Teachers: Kids lacking skills

Hyderabad: A recent survey has revealed that more than 55 per cent students in Hyderabad, 53 per cent students in undivided Andhra Pradesh and over 50 per cent students across the country entering a class or grade, lack the skills required for that level. This signifies low orientation of the assessment system that primarily focuses only on exam results.

The “Pearson’s Voice of Teacher Survey 2014”, was held taking into account the  views of 5,145 teachers from schools and higher education institutes across 247 cities and towns in India. Of them, 92 per cent believed that personality development was the most important benchmark for measuring learner success, followed by preparedness for higher education and lastly jobs.

They also said that they were least satisfied with support from parents and policy makers.

More than 76 per cent expressed that declining student motivation and interest in studies and activities was inhibiting them from being able to teach better, 65 per cent felt that it was the mismatch between syllabus and learning needs and some felt that the focus of students and parents was more on the exam results than on learning.

“Surprisingly, 79 per cent of the teachers said that the learning environment had improved over the past decade. The perception varies as school teachers found it more favourable, with 93 per cent expressing satisfaction, whereas 71 per cent in higher education said they had witnessed a positive change,” said Deepak Mehrotra, managing director, Pearson India.

The survey also revealed that the teachers considered real-life and practical exposure as the key factor in driving learning outcomes, followed by technology integration into teaching, training on new methodologies and improved curriculum and assessment.