The present education system is far from perfect, and it doesn’t matter what country is being talked about. This video tries to address what it deems is the fundamental issue – “The problem is our entire educational paradigm. The system is designed to format the… (children’s) minds and condition them for a life of subservience.” It talks about the focus of the system on retaining and regurgitating knowledge in standardised tests, the competition encouraged, and the effect this undoubtedly has on the kids. The obvious problem is that those who are in a position to make any changes have passed through the same educational system, and used it to great effect, so aren’t equally enthusiastic to change it.
Children are discouraged from asking questions, and conformity is the order of the day. Conformity to the world-view espoused by the standardised syllabus. The video also goes on to liken education and the capitalist system to slavery. Sensationalism aside, there are a couple of valid questions it raises, such as the effectiveness of the school education in imparting survival skills for the ‘Real World’. The conclusion is definitely something most of us will agree with: “revolution of the mind must include revolution of the education”.
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Why do we have four classes before first grade? Playgroup Junior, Playgroup Senior, Nursery, and Kindergarten? Educational institutes are there to earn money, and help mothers dump their little ones in school while they go to work, because they care more about a paycheck than their children.
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Most primary school teachers are either housewives or young girls desperate to fill a gap of one year between their bachelors and masters, those who can’t find a well-paying job or one of their choice, who apply for the crucial post of a teacher, but bring disrepute to the esteemed profession by spending their time gossiping in staffrooms, reach their classes late, don’t take any initiative, who are there to pass their time, and then people wonder why primary school teachers earn meagre salaries.
What is most surprising is the lack of lessons that teachers are given in primary schools. They spend half their day with ‘free’ lessons, where they can make sure that parents are encouraged to send their children to school in a professional manner. But that would mean having to sacrifice their precious ‘socializing’ time.
Even with an incredible amount of free time, just the way notebooks are corrected, with more than half the errors absolutely disregarded, shows just why education takes a back seat in Pakistan. It is a shame and an absolute disregard for a profession that was supposed to be the backbone of society, and the ‘mother of all professions’.
Many children are sent to school in untidy uniforms, without water bottles, missing tiffins, incomplete homework, etc, courtesy of irresponsible parents, but instead of writing notes in students’ diaries or calling parents up, most teachers are either indifferent or punish students over the fault of their parents.
It is common sense that a little boy or girl does not choose to come to school unprepared for classroom lessons, in an unclean uniform without a tie/belt, or without nutritious food or a water bottle. Instead of children receiving love in school, they become a target of frustration that many teachers bring from home to schools. Children, mostly boys, are at the receiving end as they are yelled at, slapped, beaten, caned, made to stand outside classrooms, humiliated, and a variety of punishments abuses. Girls usually get away with a warning in our fair world of equality.