Our Education System

“Children must be taught how to think and not what to think” this is a quote by Margaret Mead.The education system in our country has turned us all into robots running a rat race without understanding what is right for us. We have lost our reasoning capacity as humans and want to be part of a system that is hindering our creative abilities. Since our childhood we have been taught to fit inside the box rather than think outside of it.

Our thinking capacity has been narrowed to just studying for tests and clearing them. Our aim is to land up in a good University and to secure a white-collar job. A lot of people end up doing this and land in white collar jobs but are dissatisfied with their jobs. This is because what they are doing is not what they really want or that their job is not able to bring out the best in them. Our education and our social conditioning have to be blamed for this.

Life is not just about landing in a good job; it is also about learning to develop effective communication skills and problem-solving abilities. It is important to have a well-paying job to fend for yourself and your family but one must also be able to tackle the challenges one faces at his/her workplace.

Effective communication skills can be developed at an early age by encouraging classroom discussions, debates, and presentations.This can boost a student’s social skills which will come handy to him/her in the future at his/her workplace. Group projects and team building activities must also be encouraged in order to build leadership qualities in students.

Our education system is lacking because there is less scope for creativity and innovation. Students are simply asked to mug up their study material and produce good results in the test. Children who are unable to do that are looked down upon as less intelligent. The problem is that we measure intelligence in very narrow terms. Intelligence should be a combination of everything, i.e. knowledge, creativity, physical abilities, and social skills.

Our education system has sidelined extracurricular activities and sports. There are very few extra-curricular activities in which students can engage. Many schools in our country neglect sports and don’t even provide decent sports facilities. Sports and extra-curricular activities are essential for the overall development of a student. They boost a student’s confidence levels and physical health which makes them perform better at academics.

It is a part of our education system that parents and teachers pressurize students to score more marks and compete with others. Healthy competition is necessary to grow but not at the cost of losing one’s self -confidence and morale. A student must be also encouraged to find out his hidden talents and improve upon them.

It is also crucial to impart values and ethics to students. Students must be taught to share and care for others.They cannot become selfish individuals and behave indifferently towards people around them. They must know how to respect others and to stay humble despite their achievements in life.

A good education system must focus on the holistic development of a child. It must make students more creative, confident and versatile. Many successful people today are the ones who have broken the barriers which the society had imposed on them. For example, Bill Gates and Albert Einstein were both high school dropouts and have made great contributions to the world.

We can say that even the education system is a part of our society as it is structured based on what society wants. A good education system must be a guiding light for a student to achieve his dreams and not something that curtails it!