Everything that is wrong with 'Indian Education System'

Everything that is wrong with Indian Education System

Last year when Bill Gates (American business magnate, investor, author, philanthropist, humanitarian, and principal founder of Microsoft Corporation) was asked, if he feels that there are any specific factors holding the country (India) back? He answered, "Most trends are positive, but my biggest disappointment when it comes to India is the education system. It should be far better. I don't want to be critical, but I do want to create higher expectations about it."

I thought that this is it! At least now people (head of universities, education ministers, colleges) will wake up and will actually try to change things…. But Oh darling! Ye hai India! (Oh Darling! This is India! This is the way things are here.) Nothing changed. Maybe it is because they think that Indian Education System is perfect and there is no need to change it, or maybe someone even better than Bill Gates need to say these things (I don’t know if there is anyone)… So just an attempt to shake things up by Masked Lord

So what is exactly wrong with Indian Education System? Keep scrolling down and you will see.

1. RATTA MAAR-

            Indian Education system is about rote learning. It is not important whether you know the meaning of what you are learning or not. If you can write it down on a piece of paper- just as it is written in the book- that’s all they need. If you don’t believe me, let me share an experience- 
This year during practical exams, external examiner asked me a question related to inheritance (Not the biological one, the one used in coding) I answered what I had understood, in my own simplified version. And the reply was, “Don’t tell me what you know or understood! Tell me the definition given in the book.” I couldn’t, and arguing only made it worse, let it be. So, the conclusion is, ‘if you wanna pass, Ratta Maar’!

2. Government control of education-

In India basically everything comes down to government. I won’t go deep into this field and the one which will come next (I have too many goals in my life and would really hate, if something happens to me). But if Indian Education is to be changed/improved, we need people- who have spent their lives in the field of education- making the decisions which can directly affect future of 315 million students… Instead of people, who have spent their life doing politics.

3. Reservation system-

            I am not going to talk about this in detail either. I believe in equality. In Indian education system, a student who has higher marks might not get a seat in a college, and a student who has way lesser marks might get it. Just because he is from specific category. This can be only changed by Government Of India and …. I don’t think it’s going to happen. I should even write a post on this, ‘Everything that is wrong with Indian politicians and political parties’.  Just a small conclusion- if India wants its education system to be improved, it needs to bring down the reservation system in education or at least need to bring a major change in it.

4. Education has become business-

            In its own way, this is kind of beneficial too. Colleges/schools are trying to bring new facilities, in order to be better than other colleges/schools. But management seats, increased fees, ‘Students should buy notebooks from school only’ this is the way they (you know who) turn education into a big business.

            When I was in 10^th, a student from our village who had been just selected for an IIT, came to address the students. In his speech he told us, “If you want to crack IIT entrance exam, you must get yourself admitted in a coaching institute. If you don’t, you cannot pass entrance exam. You just cannot.” If you go and look into these coaching institutes and their ‘Rates’, they are not affordable to middle class families. Still many parents, wishing the best for their child, try to get him admitted in the best coaching available. One way to stop this can be 'to improve the quality of education given in the colleges' (11^th and 12^th). So that no one will ever need to go and ‘buy’ education.

5. Parents-

            Sadly, Indian parents have very high expectations about their child’s education. Many times, parents force their dreams on their child, without caring about where his/her interest lies. This has killed many artists, sportsmen from India, before even getting born.

Colleges, schools even preschools for children take advantage of Parents’ deadly expectations. I have seen flex boards of 'XXX, First in Maharashtra, LKG…. YYY, Third in state, UKG', in our city. WTF guys! Let the kid live. They are taking a child’s childhood away, are making him part of the rat race. If you are a parent or are going to be, let him fly as he wants to. Do guide him but don't mistake guiding for controlling.

6. Lack of diversity in the subjects you can take in college-

            Unlike foreign universities- where we have choices to choose from many subjects- here, students cannot choose what they want to learn. Students have to follow the syllabus given by university.

7. Extra Lectures-

            A students can barely sit in a class from 10 to 5. And teachers take extra lectures because, ‘The Syllabus is too vast.’ If it is too vast, write a letter to university asking it to reduce the syllabus. And the worst thing… Many professors take extra lectures on holidayso. Come on guys! That’s the one day we get for ourselves. And yeah, that's what student will do if you keep on doing this, to keep on playing 'Mini Militia' on mobile during the lectures.

8. Theory exams have more weightage of marks than practical-

            I have been asking this question since I was in 10^th grade. We had a subject ICT (Information and communication technology), which was about introducing basics of computer (MS office, Internet) to students. And for that subject, more than 60% marks were assigned for theory exam and less than 40% marks were for Practical examination. I am in engineering now and still we have more weightage of marks to theory exam than practical.

            I ask myself why really is it so. If anyone of my readers knows the answer, I am waiting in the comments.

9. Assignments-

            I am studying computer engineering from Pune University. We have to perform practicals and with every practical, we have to write down 5-6 pages (theory, conclusion, references, program code) and attach them in a file. Marks for writing down those 5-6 pages are only ‘2’ (Yeah, you heard it right), and all we ever spend our time on, is writing them down. All I can remember about my first and second year in engineering, is writing assignments. Because of it, plus extras and many more things, students don’t get time to do what they like, to pursue their dreams. (If anyone from University is reading this, ‘We write those assignments with headphones in our ears😎, 'So yeah, I think you should give 'cutting this' a thought.')

           

            

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-Jayesh Bhaware (Masked Lord)