By S. Thadchanamoorthy
Editor’s Note: Mr. S. Thadchanamoorthy served in the Maldives for 21 years, first as a Teacher at Majeediyya School and later as a Principal of Schools. He believes his reflections might provide a stimulus to research and discussions.
Primary education should be sound in any country or in any school is a well-accepted position. We believe a child will do well if the foundation is good. The present day approach, Child Friendly School (CFS), is great indeed. The primary children are really enjoying the education in the Maldives, wherever the teachers have imbibed the principles of CFS and more importantly love their students. In such situations, the teachers too are enjoying their professional life. We congratulate the educationists who introduced the CFS programme boldly – it needed a lot of physical and mental adjustments on the part of all stakeholders, namely the parents, teachers, children and the Ministry of Education. But the whole programme will lose a lot of its efficacy if teachers are not armed with the right knowledge. To put it simply, the primary teachers should know good English, Mathematics, Environmental studies and so on. There is more attached to it: methodology goes with good understanding of the subjects – we will come to it later. I know the primary teachers of Male’ and other urban islands like Hithadhoo in Addu City will be understandably annoyed when we talk about the knowledge level of primary teachers. They must understand that the situation on majority of the islands of the nation could be different. But they mustn’t conclude what we are discussing is not useful for them!
The reason is whatever we develop as we proceed to think in the context of the islands of Maldives might turn out to be an eye-opener to the educational planners and to the educators of the ‘urban’ schools as well! What is going on, on an island of Maldives is a controlled experiment. If we take a place like Male’, the success and tone of a school is decided by many factors. So, we will not be able to conclude accurately the contribution made by any single factor like HOD, parent, private tutor, teacher, Supervisor, Head of the school etc. But in the case of an island in which only few factors are there to influence the success or failure of its school, everything that is going on is a social experiment from which the wise can read the conclusions. Such scientific conclusions are universal truths that could be of help in the cities of the world, let alone Male. Therefore, we invite parents, teachers and educators of the nation to join us and think very carefully on this very important topic, bringing up our primary children, although our social laboratory, for our reductions, is ‘islands.’
In an island school the chances are, a primary teacher is good in CFS methodology, but not in Mathematics, English, social studies or general knowledge. She/he might not have proper understanding of the subject, love for it and interest in it. It is more dangerous if the teacher is not aware that s/he doesn’t know an idea correctly. Wrong things will be taught. Such teaching cannot create in the minds of our children real love for, and interest in the subjects. Further wrong evaluation leads to encouraging wrong attitudes and faulty thinking and discouraging real talents. To put it bluntly, a teacher might give a tick for a wrong response and a cross for a correct answer! We believe a school must have the basic ability to correct this. It should not and cannot wait for long till outside help finally arrives, especially in an island. Through daily, every minute, interactions this should be rectified.
Can the good method of a teacher (CFS or any other good one) have a meaningful existence or survival in the teacher if s/he is not equipped with flawless knowledge for which the method is a vehicle? Yes, the method is there to assist a teacher to make his or her student understand a body of knowledge easily, lay a sound foundation in the mind of the child, and create a lifelong attachment, love or interest in that unit of knowledge. So, it goes without saying that without knowledge to be imparted or skills to be developed, method alone has no meaningful existence. Further, the methodology is something a teacher carries with him or her as a second nature, which cannot be separated from the knowledge. Method and knowledge are intertwined – one enriches the other in the possessor, the teacher. It is interesting to note that if a teacher, in action inside the classroom, is succeeding in his or her methodology, chances are s/he will get fresh insights into the knowledge s/he is handling. And if the teacher is vibrant as s/he teaches an idea, s/he will be automatically creating new ‘projections’ to his or her methodology – after all good methodology, which we impart to teachers today, at the colleges, is a bundle of good techniques, great and successful teachers adopted in the past. On the other hand, faulty knowledge while it is imparted will impair the methodology in a teacher. This cannot be halted or rectified by any number of workshops to improve the methodology. So, looking after right knowledge in the teacher should be the primary concern of Educationists. Methodology is the second thing to attend to. I am afraid this is not going on, in the best possible manner, right now in the Maldives.
