Education system after British India!
Posted: Wednesday, March 08, 2006
by Drunken Mystic
http://drunkenmystic.wordpress.com
I have been thinking about it for a long time. My earliest memories go back when I was 4 years old. I remember I would be crying not wanting go to school only for the fact that our teacher used to scold us. I would tell my mother about it, but then she would pacify me and somehow convince me. I remember the first day of our school as a kindergarten kid. Our teacher was a dark woman wearing those thick glasses and a hoarse voice shouting at the top of her throat. I was horrified at her very appearance. She comes with a ruler in her hand which sends a wrong signal across the child's mind that it's going to get beaten up any moment. How ridiculous!!! Its atrocious to stand with a ruler in ur hand in front of a bunch of children who are hardly 4 years old. I don't remember my teachers ever smiling at me. All they would do is look at you with frowning eyebrows as if we are always upto some or the other mischief. Sending a message of hatred!!!! Now this is really going to affect the psychology of the child. Living in a world of fear created by the school, the teachers and especially the parents, children would succumb to these undue pressures. Why should we use the fear factor to discipline somebody? I understand that you need to be strict but you have no right to exhibit force on somebody.Everyday the child is under scrutiny. What a tragedy!!!
Infact I feel children are being pushed through the system even before they can fathom what this "school going" business is all about. They can't even understand their own minds, forget about understanding what their elders are trying to tell them. Infact we are the ones who are supposed to understand them and explain everything to them with patience and love. We create our own rules and we tell them that this is how they are supposed to be. And its totally ridiculous and impossible. I could never as a child understand what this was all about. I was repeatedly made to believe all my life that I was a dumb student because I was very weak in maths and of course for the one and only reason that I hated studying. Infact this system created a fear of exams in my mind. There are many others like me round the world. Even today my sisters make fun of me and laugh at me only because I always hated studying. What's so funny about somebody who hates studying? Is it a divine law that we must study? I accept that we must get educated. But what kind of education must we provide that benefits the society? We need to think about that. I get mocked for hating to study. My whole family is depressed with the fact that I am not a university graduate.
Even when I was a kid I didn't like going to school only for the reason that education was thrust upon us. And also for the reason that teachers always showed a draconian attitude. I only realised this fact once I grew up. Children aren't matured enough to understand why they are sent to school. We start pushing them through a system even before they can realise why they need to go through the process. And if children show some resistance, then we start looking down on them, start scrutinising them. Even beating them!!!. And before they even begin to realise their talents and potentials, they are half way through one part of the education system which would hardly be supporting their individualistic interests. Finally they end up growing into handicapped adults.
I remember one instance when I was 5. One day I asked my sister if she liked going to school. Her answer was affirmative. Where as I told her that I hate going to school. She reported my mom about what I said right away. My mother reacted negatively on the very instant and said that I was only fit for grazing buffaloes. I felt so let down at that moment. I couldn't understand myself at all. I was just wondering, "did i commit a sin just now?". Why is it considered a shame if a child says that he/she doesn't like going to school? Now, there must be a reason why the child said that. The poor child must have had some personal experiences in school which would have created certain impressions in the child's mind. But nobody wants to take it seriously and they just ignore it and scrutinize the child instead. Why can't we try and and sit down with children and try to understand their viewpoints. Elders always think that children know nothing and they ignore them. But they are wrong. Children have great powers of observation and they even form their own ideas when they face different circumstances and these ideas stay for a long period of time. These ideas later affect their ways of behavior and attitude towards life as they grow old.
My God!! Everyday I would go to school just worried about, " what am I going to be punished for today?". Or "oh my God, did I finish all my homework?", Or "what if my maths went wrong and my teacher asks me stand out of the class". I would just be worried about all the worse things that could happen at school. I would just be scared to face my teachers only for the reason that I might get punished for not doing my math properly or not answering a question. How am I supposed to answer a question when they have already created fear in the child's mind. In fact, if we were not able to answer we would get caned sometimes. There was a male teacher in my school whom I would never forget. In the name of being strict he would slap guys as hard as he could. In fact, if we ever heard a sound outside our class we would know that it is this man whacking somebody. But then our society wasn't and still isn't aware of the fact that they can file a suit of physical abuse. Had it been my child over there I would have taken him and the school to court. This system of education has been following even today.My query is, is this how our system of education supposed to be?
I even remember the teachers favouring the toppers. They would be picked to act in the school play for our annual day. Why is it that only the ones who score better are eligible to be talented? When are we going to realise that we are all individuals with different attributes and characteristics. We all have different talents. Everybody can't study and memorise. Somebody might be good in math, somebody in arts, and somebody in science. Why do all of us have to go through a formal education of the school where we have to face an examination? And this examination determines our intelligence, which I think is absolutely ridiculous. Intelligence doesn't depend upon a few mathematical problems and memorising our texts. I really feel pity for the ones who fail the examination only because they couldn't do their maths. And this competition for intelligence creates discrimination and speculation in the society. Everyday individuals face scrutiny from their parents, neighbours and friends. We lose friends because we haven't done well in school and haven't got a good job. People don't talk to me because I am not a university graduate. Why are we respected only for what we have studied and what position we hold in the office? My cousins won't talk to me because I haven't had a formal education apart from school. Ridiculous. This is not my story. This is the story of every Indian in my country who's had a similar life or probably every individual round the world.
