. Finland has finest educational output at just 20 hrs a week teaching for the child showing that child learns more from his environment than between four walls.
