The Hindu Business Line : Team work matters

"Stop chattering." "Don't look at what your friend's doing." "Concentrate on your own work." If these are diktats for children in school, how do the little ones adapt to the `team' environment at work? Here, thinking differently might work.

PICTURE this. A common scene in any household: The kid sits with his books in front and crams all that he possibly can before he is left off the hook — maybe to play cricket or cycle around the block. Parents insisting on high marks leads to this mindless studying.

Scene two: A child is happily playing with no concern about his studies. The school has taken the initiative to teach the child what they believe as `practical training' and he has completed his work as he is very nimble with his fingers and he knows what has actually gone behind the work.

The thought running through the minds of teachers and the education boards in the country is that it is time to revamp the entire education system and ensure that students graduating from colleges and the IIMs are more `fit to the workplace'. This is because companies that recruit these students spend huge amounts of money and time to retrain them to suit their requirements.

Here's where Wipro initiatives seem to make sense. Its effort at Applying Thought in School began about three years ago. The idea was to `catch them young' and give them the low down of what can be expected when they begin to earn a living.

Wipro's efforts in this area aim at bringing about a change in the education system in the country. No, the idea isn't bring in more children into primary schools, but to bring about systemic changes, to build creativity and problem solving skills among the children. "We are attempting to achieve this through established schools. For, having already established themselves as good schools, they are now open to changein the education system," says Vijay Gupta of Wipro.

Most students who are recruited in companies lack the ability to deliver what the customer wants. Wipro's programme was initiated to address this. "They are able to work in an environment where they are told what to do and work out a solution. If asked to start from scratch, they are at a total loss. It is more of spoon feeding in schools and this is not what is expected of students graduating from reputed institutions," he points out.

This may not be the case with every recruit. But, the majority of them fall in this category, he feels. According to Maya Menon, Director of the Bangalore-based The Teacher Foundation, children from the very beginning are taught to work on an individual basis. "Don't look there" and "Don't refer to other people's work" are all strict orders from the teacher and soon students lose out on working in groups and developing team relationships. Once they graduate, their workplace is totally different as people are thrown together in groups for completion of any project and these people are "all at sea" as this is totally contradictory to what has been drilled throughout their formative years.

Devika Nadig, Director of Pune-based Sparsh, agreeing, adds that application of the knowledge to the problem is what needed. Students from class I to class VII are more pliable and can be taught the "basics of the workplace," she says.

Having joined hands with Wipro as its latest entrant in September 2003, interactions have been going on with about 12 schools that have responded in an enthusiastic manner, she adds. Currently, Wipro is working with this initiative in about 15 centres which includes metros and mini metros and gets teachers, school heads and parents all involved. It has networked with 125 schools and 2,500 teachers over the past three years and has concentrated more on Hyderabad and Bangalore. Now it is looking at the Boards — CBSE, ICSE and SSE — to make changes in the curriculum. Discussions are on with the Board in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.

Has this exercise actually changed the scenario? Maya says that in terms of awareness, the answer is yes. Perception of what teachers can do has changed dramatically and their contribution has become more meaningful. "I am a teacher and I play a significant role in the development of a child," she says. A renewed sense of enthusiasm has also crept in, something which was lacking in the past. The Teacher Foundation has interacted with about 27 schools, mostly in Bangalore and Kochi and has been receiving a good response.

rsavitha@hotmail.com

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