Khumukcham Roshan
Preventive Officer, Customs & Central Excise Department, Government of India
Obedience is the most important value that we inculcate in our students in schools and colleges. One who always says ‘Yes’ to what the teacher in front of them is delivering is considered to be the best and is loved and is assured that s/he will be successful in life. But what does success mean is debatable. And one who questions is often mocked and ridiculed in the class, answers to which is even the teacher with an experience of whole life in that very subject, in front, finds uncomfortable. “That’s quite a weird question to be raised and not within the syllabus” is how the teachers generally react. “Don’t waste your time thinking out of the box” is the instant reply received. You are never encouraged to think differently. ‘You don’t need to know it to get letter marks in your board or get selected in competitive examination’ is the common explanation heard. S/he ranks top in every class. And luckily gets the so-called government job. Congratulated and admired by junior and seniors alike in the schools and colleges, becomes examples within the friend circle, family and relatives. An overnight star in the world s/he lives.
Is getting over 90% in board examination the only interest we have in our children? The questions of the said examination are 80% designed to test the memory of the students. Never meant to eliminate them and at the same time paying little room for the application of what they have learned from textbooks in real life situations. How much they can mug up and reproduce in the answer script they are supplied with is all that is tested. Thanks to Macaulay, for the minutes that lead to enactment of the English Education Act, 1835 designed to produce clerks to serve the Queen. So that Indians would never question the legitimacy of the British Empire. No wonder even the civil servants recruited by the UPSC who get lateral entry in all the major departments, many a times hesitate to take bold and apt decisions because what they knew is what they have read in their standard textbooks. But the questions and situations they face in jobs and lives are all out of syllabus. Something they have no clue of!.
We are heading towards a future where Artificial Intelligence would play a major role in every sphere of our lives. So how much data we have fed in our brains will be irrelevant. Today, anything and everything that we want to know pops out from a 5-inch screen of our smartphones ready to be assisted by Google and Siri. So, do we still need to by-heart kinds of stuff? In future, only those persons will be required who are creative and innovative. Surely, they will be future leaders. So, the time has come, the policy makers direct the boards like CBSE and ICSE of our nation to change the way questions are framed. Which in turn will force the teachers and parents to change their approach towards the way they instill knowledge in students and children. Let’s stop sending the child to schools for getting a well-paid job craving social prestige and recognition. Even after more than 70 years of independence, no Indian University finds a place in the top 200 universities in the world. Although, India holds the world record of producing more than 5 lakh engineers in a year but a recent study says that at least 60% of those who land up a job does not need their engineering degree. Is 15 years of formal education only meant to get 9 to 9 job where half of our lives are spent to pay the EMIs?
From our childhood till today, it has been observed that we always feel excited to learn a new thing whether its cycling or swimming or flying a kite. But, why do a whole lot of students are not feeling the same way when they go to school. Aren’t they going to learn something new every day? Rather, they suffer a lot. Academics are really not meant for everyone. We need to understand that not everybody can excel in academics. We badly need to relook at the way things are taught in school. Don’t we have the necessary infrastructure to train our teachers to teach things that will remain in the lives of the students forever? Something like how to concentrate in anything they do. Careful observation and involvement in whatever we do are what we need to teach in schools and home. Rest, they can excel in whatever field they choose in life. Marks in board examination do not reflect our abilities in a comprehensive way to make our lives successful and meaningful. Parents very well know that the High School Leaving Certificate is used in life only as age proof!. Let’s define success and failure once again. Let’s emphasize that stuffs like emotional intelligence and social skills have a greater role to play in our lives.
With a population more than 120 crores, Indians obviously feel that we need to be competitive from their first class, the kindergarten. Darwin’s ‘Survival of the fittest’ is made applicable in every walk of our lives. Will it only remain a dream, that our children are never taught of competition in their schools and colleges just like in Finland and yet holds the tag of the best education system in the world. Competition kills the genius in a child. Comparison with others is an insult to self. In a rat race of getting a few marks more than our classmate, the possibility to explore other fields where we could have excelled joyfully and happily is forbidden. An artist, a plumber, a barber, a chef, a teacher, and a farmer is as important as a doctor, an engineer or a civil servant. They are just different and not one above the other. We need everyone’s service in society. In fact, a farmer must be given more attention than anyone else. He is feeding us. Can education be such that the toppers in classes choose farming or teacher to be their career? How far we are away from this mentality? Let’s take charge of things and create an environment which brings out the best in us. Life is successful when we know how to walk joyfully no matter who we are and what we do for a living.
