A. P. Vijayan
Pisharath House, Eranellur
Kechery, Trichur District,
Kerala. - 680 501

Dear Sir,

Way to Effective Learning

A. General :

As introduction, let me quote a letter I chanced to go through in Times of India in 1987, from the sad mother of a sadder boy.

From childhood, this boy had taken active interest in lifesciences. His room was filled with stuffed fauna, models of human internal organs and bones and his shelves were full of literature on these. When he was in XII, his knowledge of human physiology, anatomy & medicine astounded even medicos.

This prodigy failed in all Medical Entrance Examinations. Only the love for his mother kept him alive. The mother wants to know what is wrong with the present entrance examinations.

There are others like her, who, after stuffing their children's rooms with science models and mechanical gadgetry and their racks with popular science series, and recently, providing them with access to internet, have met a similar fate.

Contrast this with the experience of my friend professor X.

During one of his teaching assignments abroad, opening the chemistry session for standard XII, he asked a boy, whether he could tell the colour of copper sulphate, known to every schoolboy in India, where the fundamentals of science are name/place/date of inventors and inventions, occurrence /colour/density of materials etc.

Naturally, negative response from the boy, and the one next to him and the one next again, suggestive of a practical joke, turned the teacher's face crimson with irritation. Then it turned to bewilderment at the request of the boy for half an hour for the answer, and then to amusement when he received half a dozen foolscap later, and finally to awe as he glanced through the derivation of colour of copper sulphate as blue from the fundamental properties of matter, using quantum concepts.

I am sure, this episode, if it reaches the mother in the opening para, will direct her query to what was wrong with her boy's education - for the sake of his younger brother.

Contemporary society tightens its hold ruthlessly on the young in the guise of education. All attempts to wriggle out from its law of 'survival of the fittest' - like play and learn schools, work and learn schools, DPEP, are only postponing work to a later stage with predictable calamity. To the best of my knowledge, the longest lived of these innovations is the DPEP in Kerala (Sponsored and partly financed by UNESCO for export to non-EuroAmerican countries only, with obvious motives) It took 7 years for the 100% literate Keralites to find out that the DPEP promise of 'giving childhood to the child' was a life long one and realise the wisdom of 'No pains, No gains'. After 7 years of study the DPEP child did not know just three items; Reading, Writing, Arithmetic.

This letter has nothing to do with such abracadabra. This is concerned only with correcting the sequence and method of learning which naturally makes subsequent learning easier and faster.

Having seen the burnt fingers of many, wise parents now select the syllabi, whose standards are proved in the entrance exam results. My role is to improve even on these, by the keen observation that performance in the entrance examinations bears a constant correlation to scoring in XII but never to that in X except in mathematics. This is because in X, even the science syllabus relies heavily on superficial data and irrelevant project work on science and hence the examinations do not measure the science talent. The child has to eat up a lot of husk and shell to get a little real science kernel.

Modern science and technology and the associated entrance examinations require the ability to make intelligent use of available data and not the ability to memorise these. Based on experience in teaching students, I have struck upon the efficient method for learning, avoiding wastage of brainhours. Once the essence of this method is grasped, personal guidance is not essential, thus saving the money now spent on tutors/coaching institutions. The only things you will have to shell out are some outdated academic canons like.

"Learning grammar is the foundation of learning language"

Learning language is more like the natural growth of a tree striking roots deeper as it grows up, than the erection of a mansion whose foundation has to be completed first. Leave the child with nice reading material and relax.

Science Quiz in its present form, is doing more harm than help by enthusing the young into the pseudoscience called popular science. Popular science is a futile exercise like performing surgery with a blunt kitchen knife.

'Who is Who', 'What is Where', 'Which is When' are all irrelevant to science, which is concerned only with why. At best, popular science - including the internet species - can kindle interest, but cannot sustain it, at the required depths. This is exactly what our ancestors scoffed as pallavagrahi pandithyam.

