Ritu,I've been wondering if you know whether home schooling is a possibility in India. I know many other countries have home schooling as an option for children, but I believe one of the documents that has to be presented for admission into another school is a transfer certificate from the previous school, when mentions what grade level the student was in or has completed at the time of the transfer. I also believe that transfers are not possible between different school boards except at the end of the year. The difference between the time at which different boards end is perhaps something that can be a bit of a problem, though most schools are more than willing to let the student catch up after joining in the middle of a school year.Home schooling is a great way to ensure that students in India get to learn about liberal art subjects. There is not enough emphasis in the Indian education system on art, except when the students take up a bachelor's degree in art. When students do not know what to expect from a course, why would they want to opt for a degree program in that subject? Public schools in India do not seem to teach much about the Indian culture. The most I have seen is in the Hindi and History courses at schools, but that is very limited. Little is mentioned about social norms and practices, about spiritual philosophies, and about the country side.I believe that creating a more diverse set of subjects earlier in the education path would ensure that students get to know what they want to pursue rather than simply take up the options that others before them have taken. Simply because the neighbour's kid went on to become a successful engineer does not mean that your own kid has to take up engineering to develop a successful career. He or she can become just as adept at his or her trade and demonstrate just as much success.Our education system also does not seem to embrace diversity - we see very few people who return to universities and colleges for an advanced degree if they have been able to make do with the degree that they have earned. It may have been because they do not see a need for it and there is little that they can do with an advanced degree at the work place. Also, there are limited opportunities for those with a research degree to really make a difference because the social norm in India is to finish college as quickly as one can and get employed within just about any multi national corporation that is willing to pay big bucks for them.Social interaction in schools and colleges in India is pretty much limited to dealing with peers and often a hostile environment is present in these institutions of learning, which goes on to affect the culture of the individuals that go through these institutions for an education. Ethics and politeness aren't something that are taught within our education system and you will see that the average person does not exhibit these qualities as the people from a few centuries ago did - the difference between the two ages is that the earlier age had a focus on philosophy as well as on professional trade whereas the current age focuses entirely on professional education for academic achievement. I believe we may be able to bring about a change in our education system by introducing the study of ethical case studies earlier on in the education system, as a continuity for the Moral Science courses, to create a sense of values within the individuals who do decide to take to a newer curriculum.Although home schooling would appear to be the best choice for some parents, not all parents are well-equipped with the knowledge to impart to a child. I am not saying that the teachers of today have all that it takes, but there is a system that can be moulded to ensure that the teachers are trained in newer subjects and that the schools are prepared to impart the values, skills, and knowledge that the student needs in order to gain an expertise over the basic concepts, a familiarity with concepts of intermediate difficulty, and an awareness of certain concepts that are too advanced to include within the educational curriculum.