We said the school must have the capability to arm our primary teachers with the right knowledge and create in them the love for English, mathematics, social studies, general science, environmental studies and so on, without waiting for outside help. How can it happen? The most common thing that can happen all the time is the primary teachers getting help from the grade10 or 12 teachers. This is one advantage of grades 1 to 12 schools. A grade 6 English teacher may show a speech, s/he has prepared for a child, to the grade10 English teacher. Three problems we encounter here: the upper school teacher might find it difficult to come down and think of simple English sentences; s/he might find it difficult to think in the medium of CFS methodology; s/he might be of the type who parrots what s/he learnt by rote at the college. It is the school’s responsibility to develop the upper school teachers. That will help the upper class students as well.
There is one more hitch. The primary teacher may not know whom to approach. S/he might think, so-and-so is teaching grade 10 and approach him or her for help. S/he might think, so-and-so is very popular and much liked by the students and parents of the island and therefore ought to be good. S/he may not know enough to gauge the English knowledge of a person and choose the right one. The irony is how can a person who needs a help in a knowledge area find out if another person is capable in that knowledge or not? To asses a person one need to be above that person! This reaches a dead end! The head of the school must come in to avoid damage. S/he must select teachers to act as mentors for the primary teachers.
Editor’s Note: Mr. S. Thadchanamoorthy served in the Maldives for 21 years, first as a Teacher at Majeediyya School and later as a Principal of Schools. He believes his reflections might provide a stimulus to research and discussions.
Primary education should be sound in any country or in any school is a well-accepted position. We believe a child will do well if the foundation is good. The present day approach, Child Friendly School (CFS), is great indeed. The primary children are really enjoying the education in the Maldives, wherever the teachers have imbibed the principles of CFS and more importantly love their students. In such situations, the teachers too are enjoying their professional life. We congratulate the educationists who introduced the CFS programme boldly – it needed a lot of physical and mental adjustments on the part of all stakeholders, namely the parents, teachers, children and the Ministry of Education. But the whole programme will lose a lot of its efficacy if teachers are not armed with the right knowledge. To put it simply, the primary teachers should know good English, Mathematics, Environmental studies and so on. There is more attached to it: methodology goes with good understanding of the subjects – we will come to it later. I know the primary teachers of Male’ and other urban islands like Hithadhoo in Addu City will be understandably annoyed when we talk about the knowledge level of primary teachers. They must understand that the situation on majority of the islands of the nation could be different. But they mustn’t conclude what we are discussing is not useful for them!
The reason is whatever we develop as we proceed to think in the context of the islands of Maldives might turn out to be an eye-opener to the educational planners and to the educators of the ‘urban’ schools as well! What is going on, on an island of Maldives is a controlled experiment. If we take a place like Male’, the success and tone of a school is decided by many factors. So, we will not be able to conclude accurately the contribution made by any single factor like HOD, parent, private tutor, teacher, Supervisor, Head of the school etc. But in the case of an island in which only few factors are there to influence the success or failure of its school, everything that is going on is a social experiment from which the wise can read the conclusions. Such scientific conclusions are universal truths that could be of help in the cities of the world, let alone Male. Therefore, we invite parents, teachers and educators of the nation to join us and think very carefully on this very important topic, bringing up our primary children, although our social laboratory, for our reductions, is ‘islands.’
In an island school the chances are, a primary teacher is good in CFS methodology, but not in Mathematics, English, social studies or general knowledge. She/he might not have proper understanding of the subject, love for it and interest in it. It is more dangerous if the teacher is not aware that s/he doesn’t know an idea correctly. Wrong things will be taught. Such teaching cannot create in the minds of our children real love for, and interest in the subjects. Further wrong evaluation leads to encouraging wrong attitudes and faulty thinking and discouraging real talents. To put it bluntly, a teacher might give a tick for a wrong response and a cross for a correct answer! We believe a school must have the basic ability to correct this. It should not and cannot wait for long till outside help finally arrives, especially in an island. Through daily, every minute, interactions this should be rectified.