Mathematics is the root of the science tree bearing technology fruit. Irrigate this grey root and not the glossy fruit. Many students and even scientists in India have realised too late that avoiding mathematics is more difficult than learning it. On the other hand, see how Indian engineers with good background in mathematics do well in all unconventional fields open to them from software to biotechnology. Just like people talk about computer literacy now, the day is not far off when scientists will talk about mathematics literacy to transact in the world of computer/science/technology.

Our science and technology gospel opens with 'First seek ye the queendom of mathematics....', as mathematics Dharma generates all other S & T purusharthas.

But mathematics, like anything else worthwhile, cannot be taught. It can only be learnt. That is why teleteaching has failed in the case of mathematics. Teacher's role is only to convince the student of the teacher's redundancy. Thus paradoxically, effective teaching is a benign terminator. In other words, the business of true teaching is, winding itself up, as soon as possible. Judge a teacher by what is learnt by the student, not by how much the teacher exerted.

In the cupboard of 21st century career, though the bottom racks are always crowded, there is always plenty of room at the top, inaccessible to midgets. Growing to such height depends as much on non-doing as on doing. Avoiding distraction by irrelevant information is as important as selecting and learning the right material. 21st century education is a vector, with magnitude as well as direction.

I do not elaborate on these topics here, as the nature of knowledge and the techniques of acquiring it with least time and effort, are dealt with in detail in the book to be sent against your order.

I completed B. Sc. Chemistry when I was 18, and started career as chemist in the same year. I tried to continue education privately, completed AMIE A part and was about to complete ICWA inter, when I was selected as management trainee in a public sector company. After some years of service, I retired voluntarily and am now engaged as consultant chemist for various companies.

Though careerwise I did not advance much due to lack of concentration in one discipline, familiarity with various disciplines gave me the insight to develop methodology for learning each. As I felt there is scope for improvement in education at national level, both contentwise and methodwise, I wrote a book 'Reason', compiling my views on education and some other topics as well.

To validate my observations objectively, I tutored some 80 students (VIII to X) in all subjects, at their homes. My role was confined to teaching them how to learn, by weekly once visits.

The typical student handed over to me was scoring low in the periodic examinations and was already alerted by the head of the institution. He was burdened with home work and private tuition in all subjects. He was not able to concentrate properly on mathematics due to exhaustion.

My first suggestion was to limit such private tuition to one or two, where essential. A special routine was prescribed for learning mathematics which was quite different from learning other subjects. Such specific method of study was outlined for each subject. Finally I replaced formal grammar lessons with Wodehouse, Mark Twain, R.L. Stevenson, Conan Doyle or even comics for small children. All these were designed to encourage self study directly from books.

As some guardians were uneasy with such unconventional methods, a few students left. Those who stayed with this method improved their performance dramatically in all subjects, with each succeeding term. Once they thus learnt to learn, I discontinued counselling. I remember one student innocently asking me, now that he was the topper in the class, and was able to learn even lessons ahead directly from the textbooks, why I kept on coming. I told the guardian, this was the happy moment I was expecting, and left after blessing the child. All students who stayed upto this point are well placed in professions now - many of them, overseas.

After this, I wanted to try out my theories in real school environment. For this, I selected Andhra Pradesh with its low percentage of literacy and 'highest in India' percentage of pass in post +2 entrance examinations including IIT, and GRE, thus providing antithesis to Kerala, where the above parameters are in the reverse. I worked in Andhra Pradesh as teacher for 3 years (2000-2003), 1 year each in a different district, (Khammam, Krishna and Mehbub Nagar) This experience only confirmed my conclusions formed in 1982 which you can read in the book. I just saw what I was looking for. A comparison of school education of these two states - diametrically opposite by the parameters of education, serves to highlight many areas in Indian education which need improvement/correction as given below:

1. Even after the recent revision in syllabus, Kerala is behind A.P. in the standard of syllabus and Examinations.

2. This headway in syllabus and examinations helps the A. P. student in the crucial, Post +2, stage and enables him to fare better in the entrance examinations. This also helps the pure science, commerce streams to keep their standards high both at graduate and postgraduate levels.

