quality education issues

  Quality Curriculum                                                                                      A quality curriculum is as impor...

 

Quality Curriculum                                                                                     

A quality curriculum is as important as the quality teachers. The purpose of a curriculum or any educational program is to achieve diverse goals that might have been designed “within a framework of theory and research, past and present professional practice, and the changing needs of society” (Parkay, F., Standford, B.H.& Gougeon, T.D. (1996). Without a quality curriculum spounds students learning may not happen.

 

Essentially, the quality of students’ learning is strongly determined by the type of curriculum that is in place in the education system. A curriculum must contain the elements which will enable teachers and students to explore and enhance the multiplicity of innate potential the learners possess and must also align with the learning styles of the learners. The nature of the curriculum should be not only gender sensitive and inclusive but also outcomes oriented (Glatthorn & Jailall, 2000). All curriculums is supposed to be learner-centered, of a standardized design and free from discrimination, particularly in terms of cultural diversity, multiple intelligences, in-born talents and the vested interests students have for their own learning.

 

UNICEF (2000) points out, “National goals for education, and outcome statements that translate those goals into measurable objectives should provide the starting point for the development and implementation of curriculum.” Curricula must entail reliable and contextualized studies, whereby, the three domains of learning, namely psycho-social, affective and cognitive aspects are available to our students. UNICEF (2003) robustly puts forward the view that while designing the curriculum, an emphasis should be on deeper learning areas rather than just a broad coverage of some aspects of knowledge. It is believed that these learning areas are inevitable attributes. To cite an example, a doctor without a good knowledge on values and attitudes is more likely to fail in life. The curriculum is expected to be value based education containing literacy, numeracy and life skills putting more emphasis on child-centered method of teaching (UNICEF, 2000). Raising the standard of academic curriculum provides an opportunity to embody the interests and skills of students, hence is more likely to ensure the future of the students than exposing them to a de-personalized curriculum. A sound curriculum can help to achieve educational goals of producing well qualified, skilled and motivated future citizens in the nation.

 

Quality Learning

 

Figure2.  The Second Part of TLS Model of Quality Education

 

Quality Learners

Good health, nutritous diet in early childhood, and nurturing psychosocial experiences contribute to producing quality learners in the schools. McCain & Mustard (1999) as cited in UNICEF (2000) maintains that children learn well when they are healthy physically, socially, and mentally. A healthy childhood life, in particular, for the first 3 years, renders a base for a good life for academic outcomes to flourish later. Good food, a balanced diet can provide children with opportunities for a wholesome development. For instance, a child who has good health is less likely to miss school and continuity of the teaching learning process in the class. Regular attendance enables a student to do well in class and in both curricular and co-curricular activities in the school. There is a strong correlation between healthy learners and a quality education.

 

Fuller, et al (1999) demonstrates that children who attend the school consistently do well academically and as a result, this significantly influences achievement. To cite an example, Miske, Dowd et al. (1998) found that students who went to school regularly in Malawi had significant gains in learning and minimal repetition and dropout rates. Good curricula and  teachers are rendered ineffective if the learners are passive, disinterested or frequently absent from school.  The Figure 2 on page 5 shows the quality learners and resources contributes to quality learning.

 

Quality Resources

Well appointed and stimulating classrooms and adequate teaching-learning materials have a significant bearing on achieving quality learning. The school facilities are likely to be important along with curriculum and good teachers in order to produce a quality teaching-learning process. Fuller (1999) strongly argues that “empirical evidence is inconclusive as to whether the condition of school buildings is related to higher student achievement after taking into account student’s background”, however, in India, a study has been carried out by Carron & Chau, 1996 who sampled 59 schools, out of which only 49 schools had buildings; 25 schools had 1 toilet; 20 schools had electricity; 10 schools had 1 library room each and 4 schools had 1 television set each. The study found that there was a strong correlation between sufficient resources in schools