Education and its Hullabaloo

Education and its Hullabaloo

It's the dreaded time again. What with the crazy depressing inclement weather , the uncertain political scenario , we have a constant which takes its dreaded toll again and again--- examinations. Why has life at this early age become so stressful, the strain showing  in the early onset of depression which is becoming fatal in severe cases? Children of today are ending their lives over academic and parental , societal pressures to perform well. The education imparted today is base on a curriculum that hasn't been revised in the last 20 years. A child under the Indian Education System studies for roughly 16 years ; so this means they have to be prepared for life by a school which is based on an extinct ancient dinosaur school curriculum. Just imagine, with technology and knowledge we can't even predict what will be the weather next day yet we expect our kids to graduate with the complete knowledge of the past, the present and a complete guide to the future keeping in mind a framework of excellence we set standards to compete for the ever shrinking job market.

On one hand we want our kids to take chances to be prepared to take risks and never give in but in the same breath we encourage inhibitions in them. We all want our kids to learn that stream which will automatically guarantee a secure future translate this into fat bucks. This is the reason that we have a concentration in the streams of medical, non-medical ! 

If one is not prepared to take risks and do wrong how will we come up with something original?

Every day the newspapers are dotted with reports where kids end their lives due to the fear of performing and meeting the expectations of parents. Yes, as parents in today's world it is hard to follow a creative decision ; because it can go both ways . Many parents side with the child and let him/ her follow his wish while the other half force their desire onto the child to follow a successful career. They live through the child , as psychiatrists point out. There is no absolute right or wrong in this case. In this meritocratic world, creativity is like a risky investment. 

Dreams of millions of children are left untapped , un fulfilled because of the fear that talent may not result in money and the cut-throat competition is so intense whereas an academic degree translates into the psyche of security forever. There  is a change slowly happening but the sordid side of over-exposure , loss of innocence, materialistic overtures also goes in hand.

Education is changing in the metros, bigger cities, towns but the heart of India , the villages remains the same. The smaller towns, villages still are ransom to the ideology that the child should just think with the waist up. The mushrooming of the 'tuition culture has exponentially grown.  All over the country , the coaching centers dictate the results. It's a catch-22 situation where the parents send their kids to these centers to learn by rote, compete and get a seat in the coveted institution and the kids come under pressure to perform and keep up with the rat race. 

This is however only applicable to the cities, bigger towns and the rural child is left out. 

  Yes, the system is at fault . We need solutions and a slow change which can be incorporated. Scraping of board exams are not the final solution , scenario remains the same. 

In reality, it is the unsavory factors surrounding the exams that need to be examined. 

We need regular , periodic , assessments , healthier learned environment, a better -teacher student ratio , sensitive teachers , increase in seats in college in proportion to rid win population, increase in technical colleges and regular monitoring.