On Friday 27 Aug 2010 4:23:27 pm Hilaire Fernandes wrote:
Personally I have worked both in school and factory (when a teenager), I never thought the two were related nor common: in a factory it is noisy, it is stinking, boss are not particularly friendly, they don't want what is good for you but only the job done. All the opposite a student find in school as today...
You cannot extend the observation of a single school to all the schools.
It is easy to guess Toffler did not have this experience...
Toffler is right on the target with his observation when you consider schools at large. In India, there are many alternative education systems, but by and large, the state school systems are designed and administered centrally. Each school is run like a factory with specific time slots for specific subjects only. Teachers are hired, trained centrally and deployed across the state with no consideration to local needs. So you find a good swimmer being posted to a school in highlands! Lessons on desert plants go on during peak rainy season! Teaching happens, but not learning. Budgeting is by inputs (buildings, dress, desks and benches) and not outcomes (competencies). This whole system is being challenged and reformed but it will take some time because the rot is broad and deep.
There is one aspect where I wish schools behaved like factories - TQM. When a student fails to complete 12 years of education, I wish the State really throws all its resources to get him/her back on track and fixes the root cause.
Subbu