We may not agree with the World Economic Forum which has branded our education system as “mediocre”. This term could apply to a large number of countries. Which does not mean that we should be satisfied with our highly examination-oriented education system. This is the period we are sending tens of thousands of children to the slaughterhouse – particularly those children who come from disadvantaged families in poor socio-economic environments.

An education system has to impart not only knowledge but also skills and values to the students. To be able to achieve such goals, society at large and governments in particular have the moral responsibility to see to it that no child is denied the right to proper and appropriate education because they are socially and economically disadvantaged or live in deprived environments.

The SA RE GA MA PA singing competition for children organized by Zee TV in India highlights the talents that lie hidden in the children and are waiting to be recognised. This year’s competition saw three children from poor backgrounds being the three finalists. A tenyear old boy, Azmat Hussain, who has never been to school and cannot read and write, won the top prize. Salman Ali, who could not pay for the train ticket to Mumbai, came second and Nitin Kumar, who was working in a field growing potatoes and onions, came third. They now have a bright future, not to mention the thousands of boys and girls who, although not “ranked” in terms of academic achievement, were gifted with such musical talent that they would easily compete with adults anywhere in the world.

Here our CPE rat race leaves by the wayside thousands of children whose skills and talents have not been given the encouragement to blossom. We keep putting a premium on academically-oriented written papers only. Half a century ago, gardening and woodwork were part of the primary school curriculum. Worse still we pay superficial attention to the problems children in deprived areas and from disadvantaged families face day in and day out in environments which are not conducive to the learning process.

The British government has only now realized that something has to be done to address the problem. “Too many children are being failed by fundamental flaws in our education system”, claims the Education Secretary (Minister for Education), adding that “the weakest schools are concentrated in our poorest towns and cities”.

The idea is to have “free schools”, not just in terms of state funding, but also in terms of the curriculum – he children

will not have to follow the national curriculum – and other aspects of schooling. Charities and local communities will decide what is best for the children. A change of approach, claims the government, is vital to turn around the worsening situation concerning children from disadvantaged homes.

Children do not “fail” when they do not meet the criteria for the award of a CPE. We are failing them because WE FAIL to “draw out” what is innate inthem and what makes them proud of their abilities in other fields. There is a serious disconnect between our education system and life skills in the real world. Instead of coming up with empty slogans like “a graduate in each family” it would be in the interests of these forgotten children to provide them with the skills that will stand them in good stead in the world of work – provided we do not have you-know-who as Minister for employment.

L'Express

Surendra Bissoondoyal