The
world needs an education system that excites and stimulates children, providing
them with the learning they need - and deserve - to fulfill their potential. The
education system has not incorporated the change at a pace that is required. It
is largely based on a system developed over a century ago; a factory
manufacturing model where children are placed on a learning conveyor belt, then
sorted, packaged and labeled according to their so-called intelligence. The
oppressive, prison like institutions where students are forced to stay seated
in a building all day pumping out paperwork can and should be reformed.
I blame institutions as much as I blame
parents. They feel validated only when their children score a 98%. Rarely is
the path to the goal question. A student is only a sum of his grades. Less than
90% marks is not acceptable – It makes his/her existence as a student
questionable. The system is creating clones. Sad and unhappy clones wearing
same uniform and shoes. What our education system is doing the best is -
Nazification of the entire student population. Everybody is taught to think in
a certain way. You cannot question the book?
I
am also the product of the same system but I always had grievances. While I was
doing what I was required to do, I had an innate sense of anger and protest.
Nothing in the system excites your intelligence. One learns by rote and
regurgitates in a manner prescribed by the teacher. There is no room for
individual thought. One cannot disapprove of or have an opinion about anything
being taught. In truth the system does not educate or enlighten us. It just
makes us literate. We continue to live with prejudices and beliefs that are
handed down.
The belief that children need to be "taught" is based on the
arrogant, adult centered belief that children are unmotivated and will not
learn unless adults force it upon them. Nature endows all children with the
passion and ability to learn what they need and want to learn on their own.
Youth learn the best when they themselves are the driving force behind their
learning process and when they are doing what they love. When I did a project
for NASA Space Settlement Design Competition this year with one of my friends,
we both worked really hard because this was something we really wanted to do.
We worked for hundreds of hours, day and night. It was our passion and hard
work, which helped us to bag first prize in the competition.
How can we reform a system where children
need a doctor's note to go to the bathroom when needed? Do we truly believe that a place that runs this contrary to the
needs and humanity in children can be "reformed"? “Reform” has been
attempted over and over since forced schooling was instituted in 1852. The only
change has been more systematic and regimented drudgery. Reform in the system
is always exclusive of the students – because it is firmly believed they are
incapable of understanding what is best for them. They are driven to 90% and
sometimes to suicide. But the system still insists it knows best. School
continues to steal their free time, commit human rights violations against
their bodies and minds and confine them. School continues to prevent children
from doing what nature intended- Playing, running, jumping, climbing,
exploring, creating, socializing and inventing…
It
is shocking that while this great nation takes such pride in its heritage pays
such little attention to the student with whom the legacy rests in the future.
The mind needs to be shacked for the spirit to soar
