Mom Takes Charge
Posted on: Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 00:00 CDT
By Noopur Raval
AHMEDABAD: Sunday was Mother's Day. Most working women fight a battle to balance home and career. When they take on the taxing responsibility of teaching their children, instead of sending them to tuition classes, it sure must be tough.
And, poor quality textbooks don't help. Dentist Priti Parikh has to juggle her practice with helping daughter Simran with studies. She prefers to keep Simran away from tuition classes, guides and digests.
"Since, Simran relies only on textbooks, she becomes utterly confused at times. For instance, when answers in the maths textbook don't tally. I'm from a science background and so I can help her," says Priti.
In fact, sometimes, Simran's friends who have problems also consult her. "Parents should discourage tuition class culture and use of guides. But, the Gujarat Board should support this effort with good textbooks," stresses the mom.
Simran elaborates on the problems she faces. "The textbook board has made changes in syllabus, but they are so abrupt that in class VII the level of English used in the supplementary reader is high. In science textbook, the important diagrams are missing and only 'decorative' ones find place. So, we have to fish them out of reference books," she says. Priti says she came across numerous errors in molecular weights. "Since, Simran is fortunate to be studying in a good school (Mt Carmel), the teachers correct some of the errors. But, when teachers are clueless, there's no solution in sight," she laments.
How does Simran prepare for exams? "I set papers for her based on textbooks. In case of doubt, we follow the maxim that the textbook is right and carry on," says Priti. This may lead to a huge pool of incompetent doctors and engineers, she warns.
(c) 2008 The Times of India. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: The Times of India
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds