Ashok Sharma
Technology has had a great impact on education. Education has passed through many stages since man learnt to read and write to communicate his feelings and thoughts to others.. Initially, there were Madrasas and Pathshalas to impart education in our state.In the 1880s educational institutions such as SRML school and Tyndal Biscoe school were opened in our State under the rule of Maharaja Partap Singh.Further progress in the field of education occured and in due course of time,more schools and colleges were opened in our state under the rule of Maharaja Partap Singh and then ,Maharaja Hari Singh to impart education.After independence, the system of education underwent a sea change.
Various Commissions were set up from time to time to review the prevailing system of education and give their recommendations to revamp the system of education in accordance with the changing times.So the system of education kept on changing and modifying according to the changing needs and objectives.Now with the implementation of flagship programmes such as SSA, RMSA, RUSA etc, unprecedented expansion of the educational network at all levels has taken place to achieve the cherished objective of quality education for all.Thus, the face of education has changed a lot with the change in times.Presently more emphasis is laid on the role of technology in the process of teaching -learning.But sad as it is the system of education has been commercialised and the relations between the teachers and the students are deteriorating.
So far the olden times are concerned, there is some nostalgic charm and mystery about those good old days when, though educational facilities were not so many, there were strong relations between the teacher and the taught and the teachers were deeply reverred by their students.With the change in times and rise in socio economic conditions coupled with modern technology,the educational paraphernalia used in those days has vanished. I rememeber the times of 1970s and eighties when we used to study in a Primary school housed in a single room.We, as students were asked to write on a rectangular woodan tablet/plank /board called ‘Takhti’ or ‘Phatti’ which had a handle of its own and which formed an inseparable part of the paraphernalia of the bag of school going children.It was coated with white or yellow clay/limestone,dried in the sun by being swirled it up and down and made smooth by rubbing it with a round and cylindrical part of a bottle.We used to write on it with a reed pen called kalam which our teachers and parents helped us to make with exact precision.The roshnai or ink was made by dissolving black granules of ink in water in a glass bottle and capped with plastic cap.We dipped the straw or reed pen into the inkpot and wrote on the plank to master the art of good handwriting.While doing,so we would soil our hands many a time or spill the ink on the plank which we used to absorb with the help of a sponge.Teachers would be very strict and their writ used to be final.Those were the days when questioning a teacher or not listening to him was considered an act of extreme indiscipline and disrespect. However, teachers would award ‘good’if the handwriting on the ‘Takhti’was good otherwise they would ask us to rewrite something on the takhti.A teacher was always considered right and he was held in high esteem by the students and the public.In rainy season, it was extremly difficult to dry takhti.So, we would keep it near the open hearth at home to dry it.The day at school would always end with recitation and drilling of multiplication tables.
As most of us had no umbrella, we would turn back the corners of empty plastic bags to make a hood to cover our head or tie a piece of cloth around our head and upper body called ‘giddu’and walked to school with soggy shoes.Sometimes, we had to pass through narrow flooded paths full of dirty water emitting strong smell of cow dung and human excreta.At other times, we would wait for four five hours for the flooded rivers till their water receded and then cross the rivers with five -six boys forming a chain and crossing cautiously lest somebody should fall down and be washed away with the strong current of water.As we progressed, we were asked to solve sums based on division, multiplication, addition, subtraction etc.on a chip called slate with slender pieces of chalk.We used takhti and slate upto 5th class for playing simple games too.As we passed 5th and got admission in the sixth standard, we were introduced to the English alphabet.We were allowed to use kalam, holder and fountain pen but using a ball point pen was not tolerated and if used, it would invite the wrath of the teacher.We were also asked to join the letters of English Aphabet in a cursive manner to improve our handwriting. Now instead of slate, we had a notebook called ‘rough notebook’ having coarse and inferior type of paper to solve different sums and note down what different teachers taught us.On the first page of the notebook, something like Jai Mata Di was written. Cricket scores, some games were among the other things which were written on it. As we moved to higher classes, this coarse notebook, often the cheapest one, would serve the twin purpose of noting down sums and the diary, writing the names of someone special, especially in the Hr.secondery/ College classes, often in such a manner that only the writer could read it our most ‘precious’note book.This notebook, often the cheapest one, was the most valuable and treasured one and was never shared with anybody lest somebody should go through the secret thoughts of the writer.The writer would prefer tearing those pages, chewing them and throwing rather than letting others read them.The ‘Pilot’ gel pen, the ‘Parker’ pen and the ‘Chinese’fountain pen were considered a luxury and status symbol and a matter of pride. And yes! One thing didnot change-that peacock feathers to have the blessings of Goddess Sarsawati with the belief that one would learn quickly if one kept these things and rose petals put between the pages of the books/notebooks. Those were the hard days travelling miles in scorching heat or biting cold to receive education, especially at secondery and Hr.Secondery level.But adversity has its own reward.We would learn the valuable skills of problem solving, helping eachother in need,humanity,acting independently and working as a team.
Now latest technology such as ICT Labs, Smart Classrooms, Computer Aided Learning , Online Classes etc.are used to impart education to the students right from the elementery classes.Chalk Board has been replaced by whiteboard and chalk by Board marker and the coarse but valuable rough notebook has mysteriously disappeared with no need to pen down the innermost thoughts, thanks to the expansion of social media.However, those days had a charm of their own and students vied with eachother to master the calligraphic skills,tables of two and half, one and the quarter, quarter to two and the like.Invasion of laptops, desktops,I -phones, mobiles etc.has threatened the beautiful art of handwriting which has been practised for thousands of years and commercialision of education has ended the useful habit of self study.People have become used to memorising cheap and prepared notes and sending typed messages through social media.These messages cannot convey the love, affection and closeness which we could be conveyed through beautifully hand written messages.The social skills that developed while playing marbles, gulli danda, santolia, chor-sipahi or while helping eachother cross the flooded streams, discussing new thoughts and ideas while walking miles to schools are sadly missing these days in the fast life of modern technolgy.Therefore, the need of the hour is to find ways and means to develop these valuable skills while making use of technology to gain knowledge.
(The writer is serving as lecturer in English in Govt.Hr.Sec. School, Thial (Udhampur).
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