Academy of the Pacific Rim - I
After eons, a Kadhai Neram update 
Schools in the west belong to one end of the spectrum. Ask any desi about the school systems in the US, UK or any western country and they always talk with some concern about the discipline of those kids studying there. It’s kind of too “free” an environment.
It’s a long known fact that American kids lag behind in Math and Science at the school level.
At the other end of the spectrum are the “premier” schools in India. The PSBB, Vidya Mandirs, DAVs etc which take pride in sending hundreds to IITs. Cool. Congratulations. But how many of those kids are below average when they joined?
My neighbour took his 2 and half yr old for LKG Admission to a DAV nearby. The admission proces includes Rs. 10,000 for donation along with an “interview” for the kid. What in the world would a 2 and half yr old baby girl know?
In a way, I would not blame the school. It’s after all a market. What would the school do if it has targets (so many has to get into IIT, REC, BITS, MBBS) each year. Add to it the prospect of thousands bombarding during admission time every year…. As I said, its after all a market. The one who has more demand calls the shots.
Apart from this, there are the schools of the third kind - Schools that torture the students to mug about each and every line in the textbook and vomit in the exam. The students get marks but by the time they finish college, they lose whatever little joy for learning they have in them.
It is in this context that I found APR intriguing when I read about it. This APR is a very successful chartered public school. APR has no entrance requirements. The students come from low and middle income neighborhoods. 65% are African American, 25% are Caucasian, 5% Hispanic and 5% Asian. When they join the school in the 6th grade, many can’t even read or write. A third flunk 6th grade and repeat, by 9th grade that gets reduced to about a tenth. By the time they finish high school many will be top students applying to Ivy League. How is this possible? That too in a liberalised western environment?. Is it not the equivalent of getting Corporation school kids in India into IITs? More on this later….
February 15th, 2006 at 12:28 am
first time here….can’t agree more on the “market” scenario…making corporation schools reach for IIT.. ?? nice thot indeed…reminds me of the time when i used to teach a basic “intro to computers” to few corp school students in india…The ache, curiosity & gratitude on their eyes on learning something “cool” still haunts me…
February 15th, 2006 at 8:25 am
Very interesting topic. Has been discussed for ages now..and still continues.
I was reading some Economic report today..I think the one that Pres.Bush submitted recently. Hongkong was on top in several academic areas.!! Amazed by that.
US shows up here and there..but I didn’t see India anywhere..not sure why ? Who knows how they do all these stats.
That said, Your thought on Vidya Mandir’s DAV’s etc..are 100% right.!!..The pick the cream and then make Malai Kofta out of it.!! This has been going on forever.!!
10,000 for donations.!! amazing.!!for LKG>..!
I will write again..on this..pardon me for that.!!
Your link on the APR is great. Never knew about it until today.!!
February 15th, 2006 at 8:29 am
its a real sad state that education is taking a worse path…
i had written something before on this and its here
its all market driven and education has become another booming business…
February 15th, 2006 at 9:35 am
hi prabhu,
a very good topic indeed. i have been thinking for a long time, when these schools boast of rank holders, who are capable of achieving this with little amount of coaching. according to me a good school is one which finds out the real talent from a below average and average student and help them score high marks. ivanga nalla padikara pasangaluku nalla coaching koduthu, per edukartha vida, padikatha pasangala nalla padika vachaa, athu thaan nalla school.
btw, DAV pathi solliyiruntheenga. my bro wrote the entrance exam there. he said that the students who have studied in that school till 10th std are also made to attend the entrance with the other students, and only if they pass they can continue in the same school. athavathu, 10th varaikum padikara students ellaraiyum edukkama , romba nalla padikara pasangala mattum thaan edupaanga. remaining students must go in search of other schools.pity those students.
February 15th, 2006 at 10:57 am
I agree with Narayanan Venkittu these schools pik only the most bri8 students and NO wonder they go into the best colleges….
Every time when the 10th r 12th results r out among the top 3 one can blindly say for sure that there wud b a Gopalapuram DAV student….
Education system has bcome more of exploiting money rather than bringing out students skill/talents
PK,
how did u say that ur wrkplace z closeby 2 that of mine???me still wondering how ??
February 15th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
there wont be much expected out of two year old kids..beleive it is either influence or money or both that is needed for kids to enroll into the schools mentioned… atleast in the UKG/LKG level….
it is beyond those classes that expectations arise when kids have to join school.
i joined DAV in my 4th standard. I wrote ans entrance test for that and did well. A friend of mine moved in through influence. so there is a mixture of sorts..you cant say that inteligent kids get in or something.. and how intelligent can one be when one is only 10?
but there are people who came from small villages and are doing fine. My mom studied in the Govt school in her village, in tamil medium and then went on to do B/Sc in english medium and then onto a govt job.
Affluence or school alone dont just matter. They may be influencing factors in the success of an individual…but the lack of these wont deny success…beyond a level, it is all upto the individual..and in this case the poor kid!
