EDUCATION

EDUCATION.

What is the first thing you would think of when you hear the word education? For me it is exams, home works and results. I never enjoyed my education. Only bright side is I’ve got some of the best people as friends, for life. One day I questioned myself, what is wrong with me that I never enjoyed my education, while others had a great time.

May be I was so scared of the exams, may be I’m distressed about the results. My parents never pressurized when I got low grades but still I was always restless about my results. I worried my friends might leave, I was constantly under pressure that everyone would laugh at my grades. 

18 years of education and I realized I’m in the wrong profession. I mean this is not what I love to do. But it’s too late. I’m a keeper and my heart says I should have been an archeologist. Whose fault is that I end up in the wrong profession? The education system? Or is it me?

I recently found my kindergarten progress report and understood everything that is wrong with the education system. One of my teachers wrote, good but try to get first rank. A four year kid, what does he understand from it? The moment you talk about ranks instead of knowledge you pull out the joy of learning. So it’s all about ranks and grades. You get good grades so you are a good student, otherwise you are bad one. We all understood this even before we could count to ten.

My teacher who taught us biology was so strict, we got beaten up every time we would misspell a word or don’t make the exact sentence as in the text book. So we are made to memorize every line, which we conveniently forgot once we passed out of that class. Now most of us already forgot how our digestive system works, but we all ended up scoring above 85% in biology. What kind of an education is that? Pointless. Educate don’t make them memorize.

Giving 100% effort is what matters. That’s what makes a person attractive. Be it at education or in a relationship. 

They told me Wright brothers invented first mechanized plane, but never taught me about the science behind it and how they utilized the limited resources and knowledge of that time to invent something better. Never in my education they told me about different professions and fields we can make career out of. May be that’s why I never knew about archeology until my class 12. 

Education should give us wisdom, not insecurities for life time. Today is a different day from our times. We have lot of sources to learn and understand things, internet has changed the world. It is time, the education system to evolve. 

It should teach kids about how people built the world not who built the world. It should teach us about the struggle not about the victories. It should teach us about the possibilities, not just about the facts. It should unlock the imagination of the kid, not anxiety. 

I hope one day, a kid from my block will tell me about the things he learnt that day with full of excitement without the worry of exams and results.