Based on the given passage answer the questions 26 – 30 :
The court has made dissection of animals optional for Biology students. I wonder if another court order can be sought to make observation of nature a requirement of science study. A student can get through school with shining success without developing the ability to notice details in natural phenomena. There are children whose entire knowledge of nature comes from books, the blackboard, and a few laboratory experiments. In the case of some we can add a computer monitor. I wish the science syllabi might include a reading of the King Solomon’s Ring, a delightful classic on animal behavior and Jungle and Backyard, a collection of essays by the late M. Krishnan. It is a pity our children get no taste of the pleasures that careful observation of a cat , a fish, or a tree in natural circumstances can bring.
Books which are not fortunate enough to gain the status of textbooks mean nothing in our system. Otherwise, a remarkable book on trees written by Chakraborty S. Venkatesh would have made an impact. The kind of leisure it demands, and the freedom to connect things in One's mind it assumes, have no place in our schools because they are fixated on textbook based examinations.
I recall meeting a large group of children outside the wolf’s compound in the Tokyo zoo. Several hours later. I noticed the children and their teacher still busy with the wolf. They had spent the day watching every part and behavior of the wolf, taking notes and comparing their observations with those given in the books they were carrying.
Our children, of course, never get this kind of opportunity or training. A visit to the zoo means everything, just as our syllabi provide a cursory, whirlwind coverage of every topic and fact. A group of children was rushing past the photo exhibition at the Sabarmati Ashram. Two boys manage to stop at a picture for a few minutes, noticing something unusual in it. As I watched in horror, one of the teachers came back looking for the boys and the first thing she did on finding them was to slap and scold them for staying behind. Anyone who has hung around School corridors would know that teachers give priority to maintaining group discipline over appreciating individual curiosity or effort.