Education is one of the most important things in one’s life. But sadly, it has been reduced to the idea of scoring marks and remembering facts that could be easily found on the internet whenever one needs them in real life.
With the expansion of technology and internet, almost all academic information is now only a click away. In this scenario, following the same age old methods to teach in schools must be changed.
School curriculum should shift focus from memorisation of facts to application of facts, as well as problem solving and self awareness. What is a mind that can remember all the methods of integration and differentiation but cannottell how and when to stand up for one’s own and even others’ rights worth? Yes, they are worth great marks, best colleges and even the highest paying jobs but not satisfaction, and by any chance if they are satisfied, then I don’t see any point in their existence as a part of mankind.
Education should not create educated fools but self aware, harmonious and loving citizens. Ones who are self-aware would never want to deliberately hurt others and so I guess there would be less cases of harassment, road rage, and even terrorism!
What I wish to see in the future frameworks of education is flexibility in syllabus, more choices for students and of course more flexibility in what is expected from teachers. With this, obviously well-trained teachers are required and I must say, there are not enough but many, currently!
At present, there is a particular amount of time assigned for a chunk of syllabus, and hence, even if the teacher wants to have some moral talk with children or wants to know their perspective about various things irrespective of the syllabus she/ he is bound to contain herself/ himself and complete the syllabus before examinations.
There should be more interactive sessions after or before classes and some parts of the syllabus should be made optional for students so that they don’t feel burdened with what they are not interested in. Nature should also be involved in the teaching-learning process to increase awareness about surroundings as well as oneself.
The abilities and interests of a student must go hand in hand with the education he/she is getting access to, in school or college.
When the amount of things to be forcefully memorised will reduce, the time for interaction and activities will automatically increase and hence both the students as well as teachers would be able to interact, be creative, and perceive the world in a different way.
Students have the potential to make the world a better place; then why not just let them think and let us just ensure that they are on the right path instead of making them memorise formulas and reactions that they will forget after writing examinations?