Today’s education - a devil in a sheep’s skin...
Haven’t you ever wondered – Why you force your eyes open just to maintain a mandatory 60% attendance in class? Why keeping your head above the 35% pass mark seems a Herculean task? Why as a kid did you carry a load full of books and developed a hunch back? Why education in India does not allow us to dare to dream the dream we want to? Why young people are viewed more as bottles to be filled rather than candles to be lit……..
Education in India to say the least is dismal. The origin of the present day Indian education system can be traced to the famous "Macaulay's Minute" when the British East India Company decided to establish a western type education system in India. Their motives were ulterior and they wanted some people to fill up clerical jobs in their various administrative posts and we have let them triumph.
Learning today does not lift us to higher levels. It does not arm us with sufficient tools required for us to face the world with confidence. It does not bring out the best in a person. It does not give us the confidence to look at a crisis in the face and tackle it by the horns. Children hate this dreaded monster that they are forcibly thrown into. As for most teenagers, when it comes to choosing college to a job they pick the devil to the deep sea. Learning far from being fun is not even tolerable. It has become an everlasting saga of rituals which begins with the first period in the morning and drags upto the painful last hour of the day which makes anybody too tired to complain. It does not inculcate any kind of leadership values it is supposed to. It makes the tenet “Leaders are born and not made” very evident.
One might think of some bright sparks who created a stir in various fields such as science and technology, humanities, sports, literature, entrepreneurship etc. This number is utterly miniscule considering our commendable achievement in building such a gigantic population. Moreover these great achievers have reached the level of success by their own colossal will and resolve.
Don’t you think education today has become extremely drab and monotonous? Isn’t there something radically wrong with the entire system? The youth of India seek answers to many burning issues. Burning because for a nation of mammoth size and a gigantic population like ours “education” is the single most important issue to be addressed if it wants to shed its third world status. Why do we have to study irrelevant subjects? Why do we have to study textbooks which seem to have been revised years ago? Why is the matter we learn so impractical? Why is wanting to be an archaeologist or an oceanologist ridiculed? Why after more than half a century of endearing freedom we brag of an abysmal literacy rate? Why do millions of children make firecrackers in Sivakasi, while we are so busy collecting ring tones on our mobile phones? Why do Indians seek their fortunes on alien territory by making silicon valley more prosperous and Punjabi food more popular in the west? Why does the government puts its finger in every pie starting from making defense equipments to sandal soaps including running schools and colleges knowing fully well that it cannot even run the government?
Why is an average Indian not entitled to a decent education?
Well, we could blame the system, our forefathers, the government, the policy makers, the implementers … the list is infinite. But at the end of the day when it comes to fending for ourselves we have only our own poor selves to blame.
Fellow Indians, the fire is raging. We need to douse it before it consumes us. We need to find an answer and quickly. Whether it lies in partial privatisation of higher education, revamping the entire system to make it more wholistic and practical, removing all necessary white elephants or cutting the red tape - we need to act fast. The government has to make education its best investment option if it can even dare to imagine a 100% literate India in the near future. It is only through proper education can we build a nation
-Where people realize that a double digit economic growth is not like a genie’s magic act.
Education in India to say the least is dismal. The origin of the present day Indian education system can be traced to the famous "Macaulay's Minute" when the British East India Company decided to establish a western type education system in India. Their motives were ulterior and they wanted some people to fill up clerical jobs in their various administrative posts and we have let them triumph.
Learning today does not lift us to higher levels. It does not arm us with sufficient tools required for us to face the world with confidence. It does not bring out the best in a person. It does not give us the confidence to look at a crisis in the face and tackle it by the horns. Children hate this dreaded monster that they are forcibly thrown into. As for most teenagers, when it comes to choosing college to a job they pick the devil to the deep sea. Learning far from being fun is not even tolerable. It has become an everlasting saga of rituals which begins with the first period in the morning and drags upto the painful last hour of the day which makes anybody too tired to complain. It does not inculcate any kind of leadership values it is supposed to. It makes the tenet “Leaders are born and not made” very evident.
One might think of some bright sparks who created a stir in various fields such as science and technology, humanities, sports, literature, entrepreneurship etc. This number is utterly miniscule considering our commendable achievement in building such a gigantic population. Moreover these great achievers have reached the level of success by their own colossal will and resolve.
Don’t you think education today has become extremely drab and monotonous? Isn’t there something radically wrong with the entire system? The youth of India seek answers to many burning issues. Burning because for a nation of mammoth size and a gigantic population like ours “education” is the single most important issue to be addressed if it wants to shed its third world status. Why do we have to study irrelevant subjects? Why do we have to study textbooks which seem to have been revised years ago? Why is the matter we learn so impractical? Why is wanting to be an archaeologist or an oceanologist ridiculed? Why after more than half a century of endearing freedom we brag of an abysmal literacy rate? Why do millions of children make firecrackers in Sivakasi, while we are so busy collecting ring tones on our mobile phones? Why do Indians seek their fortunes on alien territory by making silicon valley more prosperous and Punjabi food more popular in the west? Why does the government puts its finger in every pie starting from making defense equipments to sandal soaps including running schools and colleges knowing fully well that it cannot even run the government?
Why is an average Indian not entitled to a decent education?
Well, we could blame the system, our forefathers, the government, the policy makers, the implementers … the list is infinite. But at the end of the day when it comes to fending for ourselves we have only our own poor selves to blame.
Fellow Indians, the fire is raging. We need to douse it before it consumes us. We need to find an answer and quickly. Whether it lies in partial privatisation of higher education, revamping the entire system to make it more wholistic and practical, removing all necessary white elephants or cutting the red tape - we need to act fast. The government has to make education its best investment option if it can even dare to imagine a 100% literate India in the near future. It is only through proper education can we build a nation
-Where people realize that a double digit economic growth is not like a genie’s magic act.
-Where there is dignity of labour.
-Where people don’t strike an uncalled for rebellion against reforms.
-Where the prosperity does not remain an illusion anymore.
It is only where there is education the poor peasant will not be taken for a ride by the slimy and corrupt politician. And where superstition, nepotism and corruption are a thing of the past. It is only in a truly literate India would people realize the value of sustainable development and work towards conserving nature thus ensuring our very own stay on this planet for at least a few more years to come.
It is only through a literate India that more people like us will speak out their minds and make an impact. Only then would we not be taking any thing lying down and we would dare to dream the dream we want to. Nothing wrong in dreaming …….. George Bernard Shaw once said ……..Some people see things as they are and say, why. I dream things that never were and say, why not.
-Where people don’t strike an uncalled for rebellion against reforms.
-Where the prosperity does not remain an illusion anymore.
It is only where there is education the poor peasant will not be taken for a ride by the slimy and corrupt politician. And where superstition, nepotism and corruption are a thing of the past. It is only in a truly literate India would people realize the value of sustainable development and work towards conserving nature thus ensuring our very own stay on this planet for at least a few more years to come.
It is only through a literate India that more people like us will speak out their minds and make an impact. Only then would we not be taking any thing lying down and we would dare to dream the dream we want to. Nothing wrong in dreaming …….. George Bernard Shaw once said ……..Some people see things as they are and say, why. I dream things that never were and say, why not.
posted by Aditi Bhagwat | 3:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home