Parents, teachers bat for Gurukul method of teaching

Hyderabad: Do teachers in this competitive and modern world play a crucial role in students' life? During the ancient times, Guru (teacher) played a crucial role in moulding and nurturing the character of students, and hence in order to see holistic development of students, parents and teachers have urged to implement Gurukul method of teaching in the education sector.

"The present-day education system mainly focuses on the rank-based system but whereas the Gurukul method of teaching focuses on the holistic development of students. More focus can be given on the uniqueness a child to excel in their area of interest if the Gurukul method of teaching is adopted along with the present-day teaching method. The modern education system must adopt the ancient evaluation of education which was not restricted to grading thematic knowledge. By doing this, students can also be evaluated on their skills and practical usage more than what we are currently doing," said C Bhairaiah, a retired school teacher.

Ahmed Khan, government school teacher and general secretary of Telangana State Teacher Union, said, "If the Gurukul method of teaching is implemented in Telangana, it will see great benefit in the overall development of students. The ancient part of the teaching method had four basic parts which includes-listening, practice, apprehension of meaning and result. It will be better if the education department adopts the ancient teaching approaches, as our present education system has become a rank-based system. The main idea of inculcating this system is to assist children in understanding the concept of a balanced life."

"In ancient teaching system, apart from teaching subjects, importance was also given to arts, sports and cultural activities that helped students in personality development and increased their confidence, sense of discipline which is also necessary even in today education system. Our present-day teaching method just believes in bookish knowledge which is not sufficient.

The Gurukul method can also be obtained even today by combining academics and extracurricular activities along with teaching in the area of mindfulness and spiritual awareness to make students better individuals," said Sunil Reddy, a parent.

Asif Hussain Sohail, president of Telangana Parents Association for Child Rights and Safety said, "In the present education system, few ancient teaching methods should be implemented, as it is much needed as the holistic development of a child is often ignored in the modern system. The earlier teaching method was not restricted to the four walls, students and teachers worked together to develop innovative and creative solutions to problems. Even in the New Education Policy, old teaching methods in combination of modern teaching methods are mentioned but it is not been implemented in Telangana."