Can we revamp schooling?

We have been struggling hard to find out a way to ensure that our kids grow up as good humans and give them the best education. But unfortunately our system is so flawed that we are ourselves confused, so let alone what goes through an immature child’s mind.


Recently, Greg chappel criticized the Indian team and culture, telling that we cannot produce leaders, and our parents and teachers decide what we are and what we end up. Though his comment may irk ultra-nationalists, it is time to ponder what he meant. It is so true that we grow up listening to some stories of a few successful individuals, but hardly have they become our role models or we never try to emulate them. We ultimately fall prey to some weird fantasy, though our parents advise us that they felt is best for us, we probably still might end up being in the wrong boat. 


I hear that we study one of the most difficult syllabus compared to an average kid of a different country, (Again, I am not an educationist or a teacher and I have very limited knowledge about education). An ex-colleague of mine, who was a South African expressed surprise when I told him that we have learnt about SA’s Kilimanjaro diamond mines in the school. But at the same time, we also read reports that we hardly produce employable graduates. Our system is harsh on not so "intelligent" kids, The best schools only admit the "best" students and have them mug up the entire text book word by word, reproduce in the exam hall and these become the blue eyed boys of the parents, teachers and the society. We are not in a position to find the hidden talent in any kid. Like a teacher said in an orientation program, every kid is unique and we need to find out what is her/his real talent.


Modern parents want their child to be engineers or doctors. A good engineer cannot be a good doctor and vice-versa. A lot of my classmates who were just average and not a typical teacher’s pet are all well settled in high paying and respectable jobs, they are neither engineers nor doctors.


We learnt calculus, trigonometry, history, Geography, English poems etc, but none of us knew why do we learn those, what are the practical applications of these? Indeed if education emphasized on the practical uses of these topics children would have found it interesting and would do well.
And again our evaluation system is flawed; we simply give importance to objective type answers where children with little practice score well.


I feel, we need to emphasize on grammar, debates, essay writing, leadership, drama and most importantly "Moral Science" must be a main stream subject. It must be taught atleast till 10th, let the kids learn inspirational stories, let them love and not look down upon the poor, needy, weak and disabled.


We have one of the most brilliant academicians, teachers who can inspire, student counselors in our society. Using their inputs, it is high time that the whole system is revamped.

The ubiquitous BMTC

During 80's or in early 90's, when we approached Bangalore via rail or bus, the very sight of the red monsters on the road indicated that Bangalore is pretty close. In the last few years things have changed where Bangalore became the country’s well known IT capital which even the world’s most powerful man could not ignore. These red monsters eventually gave way to blue ones, the old battered tin cans are replaced by modern contraptions appearing in cherry red, dark blue, green, and many other fancy colors, ferrying lakhs of passengers daily across the length and breadth of the city and outskirts. I was all the while talking about BMTC (earlier known as BTS) buses. They are everywhere and no Bangalore road is complete without a BMTC bus, however when you really need them, in many occasions, they simply disappoint. 

I have more than 2 decades of acquaintance with BMTC and my experience has been a blend of satisfaction and frustration, but I simply cannot love to hate it. For many of us, using a bus has become out of fashion and when I say that I use a bus, I get a mixed reaction, Some say “Oh great”, some would simply express surprise. I personally hate 2 wheelers for safety reasons and car is too very expensive and problematic (parking, pathetic traffic). Compared to many other cities, Bangloreans preferred not to use public transport and used 2 wheelers during the pre-IT days and now cars have replaced the old 2 wheelers. BTMC tried its best to woo the car users and have had some moderate success (The Volvos plying in the IT corridor is packed to the brim during the peak hours). Today Bangalore has the largest fleet of luxury volvo and AC buses in India and we hear that they are procuring many more. It probably has also the best managed transport fleet in the country. The “Bus Day” campaign to increase its popularity received good media attention and publicity. However you ask any common man waiting at the bus stop (including me), their general opinion would not go well for BMTC. I am sure there were many articles in the media about the same. 

Though things have improved a lot, there are still problems like buses not arriving on time, unplanned and irrational routes, overcrowded buses, irresponsible crew, last mile connectivity, dealing with uncivilized co passengers etc. 

I would suggest a few tips for BMTC to improve the services.

1) Procure more mini buses (better than the existing swaraj mazdas) and ensure they act as feeders to the trunk routes). At present, many hallis and palayas have buses (some at a pathetic frequency of one/2-3 hours) and these buses simply wade their way through encroached “gallis” creating traffic jams and mostly half empty since the frequency is poor no one really waits for them. The autos plying in these hallis make merry since they know people have very little choice. It also explains why Majestic is jammed even at 5am (where in buses from each and every halli lands there). BMTC needs to replace these elusive buses with more frequent mini buses which will drop people at a convenient point from where they can take trunk route bus to their destination. If want to go to a halli off BG road, I take a truck route bus and then a connecting mini bus rather than wait indefinitely for the bus to my halli. Isn’t that cool? 

2) Emphasize more on the “Big 10” and “grid route” concept instead of the traditional market, shivajinagar and majestic. Buses (especially volvos) can run on different route depending on the need. For ex, while the IT corridor gets max volvos during office hours and the rest of the day volvos can ferry people from Railway station or bus stands to wherever. 

3) Ensure there are some personnel to maintain the punctuality of the buses. Many times I see buses simply running up and down without maintaining a schedule (yes, traffic can throw schedules out of gear, but it can’t explain why early morning (7 -8 AM) schedules are missed or erratic). 

4) Set up a team talk to corporate houses, business establishments, apartment associations and collect data from the present car or bike users about the origin-destination and plan routes exclusive for the office goers during mornings and evenings. The schedules can be a deviation of the regular routes for some time to suit these office goers. Re-design the routes, there are many important locations where it is impossible to take a bus. For example MG road to jayanagar, it is almost impossible to reach even with a combination of buses. 

5) Have 2 shifts for the crew and have buses run from 5 am to 11 pm, and not 8-5 (I have seen on many occasions where buses return to the depot after 6 pm and what is the point when they go back to their dens when they are needed the most? ) 

6) Bus stops can be redesigned with display of routes and easy to use information boards. Increase the brand value. Advertise the new routes and have some important figures endorse it. The government can think of incentives to the Bus users (am I am asking for too much?) 

7) Stop leasing buses to corporate houses during the peak hours. It is very common to find while the common man waits for hours for the elusive bus many buses with some strange boards like BTP-2, ITPB, NAL plying empty or with very little people on board. Buses can have special trips to these office locations, but can allow regular commuters at a premium fare.

I have only mentioned a few points that I can think of, but I am sure the list can grow in size. Despite any measure BMTC adopts, many would still find it comfortable in using car or a bike for comfort and saving time. But it also means, many more would start to use BMTC meaning more revenue to the corporation and less burden on the roads.