Getting to Know International Contacts - Part 3

Dr. Sriram reports that much like the United States, the issue of equity and excellence in education needs to be addressed.  She reports that one huge issue in India is the major differences in resource levels.  Although there are now more people in the Indian middle class than the entire population of the United States, it was not that long ago that more than half of the population made less than $1 a day.  There are many "stret dwellers."  It is also a very young population.  40 percent of the people in India are under the age of 18.  With so many children, it becomes increasingly difficult to reach all of them.  Providing all children with equitable educational experiences is certainly not happening in the current system.  Home life reflects this as well, as for many children, there may be no reading material in the home, and the parents may be illiterate.  

Another issue applies to educational settings.  The British heritage in the educational system is about rote repetition and a teacher focus, reminiscent of the teaching practices many teachers are forced into utilizing the United States as a result of increased assessment and rigorous standards.  While this style may be effective for some children in some ways, it is not consistent with what we know about learning and young children.  Dr. Sriram would like to focus more attention on building conceptual knowledge through deep exploration rather than fact recall.  

In her experience living in India, Dr. Sriram has visited many educational settings.  She reported observing preschool classrooms where two-year-olds were sitting quietly on a bench "obediently," and other settings where they where young children were actively involved in exploration and interaction.  In these cases, the inequity is clear.  Similarly, she reports observing programs in which minimal funding has led to limitations in resources and supplies are hard to come by.  Some programs are unable to afford scissors or new crayons, Dr. Sriram suggests.  In some settings, however, funding flows from the wealthy and their programs have very nice things.  All children in India deserve a high-quality education, unfortunately, great inequity currently exists.  Dr. Sriram would love to see more funding available for early childhood programming, as she continues to advocate for young children and their families.