3. A. P. Chief Minister is well aware of waste caused by the subject Social Studies in the school syllabus, which is not taught in U.S.A. and Japan now as a compulsory subject. But his attempts to scrap it are always thwarted by the Social Science lobby. There is not even such an awareness in Kerala.

4. In A. P. upto the 7th class, CBSE syllabus is followed. Upto 6th class, environmental studies (in the place of General science and Social studies) provide only irrelevant material. Hence, many schools in A.P. are utilising half the time allotted to these, for providing 2 continuous periods for mathematics every day.

5. In comparison to Kerala, Irregularities in examinations (like copying) are more in A.P. Yet there is a section of students who study sincerely with their future in view, who do not resort to such malpractices.

6. Many advanced and useful topics in mathematics and science can be learnt without any equipment. While the Kerala teachers are always complaining of lack of laboratory and equipment, A.P. teachers are effectively teaching advanced syllabus to the students sitting on floor in thatched sheds, who have never seen a test tube or a physical balance. Of course, there is a computer in every school, mainly for advertisement.

7. A.P. demonstrates the absurdity of monopolising a profession by insistence on a qualification for entry (See Book) by counter example. In A.P., many excellent Mathematics teachers are AMIE(A) completed or Engineering Graduates. 95% of Mathematics and Science teachers have no B.Ed. qualification. Most English teachers have no qualification in English.

My only reply to those who are dubious about such a system is "a tree is known by its fruit, not by its leaves."

8. As shown above, A. P. syllabus is the most advanced state syllabus in India and even better than some of the central syllabi. But it is still far behind syllabi of U.S. A. and Japan. Yet in the Indian context, even a modest attempt to improve to international standards deserves appreciation.

Please go through a copy of my advice to the students (given below) on April 23rd every year, the closing date of schools in A. P.

"Vacation

Every gifted child is a gift to the nation. By this letter, I am only extending my right/responsibility as citizen to guard and nurture this national asset. In my file I have names of about 100 bright students from all over India. To each, I am forwarding this letter. You are one of them.

During the coming vacation, go by the following routine meticulously.

i) Forenoon session

1. Buy a mathematics text book and a guide (with solved exercises of the text book) of the next class and a lot of low cost paper (news print) stitched into note books by yourself.

2. Open the first chapter in the text book and try to understand the concepts by reading.

3. If you are somewhat (need not be completely) familiar with the concepts, try to learn the first worked out example given in the chapter, by reading every step.

4. Try to do that example in a note book without looking into the text.

5. If you are not successful, repeat reading and doing, Both shall not be done at the same time. In other words, text book and note book shall not remain open at the same time.

6. After learning all the solved examples in the chapter like this, attempt the exercise given at the end of the chapter.

7. Try to workout the exercise questions/problems/sums on your own, checking your own answer against the answer given in the answer page in the text book. A problem worked out by your own effort gives you better knowledge than 10 problems copied and learnt. If you are not successful even after one hour of trial, refer to the guide and proceed as in the case of textual examples.

8. Never skip exercise problems. You may think the next problem is almost similar to the one you have already solved and feel tempted to skip over to the next next one, in eagerness to finish this chapter and proceed to a fresh chapter. Curb this impatience, which in the long run will kill the interest of problem solving and self study. The only exemption to this rule is when the problem itself is wrong, which you can easily verify and correct from your guide.

9. Following this method, you can convince yourself that mathematics learning needs no teacher at all. In this way, if you are able to complete XIIth mathematics syllabus, by the end of the Xth vacation, you can join intermediate (XIth class) and read physics and chemistry like a novel (because higher science is neither Thelugu medium nor English medium, but mathematics medium) and succeed in all the entrance exams to follow. You need not even bother to revise mathematics, as every advanced chapter automatically revises and consolidates the previous portions, in this subject.

ii) Afternoon session:

1. Copy one diagram in physical science.
2. Copy one diagram in biological science.
3. Copy one Map in social studies.

iii) Evening session:

Utilise this session for reading enjoyable literature, which shall lead to classics like Pickwick Papers, Don Quixote, Les Miserables, Hunchback of Notre Dam, Old Man and the sea, Quiet flows the Don, and Doctor Zhivago. This will simultaneously relax and educate you. Read literature silently. Do not pause for clearing the meanings of hard words from a dictionary, as it will kill the interest and continuity of reading. On meeting the same word,/ idiom/phrase in different contexts, you will pick up its meaning quite naturally.

