What does quality mean in the context of education? Many definitions of quality in education testify to the complexity and multifaceted nature of the concept. The terms efficiency, effectiveness, equity and quality have been often used synonymously. Considerable consensus exists around the basic dimensions of quality education today.
Education is a complex system embedded in a political, cultural and economic context. It is important to keep in mind education’s systematic nature. However, these dimensions independently influence each other in ways that are sometimes unforeseeable. That is why, if one needs to infuse quality in a complex discipline, it should be done in every sub sector. Otherwise, the desired quality cannot be achieved. [break]
Republica
An ideal system of education, apart from disseminating sweetness and light, also infuses into the minds of students a spiritual quality that may sometimes contrast modern educational institutions. But the present state of education system in our country shocks us deeply, and we cry out in the language of Wordsworth:
“Whither is the field of visionary gleam?
Where is it now, the glory and the dream?”
Quality education has been an apple in the sky for us. In the name of quality education, business institutions provide the stale porridge of dead theories. The term ‘quality’ has been widely abused and taken for granted. These educational newbies are destroying our long established educational norms and values.
As a matter of fact, the definition of quality education must be open to change and evolution based on information, changing contexts, and new understandings of the nature of education’s challenges. New research—ranging from multinational research to action research at the classroom level—contributes to this redefinition. Systems that embrace change through data generation, use and self evaluation are more likely to offer quality education to students. Continuous easements and improvements can focus on any dimension of education quality: learners, learning environments, content, process, and outcomes.
Now, let me switch to everlasting and ever-growing advertisements in the education system. Without advertisement, nothing sells, not even a small bar of chocolate, let alone a giant educational enterprise. Advertisement imparts a psychological impact on viewers/readers. It creates an impression about the brand, while the quality remains doubtful. Maybe this is the reason educational brokers favor advertisements in educational system.
The main goal of advertising is something like this: Get people to read/watch as closely as they can. Get them to feel emotionally for the advertisement. Make sure you have communicated what you intended to communicate. And thus, hook them in. Tell them what they have to do if they aspire to choose a good institution for their education. Tell them your institution is the only place where they can excel, whether or not you mean it.
Most of these advertisements are merely facades, and believing them is like trying to be an Olympic swimmer with an anchor tied to your foot. Advertisements for education should be limited, and if not, they should be informative.
We all have the right to education, and a quality education at that. Quality education should include learners who are healthy, well nourished and ready to participate and learn, and supported in learning by their families and communications. Environments that are healthy, safe and protective should be incorporated.
But, the sad part of the story is that the government promises a gleaming utopia amidst this increasing commercialization of education. Are they blind? The utopian dream can only materialize after every nook and corner of the society has equal access to education. Dissatisfaction is all we get when we are not given what we are promised. I believe: “It is better to be a Socrates dissatisfied than to be fool satisfied.”
The author is a PhD scholar and lecturer at Patan
Multiple Campus
deependrasanchar@yahoo.com
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