Q.3) The first Child Education Summit was a conference of the students. by the students, and for
the students - in thought, spirit, participation, and enthusiasm. It was a platform for students to
voice their thoughts about the current curriculum and workload, and its effect on students.
Education, they felt, is about learning, but the child's daily struggle through homework,
inescapable tuition, coaching classes, and aggressive competition among classmates is leading to
health and other problems among children. Students also voiced their concerns about the current
examination system. The pie chart on the next page shows the students' vicws on the problems with
our education system.
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You are Tanya Pant, President, All India School Students Forum. Write an analytical paragraph
about the fears expressed by the students at the Child Education Summit and their suggestions to
the Chairperson, Central Board of Secondary Education, in not more than 120 words, using the
informalion given above in the pie chart, your own ideas and ideas from the unit Education in your
Main Course Book
Answers
Explanation:
It is children who are the primary stakeholders of education. Yet, when do we ever really listen to them? From making them shut up in class when they ask difficult questions to choosing their career for them, we have always treated kids as well, kids!
But we forget that when it comes to education, they are the primary consumers. So, UNESCO MGIEP in a very positive twist, invited a panel of children aged 8 to 13 to explain to an audience of educators, ministers and policy-makers about what changes they want to see in their classrooms right now.
The UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) held the third edution of its annual global Ed-Tech conference, Transforming Education Conference for Humanity (TECH) 2019 last week in Vishakhapatnam.
"UNESCO MGIEP is committed to drive change at all levels and therefore for the first time we have invited a group of young students (age-group of 8 -15) for their views to shape the current and future education environment," Prof Anantha Duraiappah, Director UNESCO MGIEP, said at his annual TECH talk.
The five children in the panel discussion all of whom hailed from a local Andhra Pradesh school were - B Shyamala Joyce of class 10, Amrut Desai from class 5, M Vaishnavi of class 4, Ankur of class 8, Aparijita Sanyal of class 8.
The kids interacted with Nandini Chatterjee Singh, Programme Specialist of Science of Learning at UNESCO MGIEP, who was moderating the panel discussion.
As the students got up on stage, tones of Baahubali rang out and Nandini explained how at UNESCO MGIEP, they were "thinking of turning the tables and going for child supervision" rather than adult supervision when it comes to education.
Why were children called to a serious education conference?
Even as the world is fast developing and kids are turning out to be much more mature than we give them credit for, they are not given a second thought for serious conferences, even when thy concern how their school life will pan out.
The children's panel was organised for the first time at UNESCO MGIEP's annual education summit in order to design the future of education systems through their lenses.
The young change-makers were called to inform the education policy-makers about what these primary stakeholders want from the education system. It went a long way in breaking age barriers and changing the very concept of eho decides the education policies.
UNESCO MGIEP invited these change-makers with the aim of breaking age barriers and learning from learners themselves.
7 things children want their teachers to know
Here are the key highlights of the panel discussion about what children really want from the education system.
1. Do you like school?
1. Do you like school?2. Is there anything you would like to change at school?
1. Do you like school?2. Is there anything you would like to change at school?3. How do you feel about class timings?
1. Do you like school?2. Is there anything you would like to change at school?3. How do you feel about class timings?4. Are exams an issue?
1. Do you like school?2. Is there anything you would like to change at school?3. How do you feel about class timings?4. Are exams an issue?5. Do exams get boring?
1. Do you like school?2. Is there anything you would like to change at school?3. How do you feel about class timings?4. Are exams an issue?5. Do exams get boring?6. Would other kinds of evaluation systems like opting for acts of kindness work?
1. Do you like school?2. Is there anything you would like to change at school?3. How do you feel about class timings?4. Are exams an issue?5. Do exams get boring?6. Would other kinds of evaluation systems like opting for acts of kindness work?7. What changes would you make if you were the school principal?