Nilacharal

Where are we?

The fundamental problem lies with the "inhuman approach" of our education system. This is fueled by the excessive stress on an "examination oriented approach". The educated masses by and large get alienated from the society rather than identifying with the society, de facto a larger entity of oneself. These scourges made our education meaningless, unfocussed, and blind-folded. It does not orient the individual to what he/she learns. Examination is treated As an end in itself rather than considering this as one of the means of the learning process. The end and the foremost objective of education must be to instill self-confidence, increase awareness, impart a sense of responsibility, self-discipline, moral ethics, and logic. No amount of call to eradicate corruption and terrorism would yield results unless the younger generation is properly educated about their duties, privileges and available opportunities.

Under the prevailing condition, even a doctor or engineer is as ignorant as A layman on the street when it comes to the question of his rights and duties. Education must be relevant to an individual in shaping his skills to the opportunities available around him/her and it must be felt related to his/her quality of life. The contents of the present education system lack nativity. Understanding one's own locality and culture must get importance in education. By and large,the talent to memorize and reproduce is cultivated and tested in the present system. Another reason which leads to a distressing consequence is the unhealthy competition. All deleterious causes finally land an energetic young citizen into the much talked about "identity crisis".

The education system is so routine and inflexible that both the teacher and the taught feel it as a burden. There is a lack of involvement, interest, and commitment on both the sides. Education has become so unlively that it is considered a ritual to be performed in schools up to the age of seventeen and in case of needing a degree up to the age of twenty. The minimum that should be done is to impart knowledge in the mother tongue up to a certain level. We will see in the future columns how ought to be an education system - it must develop spiritual, mental and physical aspects of a human-being.

(to be continued….)