The Painful Indian education system and corrective measures
The Painful Indian education system and corrective measures
Education plays a vital role in human lives. It helps in the growth of an individual’s knowledge and intelligence. India is one of the oldest countries that gave the world some vital concepts that changed the roadmap of research in the field of Mathematics and Physics. The ancient Indian civilization was so rich with the knowledge that those ancient concepts are valid even today in modern science. But in spite of all this, our country is still a follower of the developed nations and we lag behind in education. Some of our best minds in the country choose to serve western countries. We prefer to do our specialization in a particular subject abroad.
There are a number of reasons behind this. Today, India is one of the biggest pool of talent in the world, We get well-trained engineers, graduates and professionals. I am calling them “well trained”, but not “well educated”. This is where we lack. Currently, the Indian education system is at its low in terms of producing quality graduates. We have been producing nearly 3.5 Crore graduates every year from various universities, of which more than half remain unemployed after passing out. The sole reason behind this is the misalignment between what our education system offers and what the job industry demands. Unfortunately, our education system does not help a graduate become employable.
What are the major problems with our current education system?
1) It’s all about theory – Just check out the volume of the syllabus our students have to deal with starting from their high school up to their post-graduation. Rather than focusing on teaching strong concepts, our education system takes pride in introducing thick books that make students fill their brains with only theoretical knowledge.
2) It’s all about memory – If you notice amongst the best students in the colleges or universities, the layer of toppers will have one thing in common and that is- Memory. To get a high score you have to train your mind to retain as much content as possible one day before the exam and then pour it all into the exam paper. And after a week, it would feel difficult to recall everything.
3) Creativity is not encouraged – The way our education system is designed, students are not allowed to experiment with the concepts and making mistakes is not encouraged. We have predefined concepts that a student will go through and learn with the minimal scope of trying new ways. When there is no practicality taught in the subjects especially while teaching concepts of Calculus, Trigonometry and Linear equations, creativity dies a slow death somewhere.
4) It’s all about scoring centum – We have seen an increased number of students every year who score cent percent marks. But what about those who scored first class? Are they not good enough? Did our education system ever think of teaching us how to deal with failures? The answer is a big NO. That deficit where a student lacks interest in a subject is never given any attention, rather it is received negatively.
5) Lack of counselling – Every school in India needs a student counsellor. With the advancement in communication, social media, cell phones etc, student life has got affected really hard. Lack of physical activity, outbursts of emotions, dealing with toxicity, fear of rejection and anxiety are prime problems these days for every student. Is our education system even close to addressing this?
6) Poor personality development – We all get to hear in our graduation and high school that fluent English speaking is most important for anyone who is educated. Is only speaking good English the proof of good communication skills and personality? Absolutely NO. It takes a lot more. It starts with the basics of valuing yourself and self-love. The feeling of being happy with what we have, and possess the hunger to achieve excellence. What the system needs to impart is the basic principles of developing ourselves into a good human being. Rather than imparting the idea of chasing good marks, an individual should be taught to have a good body language, celebrate life, chase passion and help each other.
The exposure of the current generations to the latest technologies and advancements, we see that, on one hand kids, are now gizmo and gadget freaks, and on the other hand their morals are nowhere. They are not grounded by morals anymore. Their thinking process has taken such a beating, that their ability to differentiate between right and wrong is jeopardized.
What does a good education system look like?
The education system should be of high priority to the government first. We have to work sincerely towards restructuring the whole education system in India, right from syllabus, quality material, faculty members, imparting practical sessions and finally teaching students that failure is not an end but just a stepping stone towards success.
Below are some steps of improvement that needs to be considered:
1) Manners before anything else (Age group 4 yrs – 7 yrs)- The years spent in Kinder Garten must be well utilized in teaching kids the basic manners of socializing, familiarizing with different cultures, self-care basics, imparting right food habits, physical activity, and bringing out creativity. Every child has a hidden talent that needs to come out to the world.
2) Scrap the ranking system for primary classes – There must be no ranking or evaluation system throughout primary classes, and emphasis should be on laying strong foundation of learning basics of language (native language & English), other culture & Analytical concepts. There must be encouragement towards activities that encourage creativity and outdoor sports. It makes a kid physically strong & immune. They take learning as fun and not as a compulsion.
3) A strong academic learning in Secondary classes – As students move to secondary class there must be a strong emphasis on strengthening the subjects like Languages, Mathematics, Science, Social studies and everyday sports activities. This is because, the mind of a human being at this age is most receptive and the concepts learnt at this age stays in their subconscious for lifetime.
4) Specialization should be introduced before matriculation and continue till the end of Senior secondary school – A student must be given the liberty to choose his specialization of Science, Commerce or Arts much before his intermediate. With the followed procedure till his secondary classes, a student would have realized his true potential and he can select the right specialization. The idea of reading at least two books other than syllabus must be made mandatory. Counselling on Adult Education must be made mandatory in schools.
5) Graduation must be theory backed by practical knowledge (50:50) – Graduation must be in association with the current corporate industry. The syllabus needs to be revised with the changing trends. The concepts, lessons and ideas must be learnt in class and practical classes must be driven by the corporate industry. The evaluation of the students must be done only on the basis of the performance in the practical sessions.
Conclusion:- Implementation of these measures will get us a streamlined education system that will produce graduates who are more sharp, competitive and most importantly “employable”. The cost of education will come down considerably. We would be seeing young, dynamic and energetic who are “well educated” in real terms. They will be employable even before completion of their Graduation. This will also encourage entrepreneurship. We will have individuals who are now more confident, emotionally strong and have sound leadership skills, unlike the deceived lot we face today.