by - Kratik Malhotra
Graffiti on a wall next to ILS,
Symbiosis, Pune reads, “It kills you without even letting you know. It kills
you silently, the (Indian) Education System.”
Hundreds of students in India commit suicide
each year after not scoring well in exams, or more frankly, as well as was
expected of them; thousands suffer from depression after being put under the massive
strain which getting an education in India frequently entails, and millions
stamp on their dreams and true passions to lead false lives and pursue careers
which they have been socialised and persuaded to believe are more worthwhile.
Yet, on the other hand, the lives that they lead in these clichéd professions –
in most cases - allow them to taste success at a rate unparalleled anywhere else in the world today. This is probably one
of the contributing factors behind the high growth rate of the Indian economy
in recent years, as Indians continue to do exceptionally well at home and
abroad.
A review of the Indian education
system in the past:
Our education system was, in the
beginning, based on spirituality, where people were taught how to maintain and build their peace of mind with
the aid of special skills and techniques. "He who is possessed of supreme
knowledge by concentration of mind, must have his senses under control, like
spirited steeds controlled by a charioteer", is a famous saying
by the Katha Upanishad (iii, 6). In fact, since the Vedic age, the central
conception of education among the Indians has been that it is a source of
illumination for the correct path to follow in order to lead a fulfilling, rewarding
life.
A number of books on the theme of
Indian education system have affirmed that the percentage of literary people in
India was more in that past than in the present. At least up to 7th century
A.D. this system worked most satisfactorily. People showed brilliancy in almost
all departments - Mathematics, Astronomy, Medicine, Chemistry, Poetry, Drama,
Grammar and Philosophy. No nation could excel Indians at that time.
From the 4th century B.C. to the 11th
century A.D., almost all foreigners who came in contact with India and studied
her civilization critically were very impressed by the same, leading to the famous symbolisation
of India as a ‘ golden bird’. These foreigners spoke highly of the Indian
character especially in terms of their truthfulness, honesty, and sense of
justice. The influence of the system of education was very strong among the
people in general. Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador who came to India in the
4th century B.C. remarked " for whereas among other nations it is usual in
the contests of war, to ravage the soil, among the Indians it is on the
contrary. They never use the conquered as slaves." Idrisi, the Arabian
traveller and scholar, in his Geography written in the 11th century A.D. says,
"The Indians are naturally inclined to justice and never depart from it in
action. Their good faith, honesty and fidelity in their engagement were well
known and they were so famous for their qualities that people came to their
country from every side." Abul Fazl, the author of Aini Akbar, in the 16th
century noted, "The Hindus are admirers of truth and showed unbounded
fidelity in all dealings."
Dwelling on this wonderful effect of
this system of education unparalleled in history Sir Monier Williams says,
"And here I may observe circumstances in the history of India are more
worthy of investigation than the antiquity and perseverance of her
institutions. It has existed almost unaltered since the description of its
organization in Manu's code two or three centuries before Christian era. It has
survived all religious, political and physical convulsions from which India
suffered from time immemorial. Invader after invader has ravaged the country
with fire and sword but the simple self-contained township has preserved its
constitution intact, its customs, precedents, and peculiar institutions
unchanged and unchangeable amid all other changes." (source: Brahmanism
and Hinduism p. 455).
British transformed it for the
worse:
After the British invasion of India,
the former appraised the Indian education system for what it was worth and were
stunned to find everyone rich, happy and contented.
Lord Macaulay (Thomas Babington
Macaulay), who was born on October 25, 1800, arrived in India (Madras) on 10th
June 1834 as a member of the Supreme Council of India. He returned to England
early 1838, and resumed his writing career there. Macaulay was in India, thus,
only for a period of four years, but he was destined to make an impact on the
lives of millions of Indians . In a letter to British Queen, he said, “"I
have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one
person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this
country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we
would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this
nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose
that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the
Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than
their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they
will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation."
Thus, now, the British had their work
cut out. Slowly and gradually, by hook or by crook and by trial and error the British transformed the Indian education
system.
It is often said that British brought
urbanization to India- fair enough. But what they took away was one of India’s
priceless assets – THE EDUCATION SYSTEM.