Can the good method of a teacher (CFS or any other good one) have a meaningful existence or survival in the teacher if s/he is not equipped with flawless knowledge for which the method is a vehicle? Yes, the method is there to assist a teacher to make his or her student understand a body of knowledge easily, lay a sound foundation in the mind of the child, and create a lifelong attachment, love or interest in that unit of knowledge. So, it goes without saying that without knowledge to be imparted or skills to be developed, method alone has no meaningful existence. Further, the methodology is something a teacher carries with him or her as a second nature, which cannot be separated from the knowledge. Method and knowledge are intertwined – one enriches the other in the possessor, the teacher. It is interesting to note that if a teacher, in action inside the classroom, is succeeding in his or her methodology, chances are s/he will get fresh insights into the knowledge s/he is handling. And if the teacher is vibrant as s/he teaches an idea, s/he will be automatically creating new ‘projections’ to his or her methodology – after all good methodology, which we impart to teachers today, at the colleges, is a bundle of good techniques, great and successful teachers adopted in the past. On the other hand, faulty knowledge while it is imparted will impair the methodology in a teacher. This cannot be halted or rectified by any number of workshops to improve the methodology. So, looking after right knowledge in the teacher should be the primary concern of Educationists. Methodology is the second thing to attend to. I am afraid this is not going on, in the best possible manner, right now in the Maldives.
We said the school must have the capability to arm our primary teachers with the right knowledge and create in them the love for English, mathematics, social studies, general science, environmental studies and so on, without waiting for outside help. How can it happen? The most common thing that can happen all the time is the primary teachers getting help from the grade10 or 12 teachers. This is one advantage of grades 1 to 12 schools. A grade 6 English teacher may show a speech, s/he has prepared for a child, to the grade10 English teacher. Three problems we encounter here: the upper school teacher might find it difficult to come down and think of simple English sentences; s/he might find it difficult to think in the medium of CFS methodology; s/he might be of the type who parrots what s/he learnt by rote at the college. It is the school’s responsibility to develop the upper school teachers. That will help the upper class students as well.
There is one more hitch. The primary teacher may not know whom to approach. S/he might think, so-and-so is teaching grade 10 and approach him or her for help. S/he might think, so-and-so is very popular and much liked by the students and parents of the island and therefore ought to be good. S/he may not know enough to gauge the English knowledge of a person and choose the right one. The irony is how can a person who needs a help in a knowledge area find out if another person is capable in that knowledge or not? To asses a person one need to be above that person! This reaches a dead end! The head of the school must come in to avoid damage. S/he must select teachers to act as mentors for the primary teachers.
his brings us to another issue. To discharge this responsibility, the head of school must have been a teacher who has presented candidates for the Cambridge International Examinations or Edexcel London Examinations and produced good results - A*, distinctions, and so on! Such a person can easily find out who is who among the upper school teachers. If that is not so, the Head of school should rely on the results produced at the London Examinations by the teachers.
What the Head of school could do and should do doesn’t stop there. S/he must be able to judge if a teacher is capable of coming down to the level of the primary students and help, before appointing him as a mentor. The principal must have an open mind until s/he has a good understanding of his or her senior-grade teachers. S/he must look for two possibilities, in my opinion. One is of course, selecting the suitable ones and giving them the adequate ‘training.’ As part of the training, they must be asked to observe CFS and primary lessons, in the primary classrooms. They must be encouraged to have open discussions with the Principal on their observations. Through these discussions, the Principal must develop the senior teachers.
The other possibility in front of the Principal is that some are endowed or in other words genetically constituted with such ability to come down to any level and help. Albert Einstein was the great scientist who formulated the theory of relativity. He lectured graduates. But Einstein could tutor a primary child too – when the grandmother of a child asked him, who lived on the same lane, to help, not knowing that he was the world famous scientist, Einstein obliged! The point is such great people need not undergo any training to be good teachers. They have a good grasp of the subject. They have an attachment to the concepts and how they are linked together. So to any person in front s/he can explain the subject. Suppose one asks Einstein to explain Newtonian laws to a primary child, he will in one way and to an OL child in another way. The starting point will be different, the choice of words will be different, and the linking will be different and so on. He will be able to explain Newtonian laws in ten minutes to an adult who does not know any science or in five hours. Such people need not undergo any teacher training to do this! They possess a natural agility to adjust and adapt to a situation with regard to the stuff they fondly possess! We shouldn’t hurriedly come to the conclusion that it is possible only for great teachers like Einstein, Socrates, Aristotle, and so on. If we think back on the teachers who have taught us, surely we could identify few who had this natural ability in them. Any school, which has up to grade 10, will have at least one or two such teachers.
