MAINS DAILY QUESTIONS & MODEL ANSWERS
Q1. Do you believe that the exam-centered educational system, which merely fosters hyper-competition and keeps disparities alive, needs to be changed?
GS II – Government Policies and Interventions
Introduction:
- We are feeling more anxious as a result of COVID-19’s aggressive reappearance. We are also observing the disintegration of “normalcy” in our educational system as a result of this upheaval. Students, parents, and teachers are confused when board exams are postponed or cancelled across the nation.
Body:
What to expect from a quality educational system:
- Learning doesn’t necessarily result from attending school. Non-learners are more prevalent in schools than outside of them around the world.
- A secure, welcoming atmosphere, skilled, and motivated teachers, and education in languages that children can understand are necessary for quality learning.
- The monitoring of learning outcomes and their integration into instruction are also necessary.
- The three ingredients required are availability, price, and quality. A system like this should encourage students’ natural curiosity and offer them the freedom to pursue their interests.
- Children must be made sensitive and humble wanderers as a result of an education system.
- It must energise their endurance and patience, develop their caring ethics, and get them ready to navigate life with songs of communal redemption.
Issues with the exam-focused educational system:
- Let’s start out by making it quite obvious that these standardised tests or exams are in no way neutral.
- Children from different social origins are bound to perform differently because of the vast differences in their access to social, cultural, and economic capital.
- As we consider the nation’s digital divide and acknowledge that the much-hyped “online” education and learning is a mirage and has harmed those who cannot afford it, the folly of these “neutral” exams becomes even more apparent.
- Deconstructing our schooled minds is crucial in order to see that the conventional exam formats do not at all represent the core of a meaningful education.
- In contrast, the ritualization and tyranny of tests produce extreme psychic worry, spread panic, and, most importantly, rob the process of learning, unlearning, and exploring of its feeling of surprise, joy, and self-discovery.
- Instead, they make one become a shrewd strategist; one is taught how to provide the “right” answer through coaching centres and school teachers who are preoccupied with their pupils’ exam results. As a result, each subject is reduced to a collection of exam riddles.
- Third, this exam-focused schooling fosters jealousy, fear, and inferiority complexes. It kind of normalises extreme competition as a way of life, which is fundamentally opposed to the concepts of reciprocity, symmetry, and collaboration.
Conclusion:
- We don’t let our kids learn how to relate, be humble, have a sharing ethos, or believe in the inherent potential and individuality of every human spirit. Schools instead teach kids to be soldiers. The type of exams we have come to take for granted are probably the worst form of violence we inflict on young children’s minds, if we were to say that.
Q2. Discuss about how India and Pakistan should develop a strategy to secure prisoners’ rights and prompt return.
GS II – International Issues
Introduction:
- Indian fishermen, particularly those from Gujarat’s Saurashtra region, are sometimes detained when they mistakenly enter Pakistani waters. Their suffering affects both them and their families, who are now more concerned than ever due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even when there is an agreement, things are not carried out. so transgressing people’s fundamental rights.
Body:
Prisoners’ rights and consular access: India and Pakistan agreement:
- The Agreement on Consular Access was concluded by Pakistan and India in 2008.
- Despite a few gaps, the agreement was considerable. The agreement’s Section 4 stated that “Each government shall provide consular access within three months to nationals of one country, under arrest, detention, or imprisonment in the other country.”
- In addition, the agreement’s Section 5 specified that “both governments agree to release and repatriate persons within one month of confirmation of their national status and completion of sentences.”
- More than 300 Indian fishermen are still being held captive in Malir jail by Pakistan. Access to consulates is an exception.
- Without it, the individual’s nationality cannot be verified, and the repatriation procedure cannot be started.
- The agreement doesn’t specify a time frame, but there are many situations where both countries haven’t verified nationality for up to 18 months, during which the individuals who were arrested rot in cells.
Need for better legislation:
- The day a prisoner finishes serving their sentence is the ideal day for their release and repatriation.
- But only one instance of this has taken place, resulting in the release and repatriation of Hamid Ansari on the day his or her sentence was finally served.
- Four retired judges from each side make up the joint judicial committee on prisoners that India and Pakistan established in 2007.
- The group used to meet with prisoners twice a year. It issued consensus recommendations, including those for the release and return of detained women and fishermen.
- Following its final meeting in 2013, it was dissolved. There were attempts to restore it in 2018, but Pakistan has not yet named judges or scheduled a meeting.
- The committee must quickly look into repatriating those who have finished their prison term in the benefit of both countries.
- Returning inmates who unintentionally cross borders or fisherman who are caught off guard is another option for handling this.
Conclusion:
- It is disgusting that India and Pakistan, who both hold seats on the UNHRC, are doing nothing to address the human rights abuses occurring right under their noses. Despite the hostilities, it is imperative that the two countries find a solution for the imprisoned fisherman and assist them in returning to their life. It might be the beginning of the diplomatic pause between the countries.