If you have no interest in reading (which is very unfortunate) listen to Doordarshan News Broadcast at least three times a day in Thelugu, Hindi and English. You may also watch movies in the languages you wish to learn, with special attention to dialogue.

Avoid humbugs like spoken English and English grammar courses. Such fast food institutions often ask students to memorise five hard words per day to improve their language. This is like feeding a child five stones everyday to make him strong.

If you give me your 2 months vacation on the above lines, I promise you 10 months vacation during the next academic year, as the lessons will be easy and interesting like any vacation pursuit. For those who lag in studies, vacation is the right time to make up at their own pace.

After Reopening of school

1. Mathematics: continue selflearning to advanced mathematics of higher classes as during vacation.

2. Other subjects: Never strive for ranks based on total marks in all the subjects. The school management wants ranks for advertisement. But they are not important for your future/career.

2. (i) Physical Science: From VII class onwards, after Mathematics give some importance to Physical Science. Aim at 80% marks in Physical Science. Concentrate on conceptual portions like atomic structure and mathematical derivations. Do not waste much time in memorising descriptive portions like brick making and uses of hydrogen.

2. (ii) Biological science and social studies

In biological science and social studies 60% marks is sufficient. You can score this much by reading the text book aloud 25 times from beginning to end (regardless of the lessons taught) and copying the diagrams/maps 25 times.

2. (iii) Languages:

In languages also 60% scoring is enough. Read aloud the detailed text book 25 times and the non detailed text book 10 times from beginning to end, irrespective of the portions covered. This repeated reading will make everything clear to you.

You may practise the structural exercise in comprehension, composition etc. appended to each lesson. But avoid formal grammar books like Wren & Martin. Be satisfied with what you score this way. Do not waste your time memorising descriptive passages from the text books word by word or learning formal grammar.

If you can hook onto the habit of reading literature in any language, you need to read the text book of that language (as above) only 10 times, for good marks. Note that, in mathematics and language, methods of learning are diametrically opposite. Do not analyse language by grammar. - just read on. Do not read on mathematics - analyse (Solve).

You may wonder whether there is no choice between robbing the child of his childhood or condemning him to a life long one. The answer to this question is the theme of this letter, which is further elucidated in painfully detailed logic in the book. There are simple remedies for grave maladies. But people have faith only in long and complex prescriptions. Hence simple truth becomes most difficult to convince.

First get rid of the notion that the syllabus prescribed by the Government is too sacrosanct to touch. If you feel that in a particular syllabus the distracting part is more than the useful one, opt for a better syllabus. If nothing of your expectation is available in India, choose a foreign syllabus or enroll in the school only for record purpose and concentrate on Eamcet coaching. Nowadays there are parents who dare to teach their children on their own. Whatever be the method, you have to avoid pains which do not yield gains. You cannot make an omelette without breaking an egg (here, of blind tradition) Don't make your child's brain a waste bin of slogans, cliches and dead data by following an outdated syllabus. Note that in India it is not usually the Xth rankers that reach the IITS.

As previously pointed out, there is no need to push the husk and shell also down the child's throat to feed him the kernel. But to do this effectively, you should know how to seperate the kernel from the husk and the shell. In the field of education, this requires profound understanding and detailed analysis of what we call knowledge. This is provided in the book.

Most people agree with me in all the generalities given in the book and this letter, but depart abruptly when it comes to specifics of implementation like the steps in my vacation advice, which they feel as audacious violation of the ageold norms of learning perpetuated by our academics, even when the entire outside world has outgrown these.