So our Principal must be able to identify persons who could put themselves at the level of the primary teachers and the primary students. And this ability to adjust itself is some form of originality. To discover originality one must possess originality!
If a head of school is unable to do this very much needed task of selecting the suitable teachers of the upper school as mentors for the primary teachers, I am afraid this is the case in majority of the schools, what option is there? The worst scenario is when the Head of the school doesn’t know that s/he doesn’t have the ability and breadth of learning to discharge this responsibility! S/he might intervene and harass the teacher who is going in the right direction. Ministry of Education should come in and help – they cannot afford to take any chances. Ministry has to visit each and every school, once a year at least, and rank the teachers in order of knowledge level, methodology, originality etc, for the Principal to make use of. How can the Ministry discharge this responsibility? Each and every higher class-teacher must be individually attended to by a subject expert, who has, as I said before, produced very good results with A*, A, at the London Examinations, for few years. The expert must observe all lessons of the teacher during a full week; conduct few discussions with him; read the notes of lesson and the notes given to students, on the area covered during the week; monitor a test conducted during the week on the area covered in front of him – the test paper, mark scheme, marking and the marks; have discussions with the students; conduct a written test for the teacher on the salient points of the subject; etc. Briefly, the expert from the ministry must be driven by the desire to honestly assess the teacher.
This important job mustn’t be left to the provinces. It must be carried out from the centre, Male. The reason is simple. If we collect all the educationists in the whole Maldives, who have the capacity to discharge such a responsibility, it will come to a small group. If we divide this number among the provinces, it will become an invalid group. For a team to be valid it must have persons representing all branches of knowledge. So this small group of people, the intelligentsia of Maldives, has to do hard work; school after school, they must visit, stay for at least a week and do this assessment. They may have to work round the clock throughout the year. There is no other work more important than this.
The present practice of producing an ad hoc team, selecting an expatriate teacher from this school and another from that school, is not a brilliant idea. I feel, expatriates must be excluded from such a team; the reason is the affection and consideration for each other is very high among them. Understandably, a Nepalese for example will find it difficult to record the fault in ability of another Nepalese, who is working as a solitary figure in a school among many other expatriates and Maldivians. Instead, if it is within his reach, he might unduly push him up in the assessment scale!
What the Head of school could do and should do doesn’t stop there. S/he must be able to judge if a teacher is capable of coming down to the level of the primary students and help, before appointing him as a mentor. The principal must have an open mind until s/he has a good understanding of his or her senior-grade teachers. S/he must look for two possibilities, in my opinion. One is of course, selecting the suitable ones and giving them the adequate ‘training.’ As part of the training, they must be asked to observe CFS and primary lessons, in the primary classrooms. They must be encouraged to have open discussions with the Principal on their observations. Through these discussions, the Principal must develop the senior teachers.
The other possibility in front of the Principal is that some are endowed or in other words genetically constituted with such ability to come down to any level and help. Albert Einstein was the great scientist who formulated the theory of relativity. He lectured graduates. But Einstein could tutor a primary child too – when the grandmother of a child asked him, who lived on the same lane, to help, not knowing that he was the world famous scientist, Einstein obliged! The point is such great people need not undergo any training to be good teachers. They have a good grasp of the subject. They have an attachment to the concepts and how they are linked together. So to any person in front s/he can explain the subject. Suppose one asks Einstein to explain Newtonian laws to a primary child, he will in one way and to an OL child in another way. The starting point will be different, the choice of words will be different, and the linking will be different and so on. He will be able to explain Newtonian laws in ten minutes to an adult who does not know any science or in five hours. Such people need not undergo any teacher training to do this! They possess a natural agility to adjust and adapt to a situation with regard to the stuff they fondly possess! We shouldn’t hurriedly come to the conclusion that it is possible only for great teachers like Einstein, Socrates, Aristotle, and so on. If we think back on the teachers who have taught us, surely we could identify few who had this natural ability in them. Any school, which has up to grade 10, will have at least one or two such teachers.
