When I was a young boy, I had a tremendous fear of big fat books. Nothing could keep me close to them for too long. Somehow, I could not identify with the world what these books represented. It was as if these books were a threat to my world of football and cricket.
It is not that I did not enjoy reading. I read things which I found fascinating, be it Herge’s Tintin or the ever popular Sherlock Holmes series. But those thick books took me to a claustrophobic world of boring classroom lectures. I am now in Class 11 and I cannot escape the nightmarish world of these books even if I want to. Thankfully, I at least enjoy Physics and Literature.
As a student of Class 11, I understand the importance and power of knowledge. What I find difficult to understand is the reason why the conventional syllabus patterns focus so much upon rote learning. Is this the only way to determine the student’s ability? I beg to differ! The doyens of the academic world would be quick to stress that increased importance bestowed upon projects and co-curricular activities is a sure shot indicator that we are moving away from the traditional pattern of making students merely learn things and then vomit them in the examination hall.
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This is a farce. The projects have become a mechanical process of cut, copy and paste from the Internet and the students are actually least interested to learn anything from them. In fact, in some places in the city, you can find people who actually sell these projects to school students. So, what is the use if the very purpose of learning is defeated?
Moreover, programmes like ‘Socially Useful Productive Work’ are usually carried out with terrible disdain. Most students and teachers hurry through their work on landing in orphanages and old-age homes. This happens all the more because though every school screams hoarse about it being a socially responsible school, almost all social-work related programmes are scheduled after school hours.
If done in the school, these projects are usually done on a Saturday which is otherwise a holiday. Thus it is clear that the so-called co-curricular activities and projects have merely added to the burden of academic pressure on the students. No school management is really interested in treating them as part of the main syllabus.
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It is universally acknowledged that a good teacher makes a huge difference in a student’s life. This is because such a teacher is instrumental in making the student love and respect the subject he/ she teaches. When a student loves a subject, he naturally becomes eager to learn.
If the education system evolves in a similar way that the students appreciate the subjects and love them for the same instead of looking down upon them as an insurmountable task, then the entire scenario changes. Studies are no more a burden in that case. For this to happen, schools need to have a superb infrastructure and some very good teachers. These two factors can come together most effectively to make education an enjoyable experience.
Infrastructure is a problem in many areas in a country like India. Some schools do not even have proper access to water and electricity, forget about computers and the Internet. Moreover, teaching is such a low-paying profession that talented youngsters prefer to keep away from it.
One cannot expect quality teachers unless competitive salaries and growth prospects become the norm. Society has to become conscious to allow students to pursue the subjects of their choice and discourage the parents from forcing them to join a particular stream. But for such things to happen there should be sincerity of will.