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Nov 23 2023

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Rethinking India’s Exam-Centric Education System

November 23, 2023

Context:

  • This article is based on an Editorial “We need an education system that Isn’t held hostage by exams” which was published in the Live Mint. Board examinations are among the key problems of Indian education. Recently, the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023 (NCF) confronted this matter and suggested ways to overcome it.
Relevancy for Prelims: National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023.

Relevancy for Mains: Challenges with Board Exams in India and steps that are taken and need to be taken.

What challenges do students often face during Board Examinations?

  • Mental Pressure: Board exams in India cause huge stress for students and misguide education. 
    • For college admissions, India has too few quality colleges compared to demand. So entrance test competition is fierce causes extreme exam stress and drives harmful commercial coaching.
      • Coaching institutes increase stress to make money. 
  • Career Determinant: Exam scores are seen as judging a student’s worth. Exam marks decide college admission and even future jobs. So students and families feel anxious if their performance is poor, even for just one day’s exam. 
  • Memorization-Centric Assessment: Most board exams only test memorizing tons of facts. They fail to assess real learning, competencies, and curriculum goals.
    • These exams encourage teaching and textbooks to focus on memorization rather than learning and gaining competencies.
  • Faulty Exam Designs: Results vary between evaluators and reliability is also poor.

Role of the new National Curriculum Framework on Solving this Issue: The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) has a comprehensive set of responses to address these challenges.

  • Focus on Competency: Exams will test competencies actually stated in the curriculum – not just fact recall. Steps will ensure exam designers and evaluators are qualified. 
  • Reduction of Syllabus Burden: Exam content load will be reduced.
  • Dual Examination Opportunity: Students can take board exams twice a year and use their best scores. Later exams will be ‘on-demand’ – whenever the student is ready. 
    • This will cut stress as students won’t be judged just on one day’s performance.
  • Common University Entrance Test (CUET): The National Education Policy has responses including a Common Entrance Exam. 
    • But the core solution is to vastly increase the number of good quality colleges in India. This will take sustained long-term efforts.

Conclusion:

India needs a fundamental shift – away from just an extreme exam system towards an actual education system focused on gaining competencies and learning and should change and improve examinations to enable real learning and make genuine assessments of it. The education-distorting marks chase must be done away with.

 

Mains Question: How can India’s education system be reformed to reduce unhealthy competition, make assessments more meaningful, and provide more equitable opportunities for students?” (250 words, 15 Marks)

 

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India China Relations (India Should Not Talk To China — Even If Biden Talks To Xi)

November 23, 2023

Context:

Relevancy for Mains: Effect of policies and Politics of Developed and Developing countries on India and its interests.

India China Relations – Priority & Strategy

  • Differences in Priorities: China wants India to put the border question aside and resume normal political and economic engagement. But for India, the state of the relationship will depend on the state of the border. 
  • India’s three-fold Strategy: 
    • Continual military dialogue,
    • Effort to reduce India’s economic interdependence with China, and
    • Keep political engagement on hold.

Arguments for Change in India’s current approach to China:

  • Diplomatic and Tactical: It suggests that India should not be the only Quad nation that is not engaged in a dialogue with China. 
  • Changing Dimensions of the US-China Relations: As per this argument, the dialogues and relations between the US and China marks a significant shift and it would reduce India’s position and significance. 
    • It concludes that India must reopen political and economic dialogue with China.

Arguments against for Change in India’s current approach to China:

  • Independent Geopolitical Consideration: India does not follow its Quad partners on all steps they take in relation to China. The geopolitical considerations of India’s China policy have an independent logic. 
    • Example: India has not joined the Quad’s freedom of navigation operations in the western Pacific. 
  • Lack of Promised Peace Restoration: China is not promising to quickly restore peace on the border if India resumes political and economic dialogue. 
  • Skepticism about Summit Outcomes: Summits between leaders rarely translate into significant breakthroughs. 
    • Example, India and China’s meeting at Wuhan in 2018 and Chennai in 2019. 
      • The hopes for a reset in bilateral relations after the 2017 Doklam crisis crashed in 2020 when China sought to alter the territorial status quo in eastern Ladakh unilaterally.
    • Also, two summits (in Bali and San Francisco) between the US and China over the last year do not mean there is a change in the structure of the intensifying US-China rivalry. 