So our Principal must be able to identify persons who could put themselves at the level of the primary teachers and the primary students. And this ability to adjust itself is some form of originality. To discover originality one must possess originality!
If a head of school is unable to do this very much needed task of selecting the suitable teachers of the upper school as mentors for the primary teachers, I am afraid this is the case in majority of the schools, what option is there? The worst scenario is when the Head of the school doesn’t know that s/he doesn’t have the ability and breadth of learning to discharge this responsibility! S/he might intervene and harass the teacher who is going in the right direction. Ministry of Education should come in and help – they cannot afford to take any chances. Ministry has to visit each and every school, once a year at least, and rank the teachers in order of knowledge level, methodology, originality etc, for the Principal to make use of. How can the Ministry discharge this responsibility? Each and every higher class-teacher must be individually attended to by a subject expert, who has, as I said before, produced very good results with A*, A, at the London Examinations, for few years. The expert must observe all lessons of the teacher during a full week; conduct few discussions with him; read the notes of lesson and the notes given to students, on the area covered during the week; monitor a test conducted during the week on the area covered in front of him – the test paper, mark scheme, marking and the marks; have discussions with the students; conduct a written test for the teacher on the salient points of the subject; etc. Briefly, the expert from the ministry must be driven by the desire to honestly assess the teacher.
This important job mustn’t be left to the provinces. It must be carried out from the centre, Male. The reason is simple. If we collect all the educationists in the whole Maldives, who have the capacity to discharge such a responsibility, it will come to a small group. If we divide this number among the provinces, it will become an invalid group. For a team to be valid it must have persons representing all branches of knowledge. So this small group of people, the intelligentsia of Maldives, has to do hard work; school after school, they must visit, stay for at least a week and do this assessment. They may have to work round the clock throughout the year. There is no other work more important than this.
The present practice of producing an ad hoc team, selecting an expatriate teacher from this school and another from that school, is not a brilliant idea. I feel, expatriates must be excluded from such a team; the reason is the affection and consideration for each other is very high among them. Understandably, a Nepalese for example will find it difficult to record the fault in ability of another Nepalese, who is working as a solitary figure in a school among many other expatriates and Maldivians. Instead, if it is within his reach, he might unduly push him up in the assessment scale!
I feel Maldives must consider having few expatriate teachers to man the higher grades for many more years. Mentors for the primary teachers could be selected from these teachers, as well. If Indian teachers are teaching in UK and USA successfully, why can’t Maldives consider having expatriates forever! It is a sign of prosperity. Some expatriates are exceptionally good and their continued work in the Maldives provides a scale in which the local teachers are compelled to aspire high. Progress in education will continue without any reversal.
I am writing this for enlightened parents. I came to realise in a democracy parents must take a lot of responsibility in thinking about the education of their children. They must think, speak out loudly and debate such issues. There must be private forums where such matters are discussed. Ministry of education will respond.
It is understandable, in a democracy ministry of education will be happy and mind other things if a school is doing ‘well.’ Speaking in the present context, if there is no complaint from the school board, the ministry will forget about the school. Ministry will think the school is doing well. School board has a bright future. But it has to be developed. As it is, the school board of an island school cannot come to know if the primary education or any education, that is happening in their school is doing well or ill! Who else will find out the problems in the primary education of an island-school and alert the Principal and the Ministry?
Parents of an island, can they? Parents of an island in general are not equipped intellectually to understand, notice or see such shortcomings in their school. And with democracy in, the PTA executive committee and the school board of an island-school will be inclined more towards, political party-rivalry than quality education happening at their school! I carried out an experiment at an island-school. Noticing the inability of the existing parental organizations to care for quality education, I gathered all parents (of higher classes) whose children have done exceptionally well in the terminal examinations and explained to them the need for them to talk to each other and work together. I asked them to form an executive committee. They did but, alas, that committee too was political when they met me in my office at their first meeting with me! They discussed about confronting the school board. They didn’t show any inclination towards quality education! I am not supposed to generalise from a single experiment on one of the islands. But my humble opinion is that a committee or a board produced by an island will not have the capacity to understand the problems faced in education that is going on at their school and distinguish good solutions from bad ones. It is not their fault- they haven’t tasted yet, how it will look like, if they succeed in having a glimpse into what is good for their children.