February 15th, 2006 at 1:57 pm
abcd,
welcome here!
spelendid work u’ve done for the corpn school kids, try to continue on those lines wherever you are!
February 15th, 2006 at 2:22 pm
Narayanan sir
you are most welcome to write anytime
February 15th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
NK
read your post. kalakkal. infact what you’d highlighted abt educated is exactly what APR teaches. more on this today evening:)
Veda,
i just wanted to tell abt APR in a positive way. but looks the issues I’ve raised in the process has been in the minds of so many ppl for so long….
February 15th, 2006 at 2:45 pm
sri
actually i had no intention to take on DAV in particular though i dnt agree all the elite schools method of taking in students.
rather than criticisng something plain, i thought i would highlight some some good institutes run even in US where u r not suppsed to punish a child, etc…
February 15th, 2006 at 2:47 pm
and sri,
me one corner, u the other corner of the same road maybe:)
when i commented on your blg, i got a “delivey failure” mail which gives yr official mail id…
thats how i guessed
February 15th, 2006 at 3:04 pm
monu,
>>there wont be much expected out of two year old kids.
exactly. then why interview?
same with entrance exams in 4th std.
see typically all these schools would like to take the very bright students or the students whose parents are educated and can spend hours on their child every day and teach. typically the process discriminates ppl from less privileged background.
have u seen any body from lower middle class backgrounds or anyone who is a first generation school goer in these schools?
for the child to study there, the parent has to be a graduate or above..
In the 10th and 12th, they take students who score 90 and make them score 100.big deal!
all schools do that. not just the DAvs. All the biggies do that to a great extent.
i agree that u need not be from good colleges to come up in life.
i am one example. thats a diff. issue altogether.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
Hey Prabhu valid discussion. I was from the government school RKM Sharada vidyalaya from Chennai. Never see a college campus in life. But now am successful in IT sector and seen atleast minimum 12 countries around the world. I used to rank 35th among the 80 students of a class in that government school. Am I not successful. So its all the ambience, parents, self motivation and good guidelines , yes along with best teachers never mind which status the school belongs to
February 15th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
“It’s a long known fact that American kids lag behind in Math and Science at the school level.”
Dear Prabhu, I am not sure on what basis you made this statement. What was the benchmark? If the benchmark is the level of their Indian compatriots, then the statement is flawed. Any Indian who studied in the US would vouchsafe that the originality, reasoning power and aptitude for research spawned by the american system is streets ahead of the indian system(if that was your benchmark). From what I noticed about americans who goto to college, 10% are weak and 90% are sound. The corresponding stats for Indians is 20% weak, 45% moderate and 35% sound.
February 15th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
talkative,
http://rahulbrown.livejournal.com/14320.html
If Rahul’s article is not enough,
http://ed-web3.educ.msu.edu/reports/policy/ed-briefings/report7.htm
http://www.schoolchoices.org/roo/academic.htm
Plus i’ve had informal interactions with a few NRI’s who r in US in the acamdemics side.
We generally talked about kids who are given identical (read good educational infrastructure and facilities in India and their US counterparts. if your idea is to compare US schools and Bihar govt school, i am not responsible.
just in case u still did not get my point, i am not talking abt the soundness of the system like curriculum etc. i am talking abt the interest levels and the ability of the students who are a part of it.
and i am not talking abt the college levels in the US. I am talking abt the school (school as in primary school, high school etc)
Thanks for stating clearly that this 90:10 rule is your observation
Brilliant:)
More importantly, the purpose of this post is to write something positive of a chartered schoool in US.
February 15th, 2006 at 11:53 pm
PK I wrote a long comment earlier and blogger decided to play up and loose my comment
Anyway, I personally am with the talkative man on this. I think when comparing people should compare like with like, its totally unfair on the ‘NRIs’ to compare selective & fee paying schools like PSBB DAV etc with the local authority run schools abroad and then complain. The local authority schools provide a service whereby they are obligated to provide education for all children without filtering children through selective interviews and parents biodatas, family background and financial status etc. So when comparing PSBBs and DAVs and DPSs people should do so with the private fee paying schools of the west
I have personal experience of having worked with both Indian and English graduates and I do think that the English (Western) system makes people think. And as you know the young lad is being educated in different countries and there are pros and cons of the different types of education he has been dished out, will save my views on that for another day.
Poi oru sooda oru soda kudichittu varen, irunga.
February 16th, 2006 at 5:13 am
I am right now teaching at a community college in WA, USA. I would say that 10% 90% is valid only for universities in US. The community college has few students
who are good in Math and science but are poor and cannot afford to go to universities and many students who are too weak and cannot understand simple logic.
But the weak people do have other options and they can still make money being truck drivers, mechanics, park rangers. This is a different story.
These community colleges are similar to corporation schools in India. Although everything is the same - funds(very less), students background(poor), good teachers are lacking. But I know a lot of friends from corporations schools in India and rural India do shine. Besides..
