“Most of the subjects taught at the college do not have relevance outside the classroom. After studying hard memorising text of hundreds of pages as the students find the education they have attained would not take them anywhere professionally, they are bound to be disgruntled with the system.“Knowledge has been the constant quest for mankind ever since man started walking on earth. A well defined system of education that aims at attainment of the relevant knowledge is the key to success in every sphere of human endeavour. An ideal education system is one that is designed to meet individual desires and aspirations of each member of the society for achievement of common good of the society as a whole. Success in life of an average citizen is the chief aim of the education system.
A system that best accommodates all the shades of human endeavour is the best. Since success is relative, a person will not feel successful after becoming a doctor, if his aim had been to become a bureaucrat. Similarly, a person inclined towards medicine, cannot be happy if he is made a bureaucrat.
The education system has to strike a perfect balance between the societal requirement and individual’s predisposition. For success, the prerequisite is that each individual should be free to opt for a career of his or her choice. In the light of the aforementioned definition, the Indian education system fares poorly. The education system that we have inherited does not address our contemporary needs and hence fails to prepare us for the future.
The system is so inflexible that it hardly concedes personal freedom to pursue a career of one’s own choice. It imposes uniform standards of academic success on all, irrespective of individual predilections. A student may show his inclination towards fashion designing while another towards handicraft at primary level itself, but he has to be content with a one-hour art-and-craft period that comes once in a week. If they persist on pursuing the activities of their heart’s desire further, the fear would be that they might lose out on the academics. Chances are they might give up their gifted talent for good in favour of academics as they grow up.
Ever asked this question why should a high school student bang his head on literature if his intention is to become an engineer? Will the literature background be of any use to him while building a career as an engineer? The education system does not provide the mechanism to support students’ desires and aspirations. Hence, students just cannot do anything on their own to achieve anything except confirming to the system.
Most of the subjects taught at the college do not have relevance outside the classroom. After studying hard memorising text of hundreds of pages as the students find the education they have attained would not take them anywhere professionally, they are bound to be disgruntled with the system.
Professional life demands the appropriate skills and relevant work experience. Our colleges invest all their resources in teaching syllabus, rather than imparting skills to students.
The long years that a student spends on academics turn out to be sheer waste of time and energy. The real pursuit of career starts after the degree. By then economic survival takes the better of the student’s judgment.
Post degree, students with resources would rather opt for a course which gives him dividends monetarily than professional satisfaction. But what about those who do not have means to carry forward their studies? They are the casualties of our failed education system.
It’s time the HRD ministry did something to remove this anomaly from the education system. Unless we bridge the gap between an educational and professional life, all our efforts to reform education system amount to beating about the bush.[/vc_column_text]
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The opinion expressed in the article is of the writer. Writer is a freelance journalist/journalist based in Delhi
