By Anmol Gupta
Once someone said "Education is what remains when you forget everything you have learnt." Well, does the use of someone instead of giving the name of the person who quote this made any difference to the theme or the message of my article? To be honest I actually don't even remember the name, I only remember what he said or more importantly the message of his thought. And I personally doubt that remembering or just cramming things do help at all. As Shakespeare said "What's in the name?"
The same is the state of system of our education that enforces us to remember the language of books and also use it in the exams otherwise your marks have to suffer. And this so called examination system is also a useless thing as it ends up only where students used to study only the syllabus which is necessary for the exams quantizing the interests of the students. One has to unnecessarily learn the same quota of syllabus over and over again for the sake of examination. The examination process is like vomiting first you have to put everything in mind and then vomit it in the exams. Once Einstein said "Why should I learn those things that I can find in books whenever necessary."
They have to understand that Newton studied gravitation only when his university was closed and Einstein had to run away from his school to study only what he liked. The system of education also doesn't have any place for the extracurricular activities but often boast of full personality development of children. The pressure of passing the exams has changed the mindset of the students so dramatically that they accept themselves as failure if can't pass the exams and hence decide to do suicide as a result of lost confidence.
I being the student of science stream can say that the practical approach towards subject like physics has died almost. The current approach really can't amaze the students in the wonder what science beholds. The Students really have to turn away the nerves of their mind in order to learn something but it hasn't been so. Students don't even stop to spend their priceless time on thinking what they are learning, does it help them to learn something new or in making them a better person. They just begin the rat race as soon as the problem occurs. And this has also been showcased in the movie '3 IDIOTS' with a fine example as the principal is also shown not to take care what he was going to found.
The situation is really very fearsome. When every breath of your life, each second of your existence is an exam conducted by nature the education system has its own catastrophe. The system doesn't give enough freedom of thinking for the students and some of the teachers also cut down the freedom to speak what you feel. A very good example of the non-beneficial system is unnecessary wastage of electricity and water done by so called literate people. It is in the syllabus that they are limited sources we have to preserve them for survival of human on the earth but still there is no effect. Why? Didn't they read it? No it's because by the mere reading of a topic in the books doesn't create enough of alarming in the mind of student that he could take care of it.
So the question arises, what needs to be done then in order to increase the standards of education? The answer is we have to change the system revolutionary. The teachers need to be trained so that they can make a student think practically rather than ratification like a parrot to pass the exams. More experimental teaching needs to be done. And to create a certain impact about social or economical issues on a student's mind, educational tours can be scheduled where the consequences of such issues can be visualized.
But as someone said "To change something you have to be the change yourself." So the students rather than depending and expecting something from the government or teachers can change their approach and invent A New Approach To Education. Instead of having a materialistic view in life they can change their thinking style. Students can voluntarily form groups and go for the education tour. They can collect funds and conduct experiments themselves. They can use the internet specifically and revolutionize the way of thinking by developing communities and fan clubs of innovative students, their selection criteria based on a new idea or innovation to promote new ways of thinking. Also they can conduct quizzes among groups which will result in the better understanding of the subject/topic.
Students just have to remember "No effort will go in vain no matter how small it is." Remember the present approach is killing the Newtons and Einsteins who have helped us to improvise our lifestyles. Some steps should be taken as soon as possible.
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