India is a proud country today. Many Indians have excelled in various fields, Indians have been given honorary awards from many countries; We are a known name internationally. Is it the education system that empowers us or is it because we are the legendary descendants of the lesser known Aryabhata, Sage Kannadas or C.V.Raman?
Most people say that the tendency of Indians to work hard has made them successful in life. However, education has also played a role. But, has it?
Let’s find out!
Firstly, we’ll list the positive points of our Education system:
- Knowledge of Diverse Subjects: Students have widespread access to a lot of topics. Unlike other education systems, we don’t have a say in the subjects we study till we complete our 10th grade. There are fixed subjects, every year, to pass. We get to learn the basics of many diverse topics, and in the bargain, we obtain an in-depth knowledge.
- Improved Memory by Tests: During our schooling, tests are conducted every month to find out how much have we learned. Many despise it, but there is a bright side. Tests help us understand the chapters and force us to read the ones which we probably would have overlooked. Moreover, we learn how to memorize these chapters and how to retrieve the knowledge we ‘gained’ when needed. In other words, we learn how to prioritize topics and find out by what method we can store them. We continue this for many years, and by the end of schooling, we master this art and give ourselves an exceptional memory power.
But our question is whether this is effective.
Hence, let us also lay down the negative points:
- Rote Learning: “You must write this answer for this question. That for this. Blah. Blah. Blah.” All our teachers use this very frequent dialogue in the class. It makes me think, we preach that everyone is unique, everyone is different; then why does the CBSE board say that we all must write the exact answer they believe is right? That too, with the lines same as those in the textbook? Our intention is to learn about a series of events that happened in the past, or to learn about the structure of a cell, not to memorize it, isn’t it?
- Creativity and Originality are not encouraged, Blunt Cognitive skills: Our education system doesn’t reward creativity and other such things which deserve the highest academic preference. Deviance from the textbook’s exact lines is discouraged. Risk taking is mocked. Our testing and marking systems need to recognize original contributions, in the form of creativity, problem-solving, valuable original research and innovation. Memorising is not learning. The biggest flaw in our education system is that it supports memorizing and duplicating someone else’s originality.
What is the Conclusion?
It’s all in you. Our education system may not be perfect, but it is the responsibility of every student to use it efficiently.
To cope up with the lack of creativity, they can try to engage themselves in a hobby to expand their cognitive skills. Rather than blaming the system (which definitely will not change), it’s time for the students to take an initiative and improve themselves. Students must possess Self-Motivation to succeed.
Are you going to self-motivate yourself and prosper? Or blame the system?
It’s as they say, my friend, life is in your hands.