It is totally different to compare DAV or Padma seshadri to other city schools. Try imagining a corporation school guy from otteri kuppam or a village in south tamilnadu..
In older days when education was available to people in India it
was good. So even my 9th pass grandpa would speak better english and do better math than a 12th pass student of today. Now there is no standard in the education. And education is just not Math and science. This is not only about India.
Siimarly in the US - they try to change the syllabus so much in a way ‘not to pressurize the students’ and the ones who make these make these think they are
being very creative.For example in the US they dont teach kids how to count with their fingers. What a simple idea..they run to find blocks of different colors to count..
For me to frame a simple computer science or Math question teachers make up a long story about how you are a DJ and you sell rock pop records.., blues, Reggae..and it will be just sum of all the CD’s you have..a simple problem explained in two pages. Its all words and no substance.
But these students are already good marketing agents, resellers..they know how to sweet talk very early because the curriculum is designed that way..how to express your opinions clearly.
Originality , reasoning power is also all from this kind of training and all the more ‘funding’. Researchers working on funds have to do more research and reasoning for their thesis..The other day I was watching a public broadcast company telecasting a program. Reasearchers are testing Da Vincis machines..today..Glider, one cross bow..and their idea is to find if Da Vinci had invented the principles years back. Such a research needs lot of funds for these machines to be built tested..
There are many asian scientists and inventors who come here and do their research. Dont you think if the universitites had the latest technology and funds they would come all the way…and get the patent for the americans here.
But america today is having that 10% cream of these inventors in top jobs and universities who have
the facilities and funding and
initiative to excel..But if they dont do something to make the syllabus for their schools better..in coming few years they will suffer.
I have questioned many kids(todays) here in school what they would want to be when they grow old . It is most of the times : COP, join the army,Coding video games, Music Album, Cheer leader, Fashion designer,Manager in Mc Donalds, Fitness expert. None of these professions are bad but compare this to an Indian or Chinese..any Asian kid. Do you see what I see…
February 16th, 2006 at 5:38 am
In DAV there is an entrance exam to join 11th std, minimum requirement to take that entrance test is 85% in ur 10th exams. when this is the case y will not my school send students to BITS and other premier institutions.
February 16th, 2006 at 7:25 am
folks,
i had no intention to start a controversy (not that i am averse) when i wrote this post. those two lines are not the central idea of the post.
WA,
i believe the performance of US schools in maths and science have gone down when compared internationally. there are enough reports and surveys to support this. search panni paarunga..
Like with like na enna artham. u will compare the facilities/infrastructure of third world nation public school with that of developed country. that does not reflect on the student’s ability or keenness, right?
Forget system, teaching methods etc, namma oorile neraya schools la building a irukadhu.
thats why i said comparable in all levels.
i totally agree our education as a system sucks.
but blame it on factors like “en payyan/ponnu engineer aganum’ kanavu of our parents, our indian kids and asian kids in general do well in maths….
indha rendu line eludinadhukaaga oru post alavukku comments la eludhitten. the purpose of the post innum eludave illa:(
priyums,
well said:)
kay,
ejatlee:) long time no see?
how r u?
February 16th, 2006 at 10:38 am
barbienan,
sorry, missed yr comment.
very valid points:)
February 16th, 2006 at 1:11 pm
Nice post Pk, my uncle daughter is studing PRE-KG for her the school collect Rs.10,000 for a year. the popular schools are avoiding to give seat for below average students, and giving seat only for good learning students for keeping there school at no.1 every time. if they continue the same our below average students can think about there higher studies. near myy house, there is a boy, he is intersted to study, but he cant remember the leasons, when there parents take him to a popular school to join him, but they saw his previes school report card and dint alow that boy, now he is studing in a small metriculation school, but there teaching is very poor.
February 16th, 2006 at 7:15 pm
oye Kay enge ivlavu naalaa hiding? Nice to see you
February 17th, 2006 at 8:48 am
We also have to blame the job scene. Most job adverts especially in the IT sector as for ‘excellent academic record’ , degrees from specified colleges/universities and consistently 70% and above marks etc.
This even for people with 8 years and above.
I too have attended many interviews in India. The main stumbling block was academics. There have been many cases where the tech people were desperate and chose to interview and select me. The HR invariably then comes in and refuses citing lack of BE/BTech from good colleges etc.
Here in the US, nobody cares about my academic qualifications. All they want is performance. They dont care what I did in college 15 years back , only what Im and can do now.
I also hear of cases where resumes are filtered and rejected at the outset if they dont posess the right degrees. This by some lowly HR clerk or even the security person in case of paper resumes.
So we cant really blame parents alone.
February 17th, 2006 at 11:09 am
mahesh
spot on, i could not agree more. even in last wednesday’s paper, i saw TCS asking for 60% throughout, no correspondence courses blah blah..
vilangaadha pasanga
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