Sir,
The writeup captioned’The Days of Patti and Slate’, published in the Excelsior Magazine dated Dec 3, 2017 made an interesting reading and brought back the memories of the times when the wooden tablet/plank and slate used to be an important part of the parapharnelia of the school bags of students, particularly in the elementary classes.It invariably used to be the part of school time table to write something on patti with the reed pen and show it to the teacher to get appreciation in the form of a tick which symbolised ‘good’.If the handwriting was not found to be satisfactory, the students would be asked to rewrite.Similarly,small sums pertaining to the four basic mathematical operations i.e Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division were solved and multiplication tables written on the slate.With continued practice for months and years,the students developed calligraphic skills and flowing handwriting which would last throughout their life.In the same way, the continuous practice and drilling of multiplication tables, especially in the last period every day, the students memorised multiplication tables of even half, one and half, one and one fourths, one and three fourths and could tell instantly whenever they were asked to.
Besides developing the writing and mathematical skills, these practices forged a strong bond between the teacher and the taught as both were actively involved in the teaching learning process.As children were required to wash their phatti, clean their slate and needed one another for ink,writing chalk, qalam etc they learnt the valuable interpersonal skills such as helping someone in need, taking helping from someone and working in groups.But with the passage of time and invasion of modern gadgets such as computers, desktops, smart classes, ICT labs, CAL, calculators etc these practices have become a thing of the past and the students, these days have become so much dependent on calculators that they can’t perform even basic mathematical operations by themselves without using a calculator.Moreover, their social skills and mental faculties remain undeveloped and they grow into selfcentred human beings.The education in those times didnot put much burden on the students.It was child centred in the real sense of the word and a lot of stress was laid on practice and drilling.Thus, what is needed is the judicious fusion of the traditional and time tested methods with the modern educational technology and teaching techniques so that while the students use modern technology to learn latest knowledge more effectively, their social and practical skills donot remain undeveloped.
Yours etc….
Ashok Sharma,
Udhampur
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel