Changing The Game Of Education In India

Education is often presented as a closed parcel of facts, as though there were no scope for improvement and contribution on the student’s part. This, in my opinion, limits the dynamic process of learning, stunting growth and development of the human race.What I have observed in my fourteen years’ experience of a traditional classroom setup, is that it relies too heavily on the textbooks, which act as the ultimate medium for gaining knowledge.

I remember attending morning assemblies at school with eagerness. Our Principal used to share some great insights that she had gathered from her life experiences. For example, she once told us about how she had attended a World cup final in which Japan was playing. Despite losing badly in the game, the Japanese supporters keeping their frustration aside, cleaned the stadium thoroughly before they left. Such anecdotes actually helped me form some core values that will dictate my entire life. This and a thousand other examples have firmly convinced me that pure learning is never limited to a structured classroom.

Another ridiculous tradition in the Indian education system is the popularisation of coaching institutes across the country. These institutes assure the fearful parents of a safe and secure passage of their children through competitive examinations, manufacturing ‘automatons’ which are not capable of forming original thoughts and ideas. Intelligence and success in your academic life was directly proportional to the number of marks one scored in the test; which was final and binding. I once visited one of these funny little places, found the environment claustrophobic and restricting, and smartly fled at the earliest to prevent the unwanted decomposition of my brain cells.

I believe that the authorities who are the ones propagating education need to realise that the people part of the learning process are very much abstract entities with different learning patterns. There should be no judgement on their part when students make mistakes, for that acts a crucial catalyst that often urges us to refine and improve ourselves. In an ideal world, there should be no one specific manner of producing a “right answer.” Slow learners should be given more time and space to learn at their own pace, since everyone is born with different capabilities.

The way I see education; on one hand, it acts as an instrumental force that helps children uncover their talents and interests. On the other hand it also provides a systematic medium that gives them an accurate picture of the real world so that they may function as productive citizens of the world. Education knits the very social fabric on which mankind rests and it is thus a matter to be dealt with extreme precaution. It is time that we learnt to be human together to unleash human potential in all its glory.