A Silent Killer?
The head of Scientific Advisory
Council very rightly, and famously, wrote to the Prime Minister of the time,Mr.
C.N. Rao, drawing his attention towards the faulty education system in the
country while calling the Indian education system an exam system.
Well, according to me, he is
absolutely correct. Have a look:
The average curriculum of schools in
India:
First week – chilled atmosphere.
Second week – Class Test 1.
Third week – Class Test 2.
End of the month – Unit Test.
This pattern continues throughout the
year; only that Unit Tests are replaced by Half Yearly and Final Examinations.
Much to the agony of students, education becomes a burden and a liability rather
than learning.
Every single place that a child might
visit, people rather than asking him what he has learnt, ask the well worn
question, “How much did you score in your last exam?”It is literally as though
getting good marks and a decent enough percentage in exams is the end of the
world. But people forget that every child has his/her own field of interest,
which by and large is either not recognised or respected. Hence, this system
ends up pressurizing a child too much in order for him/her to succeed. This
trend of conducting one examination after another carries on well after school
life draws to an end and has led to innumerable suicides in colleges as well.
Newspapers regularly carry tragic
reports of youngsters who have killed themselves or taken what Indians
euphemistically call "the extreme step" because they fear the shame
of a bad report card. On a single day last month, it was reported that two
teenage boys in New Delhi hanged themselves at their homes. One was falling
behind in his studies and the other was afraid of an English exam. A final year
Bachelor of Commerce student hanged herself in the commercial capital Mumbai
apparently because she was not prepared for her economics paper and did not
want her family to feel ashamed. A grade 12 student from Surat in western India
hanged herself and another threw herself before a moving train in Allahabad in
northern India, the paper reported, adding there were other suicides that day
too.
In 2006, the most recent year for
which official figures are available, some 5,857 students -- or 16 a day --
killed themselves due to exam stress. Police say thousands of suicides also go unreported because parents want to keep the
cause of death a secret.
"Teenage suicide (over exams) is
a national disaster," said Samir Parikh, psychiatrist at Max Healthcare, a
leading New Delhi private hospital chain.
Sad, isn’t it? It sure is.
Movies like ‘Taare Zamin Par’ and ‘3
Idiots’ have tried to covey similar messages. Time is calling for an urgent
realization of the same.
Another aspect of the education system
is that it makes students think in an extremely clichéd fashion. For instance,
most of the people who take up engineering after their high school don’t even
know what the engineering course offers. Board exams and then a number of
entrance exams; if you make it, well and good, otherwise, students pay and get
in, in another words, they dig their own grave. On the other hand, there must
be thousands who have wanted to study engineering all their lives and hold the
potential to become successful engineers but do not possess the resources to
fulfil their aspirations while millions like them, who never thought of engineering
as their profession have got in (either on merit or donation) for the sole
reason that, engineering is “the thing” these days to do. This was one of the
reasons that a newspaper recently reported that only 7% of people, who pass out
as engineers make any significant contribution in the field.
Need a change?
Well, for all that has been mentioned
above, yes, but I guess the positive aspects deserve a mention as well. Yes,
the Indian education needs some tinkering but you can’t deny the fact that the
degrees that it offers are respected all over the world. Famously, Chennai-born
Sara Mathew in an interview to Times of India gave ample credit to the Indian
education system for her success. "The good education system in India is
what has helped me in excelling in my career in the US," she said and
added that Indian degrees are highly respected and are very helpful in getting
good jobs in the US.
Similar are the views of innumerable
Indians who have success stories to tell in India and abroad. With the Indian economy
on an unprecedented rise and Indians doing well in most areas of the
world, is a change really indispensable?
Well, this is indeed a difficult
question but I do believe that a change is needed, even if it is just a minor
tinkering. I know people are doing well and will continue to do well in the future
but what about the majority who find themselves down and suffering because of
this same education system, should we not spare a thought for them as well?
Hence, though the magnitude of transitions to be brought about is debatable but
the necessity of the same, to whatever degree, is irrefutable and a
prerequisite for a better future for the current and the future generations of
Indian students.
So, would you join hands with us to
bring about this change ?
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