Remember those good old carefree days, when we with our oiled pig-tails & uniform with checks prints dragged ourselves, almost hunching due to the load on our tiny backs, grudgingly to our classrooms Right from a very young age we are burdened with heavy books in our schools. First we are taught the basics of communication, how to count things……then as we work our way up the ladder , more complex stuff is introduced. My main question being ‘ How much of this do we apply in our real lives?’ Do we actually utilize any of the stuff we are taught painstakingly by our teachers? Does it help us in living our daily lives?
Just consider a hypothetical situation – You are lost in a very dense forest or marooned on an island. What will help you survive?
History – Who ruled which state? British colonization , Freedom struggle- Naah, I don’t think so.
Math - Area, theorems, Even the simplest geometrical shapes like a square, triangle etc are something you won’t find in a forest. We study everything after simplifying it to such an extent, that it becomes useless.- Naah
Geography- Again learning such a broad overview of different countries we are never even taught anything closer home. I don’t remember ever even studying the map of the city I live in, although I have mugged up the map of Australia for some precious marks.
Science- Ohkay , some of this is relevant & I think useful, but there is lot of redundant stuff as well.
None of the above will help you survive a stint in a forest. If there is a contest of survival between an Literate man v/s Illiterate man who do you think stands a better chance?? In short , in my opinion our compartmentalized education is not so relevant.
Of course it helps in the functioning of our economy, as you get degrees, work in those fancy offices , which make goods & services, you then consume those goods & services, the whole chain works.
Also now after accepting the education system for what it is , another issue I have is – Why should I pick between one group of subjects eg. Why I cant I learn some subjects of my Commerce( Finance) field & Photography or Biology & Analytics ,for instance? These are my areas of interest but our education system makes our mind so one track that someone with diverse interests is not only burdened with unnecessary stuff but also not allowed to pursue their interests. I realize the ‘job market’ is not ready to absorb such individuals as the more uniform these degrees are , the easier it is for them to pick & choose. But it is not that tough , eg – a person who has studied Pharmacy & Accouting, can work in the finance department of a Pharmaceutical Company, also he would be a real asset as he has a complete picture of things.
So I end this post with a hope in my heart that things will change for the next generation at least. Fingers crossed….
3 comments:
My experience is similar to yours, though I know many would disagree. I suppose it all depend on what you want to get out of life.
Hey I agree to the point that the person should be allowed to learn the subject one likes...
But it seems you have to see much of the working world outside....
To work and create a civilization(the developed world we live in and not the nomadic condition) one needs the group of persons involved in it to be perfect in separate fields. If one try to lean vast subject like accounts and Parma together he will not be able to be master in unless he is a genius. So the education systems are built in such so the civilized world be able to develop and carry on froward. Also systems are made for normal persons and not only for genius.
In the example of forest you give yes agreed the person illiterate kid will be able to sustain easily, but even a literate kid will learn the same tricks in bit more days but later will be able to use the same skills in a better way with his extra knowledge. Also to sustain in forest and also in the office or civilized world one also needs to be smart, and to make one smart is not just the responsibility of education system but also of parents and social conditions around so just putting the example of forest and cribbing the education system does not make any sense. Further in schools we are taught only the basics of necessary subjects without which the foundation of any person is impossible to get stand so the school education never goes waste...
Like Akanksha, I agree with you that students should be given more choices in picking specializations of interest. I am also a product of the Indian education system, with higher education done abroad, and in my perspective, I feel I missed out a lot on the 'education is fun' part : ).....mainly due to the competitiveness of the Indian educational system...I just wish learning could be both competitive as well as fun especially for the junior levels : )
Post a Comment