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Articles: My Thoughts | Money 'Matters'
- Mr. Ratnakar Sadasyula
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Money 'Matters' in Schools
The wife and husband were both dhobis working in Bangalore. They worked hard, saved enough money, and decided to give the best education for their son. They approached a reputed public school in Bangalore to admit their son. They were willing to pay the hefty amount which the school charged as, all that money had been saved only for their child’s education. The school however rejected the boy, in spite of his impressive credentials and the fact that his parents were in a position to pay the money. The reason, as his parents were dhobis, they could not provide the right guidance to child. Now let's look at some simple questions here.
Why did the parents want the child to join a good school?
In the belief that the school would provide him the guidance and knowledge which they were unable to give. They wanted to give their child a good education, so that he could be in a much better position. Poor souls, they didn’t know that the schools had long ago abdicated their responsibility and are too busy making money, to think of things like providing guidance, knowledge and wisdom. Did the boys’ parents being dhobis go against him?
A school’s duty is to admit students irrespective of their background, the only thing mattering being their academic credentials. When the school is refusing a person an admission just because his parents are dhobis, isn’t it creating a sort of apartheid. Isn’t it sending out a message, that people belonging to a certain class or maybe even religion is not welcome. Where the schools should be promoting diversity and tolerance, aren’t they creating a narrow community of privileges. Aren’t they creating a group of students, who feel that they are inherently privileged?
The bitter truth is our education system has become a rotten, stinking cesspool of filth today. Dominated by commercial interests, the actual purpose of education has become redundant.
I grew up in a normal middle class family. My father was a Govt. doctor, and though his earnings were modest, he could put me and my sister into a decent school. Today I earn more in a month, than what my father earned in a year. Yet I dread the day, when my elder daughter starts to go to school. I really don’t know if I will be able to afford the exorbitant fees. I already have people advising me to start booking or getting high level recommendations. Education should be the fundamental right of any citizen for any country that aspires to be called as a developed nation.
Why is it that I have to pay a fortune for this fundamental right? The ordeal begins with the application form itself, which comes at a very high price. And then begins the most disgusting part. Interviews for kids who are hardly 4-5 years. I want to meet the genius who came up with this idea. And when I meet the person, if it’s a he, I am going to thrash him so badly on the road that he won’t even be able to walk for the rest of his life. And if it’s a she, I will give her the worst verbal abuse she has ever heard in her life, because as a rule, I don’t believe in lifting a hand on a woman. The kid is just 4 years, still innocent, can’t even put a proper sentence together. His or her thoughts would be on games, picture books, and you want to interview these kids. Kids who cant even spell the word. Come on yaar, they can’t even tell their name properly. How in the world do the honorable authorities think of interviews for them? And these are learned men, hell no; they are just a bunch of morons. What next entrance tests for kids?
Whenever you complain of the large fees, these schools have a standard response “Quality education”. If paying large fees means quality education, does it mean most of us have had sub standard education so far? But wait sir, these schools have a way of maintaining quality. Simply weed out all the academically weak people, retain those with a percentage of 98 and above. Well for sure, you know that when you have all the bright students, you will certainly top. But wait is it not the school’s responsibility to make a weak student good, a moderate student better and the bright student the best. Oh no sir, we have forgotten all that long time back. We are too busy thinking of how to make that extra pile of money, we don’t have time for such noble values. They are all for fools.
Of course to impart Quality Education, you need quality teachers. And what is the quality of teachers in today’s schools? Pathetic. In one way its good my daughter has not joined school yet, because from the day she does, I am on the look out for any teacher who teaches crap, and God forbid she does that, she will regret that I joined my daughter in that school. I can say this with experience, as my mother herself is a teacher, and she would comment on how bad most of the teachers are. But if you want good quality teachers, you have to pay well. And considering the pathetically low level of pay in most private schools, which qualified teacher, would want to join. All you have is a bunch of bored housewives or some one looking for a part time job, and you certainly can’t expect them to provide proper guidance. I heard of a prestigious international school which charges a fortune from its students, and that pay their teachers a mere 6500.
Money, money, money that’s all that matters. The schooling system has just become a vast money making machine. And to cover up that, we have the farce of interviews for parents and the talk of Quality Education. Most of our schools have become havens of juvenile delinquency. Drugs, teen sex, late night parties yeah all the elements of the American school system, minus the good points of course. A truly intelligent boy is rejected because his parents were dhobis, but what about the background of the pervert who took clips of the intimate moments he had with his girlfriend and then sent it over MMS. What was his background?
Rabindranath Tagore wrote a poem about the world not being divided by narrow walls, and clear stream of reason not losing it’s way. But today we have failed him, failed him miserably. Instead of breaking walls, we are building walls. The only reasoning we do is with money. Tagore must be certainly turning in his grave today.
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