What is Wrong in our Education System?

The terribly humongous number of students who fail to get through the competitive examination each year indicates not only a colossal waste of national exchequer but seriously points toward the fact that something very fundamental has gone wrong with our educational system.

In order to counteract the ever-declining standard of education, many valuable suggestions have come from educators as well as the laymen. During the past ten years, many corrective steps have been seemingly taken. However, it is not possible to revamp the entire system to produce quality human beings unless we realise that our goals are crystal clear; for what purpose we are educating our children; and what values need to inculcate among the disciples through education.

As a matter of fact any changes, no matter how brilliant they may be, must be first tried and tested in one area before introducing it in the entire country.

We feel that all the boards of the secondary education and universities should be given more freedom of action to experiment new curricula and new methods of approach to our educational needs. Such experiments would yield good results.

Education, if it is of any value should be an end in itself, not a mean to an end, the only worth and justifiable end to which it can act as means is the attainment of maturity and self hood.

‘Education is a guidance of the individual towards a comprehension of the art of life means living in complete harmony within the self and environment,’ says Whitehead.

One of the major faults in our educational system is that educators still believe that learning occurs in one dimension, i.e. the dimension of memory. It is tragic. The aim of education should be to develop a sense of values among the students for authentic existence, which is unthinkable without moral commitment to freely chosen values.

 Technical and professional schools where young men and women are trained for specialised jobs need some drastic changes. Professional training must be supplemented by liberal studies or studies of humanities so that it may not lead to intellectual and ethical fiasco. Greater effort should be made to make plans. But above all, what is needed the most in our educational system is the freedom of inquiry; freedom of thought; and freedom of expression. Without these basic elements, no educational institution should be commendable.

The polestar of education is not merely to transmit culture but to add new dimensions and insights to present wealth of knowledge. It is always the non-conformist, the gifted students who are always breaking old modes of thoughts and discovering new ways of expression in art, architecture, drama and poetry and thereby enriching life. Without them, society would become too rigid.

A new life, a new meaning and a dynamic philosophy of life are needed to be infused to the ever-weakening body of our unproductive educational system.