Stark difference between the education system in India and the US.
The difference in the education system in India and the US has been exposed by two students in India and a teacher in the US.
Two seventh grade students from Chandrapur, Maharashtra, held a press meet on Monday to urge the authorities to make arrangements to reduce the load of their school bags.
According to a report by Press Trust of India, two students from Vidya Niketan School, Chandrapur walked into the local press club and informed the media persons about the burden they suffer carrying the heavy school bags daily.
“We carry a minimum of 16 books for 8 subjects daily and sometimes their number increases to 18 or 20, depending on the subjects for which the classes would be held for the day. Our school bags weigh between 5 and 7 kg and it’s exhausting to carry them to our classroom located on the third floor,” the students said.
The students have to carry a load of 5-7 kg on their shoulders to schools daily. While some parents carry the bags of their children to school, most of the students have to carry it themselves.
The students said that they had approached the school authorities to reduce the burden.
“We had given applications to our principal to consider reducing the weight of school bags a couple of times but the same failed to evoke any response,” they said.
The Bombay High Court had earlier directed the state government to issue guidelines to the schools to reduce the weight of school bags on the recommendations of a committee. Though the state government had issued a circular following the court directive, the schools do not seem to have implemented the guidelines compelling the students to come forward to bring out the burden they suffer.
According to the government circular, the school principals and management must take action to implement the guidelines. It further states that the government would take action against those schools who fail to execute the order.
The duo suggested that the burden can be reduced if the authorities make arrangements to keep their workbook in school.
“There are 8 periods a day on average for which we have to carry textbooks for each subject along with their respective workbooks. In addition, few more books also need to be carried, on some of the weekdays, which prove to be cumbersome,” they said. They are even willing to go on a hunger strike to fulfill their demands.
While the students from India are complaining about their burden, a school teacher in the US has taken a decision to improve student performance in a new way.
Brandy Young, a teacher from Texas has issued a note to parents explaining that no formally assigned homework will be there for students this year.
“After much research this summer, I am trying something new. Homework will only consist of work that your student did not finish during the school day. There will be no formally assigned homework this year,” Brandy Young wrote on the note.
She claims that research has been unable to prove that homework improves student performance. Instead, she suggests that families spend evenings doing things that are proven to correlate with student success like eat dinner as a family, read together, play, and get to bed early.