This article is not only to express my views but I welcome all who read this to take this as a platform to discuss related issues, answer my questions and allay my fears if you can.
I got an opportunity to watch a film named, ‘The great Indian School Show’ yesterday. The film showcased the efficiency of advanced technology, applied in the day to day activities of a school. The activities themselves provided the dialogue and there were a few interviews conducted with the school Principal, one or two teachers and student leaders.
It may sound harmless and may even be exciting when one looks at the title. A person closely connected to schools and teaching for about two decades, like me would have been eager to view the film. That was how I waited for the film to unwind! But, what did I see on the screen? Frame after frame, the film unfolded scenes of a horror story.
It is about a leading school in the country where CC TVs were set up with about 185 cameras at vantage points to observe each and every class. The film shows a normal day’s activities starting with morning assembly, regular class hours and games periods. A sample of an event celebration like Martyrs’ Day and farewell party for a teacher were also included. One gets a feeling of spending a day in the school. If you think what is strange or unusual in such a film, it is the eerie sensation of some one stealthily creeping behind you and watching you.
The Principal presses a button of his choice and observes the class and asks questions. The people, who were interviewed, without a single exception, praised the usefulness of such a technology. The Principal was very proud that even on a day when he is away he can monitor the activities of his school by linking the system to his laptop. He observed that it is a record of work of the teachers and those who are not sincere and committed to the profession cannot claim otherwise. (Ultimately, opinion about teachers must have hit rock bottom! As a teacher I like to defend fellow teachers but unfortunately the ground reality appears to be otherwise.) How exciting! One can imagine ‘educators with great vision (?) embracing this advanced technology!
Will there be spontaneous exchanges of ideas and learning in a situation where the sub conscious refrain is, “Beware, Big brother is watching”? The film repeatedly showed children walking along the corridor in a solemn way so unlike children. Was it the idea of the film maker to let us draw our conclusion? (There was no commentary.) I felt such a rude shock as a teacher but that was nothing compared to the suffocating emotion I felt when I saw the children walking sedately at the end of the day! A kick here, a bounce there, a loud pat on a friend’s back, a little skip- God, where had all these disappeared?
Imagine a time when more and more schools’ managements are drawn to this monitoring system. The incessant curiosity and abundant imagination characteristic of the child will not have a natural outlet. Like the birds with clipped wings, the children will not be left to be themselves. Is there a worse form of denial of basic right? If constant supervision alone can get work done bring out the best behaviour and establish discipline in the system, how does it reflect on our society? What does it indicate about us as human beings? To think of an entire generation of youth brought up under such a system is the height of horror! If you are a parent/teacher or a person involved in taking care of children, you have the wherewithal to visualise the resulting situation.
There are economic implications, too. To install the system, the above mentioned school had already spent 9.5 lakh rupees approximately. It could have been private capital or some management fund or…., you can go ahead and make a guess! When the camera focus on the corridors with dark corners and cracked walls but with the camera eye watching all who pass long the passage, is the film maker trying to convey something to us?
I honestly cannot make out the intention of the film maker and does he try to convey some message by juxtaposing contrasting aspects in a scene is the question poking at my brain cells annoyingly. I reiterate my request to all of you who read this to get the discussion rolling.
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I am adding some comments as a fellow audience of the movie:
The movie also showed how monitoring can be done even after children leave the school for the day, on maids sweeping the class rooms. The poor woman would not even be able to scratch her hip or wipe her sweat confortably knowing that a camera is trained on her!!
Similarly the Principal also said that "the children are with us only for 5-6 hours, we would like them to be with us all the time so that we can teach them better - so we would like to start residential schools"... God forbid! and he said explicitly that "he would of course want to keep watch over the children and their activities 24 hours!" - I don't know what kind of pictures it draws for you but I am thinking that, ok, let us assume that this guy is virtuous - but perhaps the next guy may not be... will there be cameras in the girls' hostels too???
He also said that he can zoom in and see what the teacher writes on the board and what the child writes in his notebook. This is the ultimate kind of insult and conquer of learning.. because this means that later he is also going to tell them how to copy down maths, how to copy down english notes... and make them even more of products from an assembly line.
well chitra mam i am not shocked because i know of this phenomenon. st.johns mandavalli has the same so called technology. ad i was horrfied. how wl a teacher even adjust her dress or saree in the staff room. wither goes privacy?? is this freedom of expression?
i was even more shocked to hear a family freind of mine working as vice principal in a pvt schol in hyderabad woking in such conditions. and to beat it all she was proud that she could watch her staff in their class rooms. from the time the step into the school they are watched. she was gloating about it.
i argued but to no avail.
hence i can empathse with your feelings!!!
dear chitra,
it is indeed SHOCKING!why do they need teachers anymore? they may as well replace us with ROBOTS!
the response of the teachers and the students will be heavily curtailed, no one will speak their minds.all will be lost if such "technology" is used in schools. my condolences to the future generations!
Looks like Orwell's 1984 must be force-fed to the principal in question.
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