Educational Revamp

Picture speaks more than words. The above picture is a snapshot of holiday homework of a 4 year old kid in India. I’m seriously not kidding. This raises a very important question. Have we become so competitive that our children should start facing these tortures from kindergarten? Hell No. Though the word is of German origin, I have a very strong feeling that even the Nazi’s wouldn’t have tortured the Jewish kids like this.

Jokes apart, if competition is not driving to the above scenario of holiday homework (4 year old kid), then it has got to do with working parents, who would prefer their children being occupied with work. If the ulterior motive of working parents is to safeguard their child’s future, they are doing it by butchering their kid’s happiness. Apart from the turmoil of educational system, these kids end up attending extracurricular classes like singing, sports, martial arts and long list of classes. It’s high time the parents realize that their childhood aspirations of joining an extracurricular activity cannot be satiated by sending their kid’s to multiple such classes. Will Jack ever get to play what he wants?

A quick recap of my education revealed that I had an awesome time in primary and middle school. I used to be that average kid, whose rank in various examinations were nearly twice his age :-D Apart from a little advice that I used to get from my parents on a really bad progress report, I had a life outside school. I played the sport I liked. I started roaming outside with my friends from my 5^th grade. I bunked 15 days of school with cricket fever. It’s that sort of an independence that helped me to fall and correct my mistakes. That’s the beauty of life. I would really thank my dad for being such a wonderful sport in not questioning my academic life. All the decisions that I have taken till today are completely mine.

However, I doubt if the present generation of kids get that sort of independence. Their parents are way too obsessed with their kid’s education. They really don’t want their kid to fall. They constantly act as a safety cushion and ensure that their kids are always on track. This has impacted the education system, in which, parents play an equal role in shaping the education policy. Though you shift from ranks to grade, the pressure to get an A+ still exists on their kid’s mind. The focus is towards better education for kids, which unfortunately, is competitive pressure. This is applicable without any geographic restrictions. In India, it’s getting admission in the best school. In US, it’s about living in the neighborhood having the best school district. By this constant monitoring, they really snatch their kid’s ability to think and act independently.

Continuing with my experience, I realized the importance of education and started gearing myself before my class 10 board exams. And the rest is history. The rat race in my life began and it continues till today. Though I could proudly flaunt my academic excellence of having studied in premier institutions in India and US, my life would have been totally different to me if I had dared to follow my passion – “Formula one pit mechanic” instead of being a “Technology analyst” at an investment bank.

Though it might look like I am diverging from the topic, I had to mention about the risk aversive approach our society wants a person to take. It has stereotyped the success parameters. Failure in academics might brand you as a social outcast .With the fear of being an outlier; the rat race pushed me to pursue my higher education in a premier institute. Having being this intrinsically average guy, I couldn’t bell the cat and had to look outside for top notch institutes. Thus, it is partially the competitiveness (yeah, rat race) that drove me to Carnegie Mellon. With exactly a week to go for my graduation ceremony, I type this blog with a constant yearning for that all illusive one way ticket back home.

Having seen that the rat race can drive people far from their destiny and comfort zone, it is time that we start revisiting these parameters of success. There is life beyond money and education. It’s time that a person is evaluated holistically rather than these menial brownie points for their education or job. I am not trying to undervalue the power of education.

Etymologically derived from the Latin word called educe, which brings out a potential, the true purpose is to bring out the talent or potential of an individual. On being asked about the purpose of college education, Einstein said – “I myself do not burden my memory with simple facts that can be looked up in text books. But the true purpose of education is to train the mind to think, and for that reason it is priceless”. You don’t need to cram a child with mathematics tables. Calculators exist and over a period of time with practice, the kids would get used to solving problems quickly.

If the system is not corrected at the right time, you might turn people into process and bound them by milestones. Kids would start hating the system and not leverage the true purpose of school or college education. It’s time that the system needs to revamped effectively. There is a greater need to nurture independent thinking. That’s how generations have evolved and improved with time. With creativity comes the solution for most complex problem. Be it in nurturing Entrepreneurial spirit and moving towards a sustainable world. It’s these ideas that empower you rather than currency. You are only as rich as you feel :-D

PPS: Kindly check the link below. It’s an innovative solution to tackle education hassles. Thanks to Manasi Arora for sharing a snapshot of her kiddo's HW in facebook.

http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html