How the French teach and Learn...Review of KJS Chatrath's book 'Vers la Lumiere: A study of the French school system

 

 

How the French Teach And Learn -Vandana

  Th Hindustan Times, Evening News, May 26, 1998.

IT is true that education plays a very significant role in the whole development process. But it is equally true that India as a nation has not devoted as much attention to education as it should have done.

Obviously, we have not made serious efforts to know what is happening in the other parts of the world, especially in the non-English speaking countries.

Dr K.J.S.Chatrath's book under review is an outcome of painstaking research and long strenuous hours put in archives for the material used in the book. The Indian Administrative Service Officer's efforts have however, have paid off. Incidentally it is his fifth book.  At present he is posted at the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla.

The book deals with several aspects, notably "The Orientation Law of 1989", which is a watershed in the educational history of France, the rights and duties of the students, which can be relevant to India

One thing comes out loud and clear in Dr Chatrath's study: France has given due importance not only to education but to the teachers as well. And this is not just a lip service.

However, it is not all a rosy picture. The author notes (page 198): Dual competition from the USA on the one hand and the European countries, and more specifically from the UK and Germany on the other, in the economic field has forced France to take a close look at its educational system. Comparisons with other educational systems indicate that by and large France is not coming on top in any particular discipline. However the evaluations do pinpoint the strength of French system.

Useful for the educationists………..Vandana

Vers La Lumiere: A study of the French School System by Dr. K.J.S.Chartrath: Indian publishers and Distributors. Delhi Pp 224, Rs 350