Call to revamp education system

CHENNAI: The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Teachers’ Association on Thursday staged a protest strongly condemning the murder of R Uma Maheswari, a teacher of St Mary’s Anglo-Indian School, by a student in the classroom.Speaking to Express, JAC Chennai unit convenor K Boopalan disapproved of the education system being followed in India that “gave importance to score sans values”. “We urge the government to revamp this age-old system. Accent should be on fostering the growth of children’s intellect and building their unique skills. Teachers are under tremendous pressure to produce good results. If results are not shown we face transfers,” he said.Underscoring that several factors influenced student conduct, he said films and media must stop portraying the teaching community as what he called ‘buffoons’. The film industry must stop featuring adolescent students indulging in violent acts. “These have a strong bearing on young minds. They tend to believe that even they could vent their anger in filmy style,” he said.