Is Kapil Sibal right?

Before we begin, let us first congratulate Kapil Sibal for taking on the task of reforming the education system in India. He may be right or wrong, but the fact that he is trying to do something is in itself commendable.

Ok, since I have done my good deed for the day, let us look at the key issues involved starting with Sibal himself. He is a colourful personality and Wikipedia says that he obtained his MA in History from Delhi's prestigious St Stephen's College and LLM from Harvard Law School, USA.

Sibal wants to get a system of grades that will replace marks. In a way, this is a great idea because it reduces the tension on students and parents and will definitely reduce the number of suicides in India among children, which, in itself, is excellent. But before bestowing praise upon Sibal, we have to study one other factor competitive spirit.

A few years ago, I took some classes on Sherlock Holmes at a popular school that doesn't have exams for students. The students were brilliant, but somebody I know, who is associated with a premier management school, said that children from this school didn't do well in the MBA field because, though they were extremely clever, they lacked competitive spirit.

Speaking of my own experiences, though I have reason to dislike the education system in India I'm an undergraduate and I dropped out because I could never follow lessons in school I don't think that you can throw it out, hook, line and sinker.

This is because no matter how bad it is, it is the standard. You can either come up with the system, or you can come up in spite of it and this is also equally satisfying. Many of my teachers told me that I would never learn English, but I went on to write a book on Holmes, and it was satisfying to prove them wrong. Though the system caused me a lot of heartburn, it helped me because it enabled me to show that I was an exception to
its rules.

But the issue about education is never about those who succeed because of or in spite of the system. What happens to the others? The ones who study and still fail in life and the ones who don't study and don't succeed? Can we create an education system that can help people with poor skills still make a decent and honest living? Or will we only be able to create a system that honours the clever and shuns the stupid?
These are questions that Sibal will have to contemplate before making any changes to the existing
educational system.