As the population of India exploded, the youth occupies the largest share in the demographics of India which make education the most vivacious aspect for India. With the world average of 86 percent, the rural literacy continues to stand at just 69 percent according to the Census of India.
The first step towards change begins at the bottom, i.e. The Primary Education. It is the most basic stage of formal education that forms a foundation of understanding for children. Based on that foundation, the rest of education is further built. Yet, the state of Primary Education is somewhat upsetting.
Nevertheless, a bright light shines at the end of the tunnel. With the progress of technology, the process of teaching and learning is bound to become more interesting and practical. If used the right way, there’s nothing that one cannot achieve. Of course, the future won’t only be limited to technology, but it’ll start it off.
Here are a few future trends that will shape the primary education in India
Use of Technology at Teaching Level
Millennials are so much into technology these days that education can’t help but include technology in some form or the other. Some of the top schools work with the latest and advanced practices introduced through technology.
Smart classes with the help of a popular tool called Google Classroom, are one of the newest developments taking place in primary school, especially in urban areas.
3D printing is another technology that helps to give shape and form to the imagination of young, creative minds. Creating real-life models paves a road to creativity.
Virtual reality (VR) is another feature of technology that real-life experience to students. Just like 3D Printing, it helps in enhancing the classroom experience of a child.
The revival of Indian Languages
India is a land of many languages. Sanskrit, Hindi, and a few other local languages were part of the Indian education system. As the competition with International schools has increased, geographical borders blur to bring a common platform to people and Indian languages have been compromised. However Hindi still remains 3rd most spoken language and primary schools will not overlook its importance.
Ed-Tech Startups
According to a study by IBM Institute for Business Value, 90 percent of Indian startups nosedive within the first five years and the most common reason is the absence of innovation. Keeping that in mind, there are many Ed-tech startups in the country currently that are changing the face of the education sector. With online courses and other means of e-learning, starting right from pre-school, these startups aim to play a leading role in the industry’s future. Banking on the fascination of kids towards technology, Edu-tech startups are definitely here to stay.
One-On-One Mentoring
The growing rate of the number of students fails to co-relate to the sluggish rate of the number of teachers, creating a massive divide in the student-teacher ratio.
On the other hand, mentoring is a theory that is going to play a major role in primary education in the future. Besides being a relationship between a teacher and a student, Mentorship offers much more. It is fluid enough to exist between a senior and a junior as well, offering social and emotional benefits to school students
Increasing Literacy Rate among Parents Lead to Fewer Drop out Rates
Literacy is an enormous tool that decides the fate of the nation along with the individual. The dropout rates in Primary Indian Schools have increased in the past few years. The main cause of this problem seems to be the poor literacy rate among parents. The value for a child’s education has not been inculcated in them as much as they value their daily income, which is why they prefer sending their children to farms instead of schools.
Elevating the rate of literacy is of extreme importance and who could be better ambassadors of that though than parents themselves?
Skill-Based Education or Vocational Education
These jobs usually focus on primary skill sets such as people management, teamwork, and compassion according to the need of the hour. Human virtues are in the lead, leaving behind academic prowess in the big race. Some certification might also be considered void in the future, making the idea of learning more practical.
Therefore, skill-based education is going to be the way to go in the future. Hobbies might help children to enhance their intrapersonal and interpersonal skills. They are important in helping the children learn new skills and discover within themselves the concealed talents that they may possess.
The Future
Modern learners must devour, assess, and integrate constantly changing information in highly-dynamic and visible contexts. Evaluation of knowledge will see the capability of students to combine high-value content areas as leading indicators of understanding. “Mastery,” “expertise” and related terms come from a time of the closed and institutionally-controlled system of education. New notions of “mastery” will focus on things like media literacy, problem-solving, networking, and other critical strands of a fresh, technology-driven society.
