The
inability of the bonafide candidates of Nagaland to secure the minimum qualifying marks of 40% at the All India
Pre-Medical Test 2014 has raised serious concerns about the quality of science
education imparted in Nagaland. Of course, one need not get panicked so much
because of the results of a particular year. At the same time, we must accept
that this years’ AIPMT result has created a sense of demoralizing among many
students and parents. We should consider this like a pain in our body and must
see what best could be done to solve the problem. We know pain is an indication
of presence of a disease and taking pain killers without diagnosing the cause
of the pain would lead towards disaster.
The first thing I would like to point out here is the mismatch
between the performance of students in the HSSLC Exam and the AIPMT. In the
HSSLC Exam, 42% of the candidates from the science stream have secured First Division
and 39% have secured Second Division. The highest marks secured in the major
subjects is so amazing; Physics – 97 %, Chemistry – 96 %, Mathematics – 98% and
Biology – 96%. The statistics of subject wise distinctions secured (80% marks
& above) is also encouraging except one subject. Physics – 131 candidates,
Chemistry – 127 candidates, Biology – 184 candidates and Mathematics – 36
candidates. Now, we are searching answers for a crucial question. Why NO ONE
from the above distinguished candidates could get a minimum 40% of marks in the
AIPMT?
There could be a number of factors responsible for the
failure of the candidates at the AIPMT. But I would limit my analysis to few
basic factors here. There is acute shortage of Physics, Chemistry and
Mathematics teachers in our state and two or three schools using the services
of a single subject teacher is a common accepted practice now. So, most of the
teachers tend to complete the courses in the examination point of view at the
cost of in-depth understanding of the subjects. Moreover, majority of our students waste
their precious time in running from one place to another for taking private
tuitions; that too for the study of regular courses. There are practically NO opportunities
available here for getting regular quality coaching for appearing the entrance
examinations. Crash / Short Term Courses conducted could never prepare our
students at par with national standards.
A look at the number of students securing distinction in Mathematics
would help us to understand another basic cause of the problem. While more than
130 students had secured distinctions in the subjects Physics, Chemistry and
Biology, only 36 students could achieve it in Mathematics. You might be aware
that Mathematics is the language of Physics and lack of mastery over basic mathematics
remain as a major hurdle in understanding Physics. A good number of the AIPMT questions
are of application oriented and in-depth understanding of the subject is a must
for solving them.
It should be mentioned here that majority of our students
develop a fear psychosis towards mathematics from the primary level and the
consequences are realized at the higher secondary stage. Literally one could
say that there are no Mathematics teachers in majority of the schools in
Nagaland. Very few mathematics teachers possess degrees in mathematics and in
many cases Science, Commerce and Arts graduates have been ‘managing’ (it would
not be proper to use the term ‘teaching’) mathematics classes. Very few
teachers to make their students ‘Understand’ mathematics and children rarely
get the opportunity of learning mathematics with joy.
The issues associated with the problem are complex in nature
and could only be solved through the joint efforts of school managements,
teachers, parents, students and the society. Students have more responsibility
in overcoming the shortcomings of the system and should develop the spirit of
competitiveness. They should keep one thing in mind that the roads of life's journey would not be spread with rose petals and only the fittest could survive
in today’s competitive world.
