‘English education’; money - spinning investment

Ajith PERERA

According to Aristotle education is to bring out the best in a person. Even the weakest child is capable of the greatest good even academically or otherwise. No one knows who the children will become in their future. Therefore, the parents invest their hard earned money on their children's education dreaming to see their children become the best. Therefore, in this life long process of education they make a number of sacrifices to widen their children's horizons and to gift them the best.

They believe that education is an investment for the future. They believe that quality English education is the timely need of their children and therefore they struggle to admit their children to a private school or an International School or English medium schools to realize their dream. With the rising cost of living, educating children in a private institution is a Herculean task. But still they, as parents, do not hesitate in doing so because they still believe that education is the best investment for their children's future. Therefore, today education seems to be one of the best investments. Commercial investments bring interest and rewards for better living. That is the main reason why many people invest their hard earned money in their children's education. Although education is considered to be an investment on the part of the parents and children, on the part of the investors, education has become a lucrative business. Education and business are two different fields in history but today it is like the two sides of the same coin.

Since business entrepreneurs (including illiterate ones) have invaded the private sector of education and it has become a lucrative business. In this money-spinning trade, people sometimes become rich overnight. When investors become rich sometimes the parents who send their children to such institutes lose their entire wealth and end up on to the road for having made foolish shortsighted decisions. This is a silent disaster.

Parents who may have been deprived of learning English or of the English medium in their young age somehow make passage for their children to excel in the field of education in English. Their effort is commendable. Certain parents choose private English medium schools, including International Schools, in this regard for better prospects and it is in a way a wise choice. Private schools that maintain certain standards in education would help such parents' dream come true but what about the others, especially English medium schools and International Schools that do not have quality teachers with linguistic capital and subject knowledge.

Ignorance

Parents do not know what is happening in such schools. They may think that admitting their children to an English medium school would gift their children with the English education they were deprived of. Their children may speak in English. Any intelligent child would acquire English or any foreign language in no time.

When their children speak in English the parents are thrilled. Children may speak like parrots but how do the parents know that their children speak "Correct English"? Children of lower grades, like kindergarten, are more for imitation and they naturally say what they hear. Since they do not have an English environment at home they begin to talk with the little knowledge they acquire from their teacher. When they hear wrong expressions or wrong usage they repeat what they hear. The children are innocent. They believe that what the teacher says is the Gospel truth. Unfortunately, parents think that their children speak the correct language.

Quality qualified teachers!

Many managements of private schools recruit any Advanced Level qualified person with little English so as to run the school. They are aware if the qualified teachers are recruited they should be paid well according to their academic and professional qualifications.

The A/L qualified or a diploma holder of any institute can be easily recruited because they need a job and the management needs a teacher to satisfy the parents. What is the use of paper qualifications when the certificate holder is inefficient? The managements of such schools do not bother about quality and they go for quantity. The main intention of such managers is to pay less and earn more.

When children do not perform well at school the parents are compelled to seek the assistance of qualified tutors whose tuition fee is very high. The poor parents who are crushed by the school fees and other payments are burdened by tuition fees too. But still they carry the heavy cross leaving their worldly comforts aside. Tutors coach the students and make them smart. When these students excel in their exams the management of the respective schools put up banners felicitating the teachers and the management. Why cannot the teachers at school fulfil this basic need of their students? What is lacking in some such 'English medium schools'?

Education and business

What are the standards in English? How long will it take the administration of such International or private schools to realize the crime they commit by recruiting the teachers of poor quality and encouraging cheap labour? They recruit such teachers to show the world that they have the required number of staff to attract admissions. What should the administration consider more - quantity or quality? What a lot of donations they collect when admissions are made! Why cannot the qualified quality teachers be recruited and paid enough? Education is an investment for the future of the nation but the managements of such schools invest their money in education and make profit. Therefore, now education is a business in which investors make millions of rupees.

Fluency in English is not sufficient to be a good English teacher. Speaking the language is like driving a vehicle; if there is a break down, the driver should know how to mend it. Otherwise the journey will come to an end. If the driver knows the mechanism of the vehicle, he has nothing to worry. Similarly the teacher should have a good command of the language and should know the mechanism of language or Linguistics. Teachers with educational and professional qualifications will have nothing to worry about in any situation as far as language teaching is concerned.

Society-friendly

Certain people are aware of this situation but they do not bother to do anything because they consider it unwanted or irrelevant. We need to be more society-friendly. As long as we are safe we are happy. That attitude corrupts the whole set up and worsens the problems in society. We are society and society is ours. Therefore, we must consider social problems as ours and voice our opinions constructively.

Education Ministry has an important role to play to maintain the standards of the International and private schools. Regulations should be introduced in recruiting teachers, in paying the teachers and monitoring the syllabi, in maintaining discipline etc.

What is expected of all these is to maintain quality in English education in such schools. Students who are taught in these schools will also finally become the labour force of the country. Children, whether they are taught in government, private or International Schools, they belong to the same community in Sri Lanka and they are the owners of the future. It is the duty of the government and the management of the schools to gift the students with the best they deserve.

The writer is a teacher, lecturer of Child Psychology and Classroom Management