Limitation of Dalton Plan of Education:
Dalton Plan has not been introduced all over the world. It was experimented in America and is prevalent in certain parts of England. It could not be introduced at other places on account of certain reasons. Following are the limitations of the Dalton Plan-
(1) Notions of the old teachers- Old teachers, who have grown habituated to the classroom teaching do not very much like this new Plan. They do not wish to give up their authority and let the new scheme be experimented and implemented. Even when they are asked to implement it, they put their own notions into it and defeat the very purpose for which it is actually meant.
(2) Expensive- This is a very expensive Plan and that is why it has been termed as a Plan of Capitalist Education. It has been said so because it involves a huge expenditure for arranging the laboratories and providing for the books and other teaching materials. A country with ordinary resources cannot afford this type of education; while on the other hand, if this Plan is implemented without the provisions of the laboratories and other teaching aids, it is likely to fall flat.
(3) Too much of Individualism- Like the Montessori system of education, this scheme is also based on too much individualism. Such a scheme is likely to retard the growth of social qualities like cooperation and collectivism. Under this scheme, children work independently and acquire education through the process of self-education. It is said that it reduces the influence of the teachers. The teachers are also not able to influence the children through their personality and aspects of character.
(4) Lack of Equipped Personnel- Since this Plan depends for its success on properly directed lessons, it requires a good number of experienced efficient and properly trained teachers, which is in no way an ordinary task. It is, therefore, required that a good number of teachers should be thoroughly trained in this plan before it is actually implemented and put into practice.
(5) Too much Emphasis on Writing- Under this Plan, there is too much emphasis on writing and less on reading. According to educationists, oral work plays a very important role in the development of the personality of the child. In the absence of this training, the balanced development of the child shall not be possible.
(6) Likelihood of students taking help from their fellowmen-Under this scheme, it is quite possible that a child, who has not been able to finish his contract, may copy it out from his class-fellow who has completed his assignment. Such a tendency will have a bad effect on the character and the personality of the children.
(7) Lack of co-relation- Since, under this scheme, the children have to work under the guidance of the specialists of various subjects, there is no provision for the co-relation of studies. There are various subjects that cannot be taught in the laboratory. There is no proper provision for the teaching of music, poetry, physical exercises etc. under this Plan. This is the greatest drawback of this Plan.
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