The Path Ahead:

  • Increase the Absolute Power: Assessing shifts in great power relations and responding to them is an integral part of any nation’s foreign policy and it’s time for India to focus and work on the absolute increase in its comprehensive national power.
  • Seize the Opportunity: India should focus on seizing the current opportunities with the US and the West to accelerate India’s rise in the global power structure, reduce the strategic gap with China, and enhance military deterrence against China. 
    • As the relative rise in the international system makes India more self-assured in dealing with the great powers. 
  • Follow Current Approach: This is a moment for India to stay the course with its current approach to China. Renewing political and economic engagement does not solve India’s problem of rebuilding peace and tranquility on the disputed frontier. Only credible military arrangements can. 
    • Limiting economic exposure and suspending the political dialogue are persuading China to restore trust and stabilize the border.

Conclusion:

In the complex landscape of India China relations, the question of whether India should engage in political and economic dialogue with China, particularly in the face of shifting global dynamics, has sparked a debate between the need for strategic autonomy and the potential benefits of diplomatic engagement.

 

Mains Question: Discuss the potential challenges and opportunities for India in light of Bhutan’s efforts to normalize relations with China and the ongoing boundary negotiations. (250 words, 15 Marks)

 

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Social Media and Civil Servants: Publicity or Public Service?

November 23, 2023

Context:

Relevancy for Mains: Role of Civil Services in a Democracy and Impact of Social Media.

High Following

  • Influence: The aura of achievement and influence, and the glimpses they provide into the rarefied corridors/offices of power.
    • IAS officers represent genuine social service and achievement.
  • Characteristic: The IAS symbolizes merit and hard work and these are timeless values that will always draw respect from society.

Social Media as an Important Tool

  • Connecting with people to share updates about government schemes and flagship programmes.
  • Share about upcoming national events.
  • A channel of communication.
  • During Covid, social media was a boon as people could directly contact for help.

Significant Examples of Impactful Initiatives

  • Prem Prakash Meena: He launched ‘Nyay Aapke Dwar’ campaign in Uttar Pradesh to solve people’s problems at the earliest. Under this campaign, he goes to the spot conducts on-site inspections, and disposes of the matter.
  • Swapnil Tembe: Through his Project STAR (School Transformation by Augmenting Resources), he pooled in and improved the condition of the Meghalayan schools in the district with whatever resources were available.

Raising Concerns

  • Violation of Principles: Some believe that some of the content shared by IAS instagrammers is excessively publicity-seeking, and violates the ‘principles’ of the civil services.
  • Attention Seekers: Some IAS instagrammers are blurring the boundaries between communicating with the public and trying to attract personal fame.
    • Rather than bureaucratic, most of them have pictures of food, fashion, dogs, religious activities, etc.
    • As per former Chief Election Commissioner of India Dr. S.Y. Quraishi: There is a fine line between being a charismatic public official who is liked by the public and constantly seeking attention.
  • Long -Term Repercussions: Using social media for self-propagation and personal benefit will not hold them in good stead in the long run and will not be favorable for their careers.

The Path Ahead

  • Selfless Serving: As per Dr S.Y. Quraishi, selflessly serving the community without trying to seek fame and personal recognition is a basic characteristic of a civil servant, and trying to gain publicity is not a good practice and cannot be encouraged.
  • Official Name Handling: For communication and information dissemination, the account could be named by the DM of the respective Region despite personal names.
  • Practice Value of Anonymity: Anonymity has long been a feature of Indian bureaucracy.
    • It is the value and practice where the ministers respond to Parliament and the public for government decisions without naming the public officials who provided advice or carried out the administrative action.
  • Need for Guidelines: There is a need for amendment in Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 to include required and sufficient provisions with regulations to social media.
    • There is a need for regulations to prevent potential misuse of social media, preserving the integrity of executive power, and preventing authoritarian tendencies.

Conclusion:

In the age of social media, civil servants can use platforms like Instagram to share their work and connect with the public, but they need to be cautious not to prioritize personal fame over public service, striking a balance to maintain the integrity of their role.

 

Mains Question: The current Internet expansion has instilled a different set of cultural values in civil servants which are often in conflict with traditional values of Civil Services.’ Discuss. (2020) (150 words, 10 Marks)

 

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