For example, geography was once taught as a principal subject in England, where the main occupation was navigation. In those days of crude equipment, sailors' lives and livelihood depended on their expertise in geography. With advanced technology and communication at hand, nowadays it is not important to memorise latitude/longitude of places, time of trade winds or products of every country.

The how of the method has already been covered in this letter. But without conviction as to its logical basis you will be hesitant to apply it at the right time. For convincing yourself of the futility of pulling along the beaten track and the urgency of pushing open a fresh path requires the detailed answer to the question why of the method, which is given in the book.

Though the main topic dealt in the book is education, two other equally important topics are also discussed in the following chapters.

Foreword and contents of the book are given below.

FOREWORD

Man is a gregarious animal, more in mind than in body.

Perhaps the above metaphor applies more to the Indian than to any other national. Even journalists, writers and social reformers seem to be no exception. Recall how such an absurdity as the 'Total Revolution' by Sri Jaya Prakash Narayan received ardent support from many belonging to the above intellectual class, let alone the masses.

The trouble with our social reformers seems to be that they perceive issues as the proverbial blind men saw the elephant. They take great pains to investigate an issue in the minutest detail; but somehow miss the basic interrelationship between the various parts. Their efforts ultimately lead to ineffective legislation, like the antidowry laws and the proposed antidefection law, which, due to inherent logical lacunae, will ever fall a little short of implementation, like the Yasoda's Rope - reminding us of Shaw's words "Heroic aspirations....are worse than useless when the combatants understand neither what is wrong nor how to set it right."

To er or err is human, to errrrr……….. bovine.

The following articles have no literary pretensions, the sole objective being to examine three much discussed topics from fresh angles. These are just bare ideas presented without any window dressing. I hope these will open some new lines for thought.

…… ------------- ----------------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ------ A. P. Vijayan

CONTENTS

Education

1) Classification of knowledge and related topics
2) A pattern for Education.
3) Restrictions in education, employment and research.
4) Miscellaneous

Laws

1) Too many laws.
2) Rule of the lawyer and the need to check it.
3) Parliament, Government and Judiciary in Democracy.
4) Administration of Justice.
5) Bureaucracy
6) Marriage Laws etc.

Government and Business

1) Government in Business.
2) Government and Private Sector.
3) Restrictive practices and Common Man.
4) Back to Laissez-faire.

Each chapter of the book opens with the general and abstract aspects of the issue, but ends up with concrete, specific and down to earth, step by step procedure of solution, as you have seen in the vacation advice to students.

In 1982, immediately after publication, 500 gift copies of this book were sent to all the potentates in India. At that time these ideas were unpopular. Slowly these gained ground. I am happy that 25% of the reforms recommended in the book have already been implemented by now - by trial and error. . But I am also sad that if these were implemented in toto in 1982, India would not have ended up as the whiner of Asia with neither military nor economic power to back up the rhetoric.

After 21 years, if I have to reewrite these topics now, I do not hve to delete from / add to one word. I wonder how many can say this about their writing.

This book is useful not only to students and parents but also managements/correspondents of schools as it provides guidelines for economising on space, time, staff and money in running a school, without any compromise on quality or results.

Please do not postpone. This impatient workaholic century does not want people, who finish today's work today. It needs people who finish tomorrow's work today.

If what was told vide ABCDE above, makes sense to you, You may sent Rs. 100 by Money Order to the address given at the beginning of this letter, for the book 'Reason' which gives in detail the why of the method. After receipt of the book, if you need clarification on any part therein or at any point of its application, I am always at your disposal.

If you are member of a social service organisation, you can greatly help me in advancing this cause, by giving me an opportunity to speak in a meeting of the organisation.

..............................................................................................................................Yours Sincerely

.............................................................................................................................A. P. Vijayan

Address for communication:

A. P. Vijayan, Pisharath House, Eranellur P.O., Kechery, Trichur Disrtict, KERALA 680 501