Terry Pratchett on education

Over the weekend, I found myself re-reading parts of Hogfather, a novel by one of my favorite writers, Terry Pratchett. It is an excellent book, if you enjoy comic yet meaningful fantasy fiction. This post isn’t about Terry Pratchett, but about a striking, intelligent comment on education in the book.
Now working as a governess and teaching and looking after children, Susan, an important character in the book, recalls her childhood and upbringing and realizes:

It had been a good education, too. But it had only been later that she’d realized that it had been an education in, well, education. It meant that if ever anyone needed to calculate the volume of a cone, then they could confidently call on Susan Sto-Helit. Anyone at a loss to recall the campaigns of General Tacticus or the square root of 27.4 would not find her wanting. If you needed someone who could talk about household items and things to buy in the shops in five languages, then Susan was at the head of the queue. Education had been easy.

Learning things had been harder.

Susan’s education is of the affluent kind. But, as Terry Pratchett observes, even with plenty of resources, education can suffer from basic, nearly intangible mistakes.

In India, schools would be lucky to have problems at this level though. In the government schools that EFF is targeting, there is at present too much dependence on textbooks of average quality, too much focus on studying for the annual examinations, and there is practically no focus on the actual learning.

You could say that most school-level education in India is focused on just helping students survive the system of education itself, and not on learning things.

With its potential for effectively combining learning with exposure (to the world, to people, to means of communication, to just about everything), we hope that the Education For Free program will help a number of schools eventually rise to a level where they tackle higher level problems regarding the concept of education, its purpose, and the like.

Read a book or two this vacation!

Its summer vacation for schools here in India. A time to visit grandparents in villages, relish mangoes straight from the farm or the market. For some, it’s a time for more classes to hone their talents—singing, painting, dancing, acting, sports and the likes. For some other people it's sightseeing trips to foreign lands. Most of the kids in my colony are into playing cricket these days…I suppose it’s the IPL (Indian Premier League) influence. For the book lovers, I have some recommendations here...I know I know! nothing like beating the heat with a nice book and a cup of butter milk ;)

Journey to the river sea by Eva Ibbotson

I finished reading just last week and totally loved it! Packed with adventure, some romance here and there, nice lil suspense, harmless humor and some wicked characters to complete the plot. This book gives you a beautiful sight of the life in Amazon that you almost want to go and live there. Enjoy the adventure with Countess Maia, the boy from the Xante tribe, Clovis, Miss Minton, the twins and others. Read more reviews here

The witch of the blackbird pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Set in the 19th century, this is a book about a girl who goes to live with her relatives in Connecticut. The tone of the book is serious, and conveys the difficult choices one must make on the way to maturity. Read the preview of the book here

Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

It’s about a little boy who lives with his divorced mother. All through his childhood, he writes letters to his favorite author about his loneliness frustration and his everyday life. The entire book consists of these letters, which start with Leigh as a 2nd grader , and progresses to being in 6th grade by page 10. A lovely book that lets you see the heart of a little boy. You’ll like it even more if you have younger brothers, and young boys will definitely appreciate it! …most times you will find yourself in the letters.. Read More

The secret garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

A spoilt 10 year old Mary Lennox goes to live with her uncle in Yorkshire. she has lost her parents to Cholera while living in India. There she meets her crippled cousin and encounters a life that she had never experienced. Set during the 1900's-1920's, the book teaches you about acceptance and never giving up.
Read more reviews here.

book counting

Over Facebook iRead listing a good friend of mine recently commented that I was ill-read as I had listed only a 100 odd books. While I have read a few hundred books, it is nothing compared to him who has read a few thousand books! (Thanks to a professor father and a university library, grumble!) All I ever read during my growing up days was fairy tales and comics. Our school did have a “library”, but it was kept in the Principal’s office in a steel cupboard where he also tucked away heaps of files. We were too scared to even enter his room leave alone browse for books , and our school never actually required us to read anything other than the textbooks.

A whole range of experience—children’s literature—remained completely unknown to me throughout childhood. In fact, it was only after I joined college that I discovered that there is something called a children’s literature.

Just the other day I happened to drop in at our local British library and was tempted to take a sneak peek at the colorful children’s section (spent more than an hour there, actually) only to be reminded of the opportunity I had missed. I know I said in an earlier post that I loved everything about my school, but here is something that, in hindsight, I wish had been different. I now wish we had had access to a good library with fun books—there are so many to choose from! Newberry, Plumes, Superfudge, Scholastic, Puffin…

Last year when I decided to build up my own library; I started with children’s books. I now keep buying them for my little cousins back home. I’m not sure if they read those books at all, but I know they are not going to miss an enriching experience, and that they won’t have the regret that I do when they grow up. This assurance, my own ever-expanding library, and my compulsive reading give me respite from that regret.