Flaws in our education system

The current system of public education in India (or for that matter, in most industrialized economies) is designed to create university professors or to create an educated workforce that can serve in the field of industrialization. Unfortunately, neither of these are lucrative or practical career options for today’s children.

In the next 30 years, more students are expected to graduate from our universities (worldwide) than the current world population. Needless to say, just having a university degree or certification is going to be insufficient for having a lucrative career. Most parents are investing into their children’s education as a career insurance policy, which would guarantee them peace of mind in an uncertain world. The problem is in today’s world, we have no guarantee on what will work in the next 5 years (for examples, in our corporate careers), let alone the much longer spanning school and university terms. So how can we place our trust in a flawed education system to teach our children the skills required for them when they graduate in the next 22 years?

I have tried listing down some of the basic flaws in our current education system:

• Competition: Competition sounds good in an Olympic event or any sporting event, where one individual (or team) has to be better than the other, in order to win the gold medal or the tournament. I am sorry to say that this is an obsolete term in today’s corporates. But educators round the world, have realised that the best universities can only accommodate the best (or top-ranking) students, due to the limited physical space (or seats) available in the classes. Hence, the importance given to grading system, which is the sole benchmark and focus for all under-graduate students. This goes against the basic principal of modern education, which says, “No child left behind.” This has created a sense of discrimination in our classes, where the top-ranking students are the teacher’s favourites, while the bottom-ranking students are made to feel as a misfit.

The education system cannot be run as an Olympic selection committee, where only the best are selected and the rest discarded and left to their destinies. The best in every student must be nurtured and encouraged.

•  Curriculum approach: A common complaint among many parents today are that their children are burdened with too many subjects. I agree with that, and the reason for that is an ever-expanding school curriculum, which is now bursting at its seams and cannot be further expanded without cutting down on student vacation time. I do believe that you will agree with me, that all curriculum content (basic and even advanced) are what I call, the “google stuff.” I think the curriculum approach is based on a false notion that only schools can impart knowledge and learning to kids. Kids (even as toddlers) learn from every available source of knowledge, including their parents and their daily environment. As Sugata Mitra points out in his “Can kids teach themselves?” video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRb7_ffl2D0), young kids can teach themselves, especially when they work in groups. Personally, I have loved book libraries with a huge collection of books on every available topic, where one could spend hours (or even the entire day) browsing through books of your own choice. Today, we have the Internet, which is the largest library of information and knowledge, and can teach us all the “google stuff.” Why should we then burden teachers and student to teach and learn with a curriculum-based education methodology?
•  Lack of soft skills and education in values: The over emphasis on curriculum has robbed our education system from imparting life skills or soft skills (as it is described today in corporate culture). I strongly believe that children are not intellectually dependent upon us, but they do depend on adults for life values such as happiness, integrity, and ethics. In the previous Gurukul system of Indian education, the guru (or teacher) not only imparted knowledge to students, but also life values, which enable you to live your life with the maximum potential.

Regarding soft skills in today’s workplace, there is a stronger requirement for employees to have confidence and collaboration skills to succeed in the workplace. Hence the education system must encourage collaboration (or team building) and develop confidence (through personality development and class presentations) in their students. Unfortunately, development of these soft skills are mostly not encouraged at all in our education system.

A combination of the above flaws is putting a lot of pressure and creating stress among our children. This is evident from the increasing drop-out percentage of students from schools. Even if they manage the pressure, students (especially in their early teens) appear stressed and the joy and spark that you notice in toddlers appears to be fading away with increasing years.

For a keen learner, learning can be a life-long experience. As adults, we pride ourselves in learning new skills, which could be a new technology, a work-related skill, or even something as trivial as learning to do touch typing. Learning something new is always motivating and increases our confidence. Similarly for children, education and learning can be an enriching experience, provided the pressures associated with our education system can be eliminated. Let me finish with the wise words of Kahlil Gibran with regards to learning:

“The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness. If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.”