If parents of an island can’t, who else can help the situation? I believe, educated parents of Maldives must form a private body, without any affiliation to any political party and begin thinking on education. That is my humble submission! I wouldn’t have written such stuff twenty years back. Now we have a larger group of enlightened parents in the Maldives. They can come together and think on such matters. Meetings, internet and magazines could help them to interact and decide. In a democracy, the party that is ruling will spontaneously embrace all such ideas, provided they are beneficial to the people.
Under a democracy guided by a benevolent leadership, there is no need for parents to worry about education. All good things will be worked out by experts and executed. But under a completely free democracy, it is the people who have to think about various matters that affect them and ask the government. As it is, there is a vacuum in the country – the transition was quick. People have not begun to play such enlightened role.
In conclusion, in the above analysis, I believe I have identified a problem in the primary education and I have suggested that this has to be taken up by the enlightened parents of the Maldives. Further, I have suggested that the upper class teachers must be developed such that they can continuously assist the primary teachers at a school and the parents and the Ministry of Education must work hard to make schools to stand on their own feet.
I am writing this for enlightened parents. I came to realise in a democracy parents must take a lot of responsibility in thinking about the education of their children. They must think, speak out loudly and debate such issues. There must be private forums where such matters are discussed. Ministry of education will respond.
It is understandable, in a democracy ministry of education will be happy and mind other things if a school is doing ‘well.’ Speaking in the present context, if there is no complaint from the school board, the ministry will forget about the school. Ministry will think the school is doing well. School board has a bright future. But it has to be developed. As it is, the school board of an island school cannot come to know if the primary education or any education, that is happening in their school is doing well or ill! Who else will find out the problems in the primary education of an island-school and alert the Principal and the Ministry?
Parents of an island, can they? Parents of an island in general are not equipped intellectually to understand, notice or see such shortcomings in their school. And with democracy in, the PTA executive committee and the school board of an island-school will be inclined more towards, political party-rivalry than quality education happening at their school! I carried out an experiment at an island-school. Noticing the inability of the existing parental organizations to care for quality education, I gathered all parents (of higher classes) whose children have done exceptionally well in the terminal examinations and explained to them the need for them to talk to each other and work together. I asked them to form an executive committee. They did but, alas, that committee too was political when they met me in my office at their first meeting with me! They discussed about confronting the school board. They didn’t show any inclination towards quality education! I am not supposed to generalise from a single experiment on one of the islands. But my humble opinion is that a committee or a board produced by an island will not have the capacity to understand the problems faced in education that is going on at their school and distinguish good solutions from bad ones. It is not their fault- they haven’t tasted yet, how it will look like, if they succeed in having a glimpse into what is good for their children.
If parents of an island can’t, who else can help the situation? I believe, educated parents of Maldives must form a private body, without any affiliation to any political party and begin thinking on education. That is my humble submission! I wouldn’t have written such stuff twenty years back. Now we have a larger group of enlightened parents in the Maldives. They can come together and think on such matters. Meetings, internet and magazines could help them to interact and decide. In a democracy, the party that is ruling will spontaneously embrace all such ideas, provided they are beneficial to the people.
Under a democracy guided by a benevolent leadership, there is no need for parents to worry about education. All good things will be worked out by experts and executed. But under a completely free democracy, it is the people who have to think about various matters that affect them and ask the government. As it is, there is a vacuum in the country – the transition was quick. People have not begun to play such enlightened role.
In conclusion, in the above analysis, I believe I have identified a problem in the primary education and I have suggested that this has to be taken up by the enlightened parents of the Maldives. Further, I have suggested that the upper class teachers must be developed such that they can continuously assist the primary teachers at a school and the parents and the Ministry of Education must work hard to make schools to stand on their own feet.
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