posted by moondust
Our education system according to me is flawed in many ways. Education is something that is supposed to make us better persons, it should help cultivate our thirst for knowledge, not make us hate the sight of our books. It should help us find something we like to do and develop our aptitude enough to make our career in that line. Instead, our education system conforms people into a fixed mind-set. Not many deviate from the cliché of becoming a doctor/engineer/lawyer/teacher; our system is in need of a huge revamp.
Pandu is a 12th standard student, Here’s a discussion between Pandu and his mother:
Pandu: Amma, I’m really interested in psychology. I think I will apply for Bsc. Psychology.
Pandu’s Mum: Are you mad? BSc. is not a professional course. If you do Bsc. Psychology where will you go for a job? You will end up with a job that pays horribly. What is the point in having studied so much then?
Pandu: No ma.. I could always open a counseling centre.
Pandu’s mum: Adhu ellam namma oorula work out agaadhu! You do engineering.
The conversation ends over there with a BIG full stop. But parents do have a point, it is very difficult for a person to have a successful career if it is in not in any of the conventional fields, at least that is how it is in our country. Most schools here do not have enough infrastructure to support more than the usual set of subjects. The science stream/commerce stream options after tenth standard restricts the students from wanting to do anything new.
Our government should focus more on making it possible for people to have a good environment, right from school, to study whatever they want to. Parents should come out of their fixed mentality that professional courses are the only ways for having successful careers.
Another aspect of our education system that I can’t stand is, how getting marks has become the main aim of studying and not the learning itself. Over the years, marks and grades have psyched students into studying only for the purpose of getting marks or just passing in many cases; this happens to even those who initially start out aiming to learn the subjects rather than “mug” it. I took up Computer science engineering because I was really interested, but the atmosphere I was in, morphed me into someone who hated the thought of studying or having anything to do with those subjects. Incidentally, I came across a video of a lecture on one of my subjects; the lecture was delivered by a professor from U. of California, Berkeley. The lecture was so interesting that it piqued my interest in the subject. I feel that our engineering colleges too, should emulate such methods to make sure the students stay interested in their courses. Studying for the sake of passing and mugging without learning does not accomplish anything. Education makes a better tomorrow; hence we should definitely invest our resources on making it better starting TODAY.
How interesting! But this is what might pass for real, in an ideal world. Note the irony. The rest of us have already been through the system, most of the educational segment of our lives are spent already. Though I must say I wish we could do something constructive about it, instead of ranting as a vent to our cynical selves.
ReplyDelete