I think we need to bring about a serious change in our whole system. I have realised the flaws only after I started learning yoga with my beloved Guru Shri A.K.Pattabhi Joise. He is 90 years of age. He has stuck to the age old Indian system of the Gurukul where the student stays with his master for a certain period of time. The master is everything for him. His father, mother,kith and kin. The master in a gurukul always has a systematic approach towards his students. And he never teaches students in a locked classroom. Well, for now my master can't teach in open classrooms due to urbanisation. Classes are always done in open air where they are one with nature. Learning in the midst of mother nature purifies our minds and makes us feel relaxed. And the Gurukul never had any examinations to test who's better than who. Everybody are treated alike. Nobody is superior or inferior. Importance was given to perfection. My master is one of the rarest teachers that anybody would come across. And I guess he's one of the few left on earth and the trend that he tried to set would soon fade away. Compassion, understanding and unconditional love are the three essential things we need when we impart education and training. But this existed only with the oriental system of education which slowly faded away when India was invaded by the British. The western system of education replaced everything. I don't say that it is completely negative but probably we need to strike a balance somewhere. East and west needs to collect the positive attributes of living from each other.
When I look at a baby, all I feel is that this baby has come into the world to fight for its bread. The parents would start worrying right away about its future. My question is why do we have to fight to earn our bread. Isn't it man's right to have it? Why do I need to compete with my neighbour to fill my stomach. I am a human being like everyone else and I have a mouth to eat. My stomach feels hungry and I need to give it food. But for that matter I do understand that I have to work to earn my bread. But why do I have to fight for my bread? The vedic culture of India never had the system where everybody were judged according the marks they scored in school and then get a degree and then go for a job. So much of pressure!!! Is it all necessary? All we deserve is to live happily and serve one another selflessly. But this is never taught in our institutions. The vedic culture wasn't about earning money and craving for material comfort. I mean I can't understand this fight for survival. It is the birthright of every human being to be independent. That's where the vedic culture of India comes into play. It was all about learning to live. Learning to lead a spiritual life with an awareness of God. Civilization has degraded from then onwards. From bread givers we have degraded ourselves to bread snatchers. What a shame!!!
The reason why I am highlighting this issue is because I have gone through alot of psychological turmoil. But I can overlook these things and move on. But no!!! I want to raise my voice and opinion again and again only in the hope that someday it would be heard and some changes would be made. Any ordinary person reading this would feel that I am just making an issue out of nothing. But no, we have to once and for all move out of the system and look at the flaws. I know that all my classmates and schoolmates are well settled with good jobs(conventional). But is that all what matters to life? But highlighting these issues will make a difference to the younger generation. To our children. The children who are the future of this world. I would say that my talents have been overlooked by our elders or mentors in the process of making me some stereotyped computer engineer or a doctor. And this is happening to many aspiring individuals in our country. Parents don't want to understand their children. They want their children to pursue a career which they feel is right according to them. They overlook their children's happiness to safeguard their family prestige in the society because if their friends and relatives ask them what career their children are pursuing, they should be able to answer that they are into engineering or medicine or merchant navy or hotel management. Very few....there are very few who are allowed to pursue a career in music or arts or sports.
The most ridiculous thing is that we have set our own parameters in the society. And we don't want to move out of it. I have seen many individuals who were very talented but finally forced by their parents to pursue their career only in academics. Infact I had a friend who was a fabulous photographer as well as a good singer. But nobody ever encouraged him. Infact he was good in sports too. But it was the family who chopped his wings and tied him down to one corner and made him pursue only what they felt was right for him. Today he isn't happy with his job and keeps lamenting about the talents he had and how his family failed to understand him. Lets move out of our conventional ways and let our children, the children of the future grow internally from their spirits to explore the realms of the unknown. We have to water and nurture the seeds of growth. Let's be positive.
Its high time we look at the flaws of our system and do something about it. We need to introduce spiritual teaching in schools at the earliest and we need to enforce new laws based on spiritual living. We need to train and educate the younger generation to walk steady on the path of truth and honesty, forgiveness and unconditional love. And this can be done only by bringing a change in the educational system. Right living is more important that doing our maths and science correct. There's no point memorising our history texts about the deeds of great saints and freedom fighters. And who started which religion or cult or freedom movement. What's more important is implement those teachings in our lives. Lord Krishna, Buddha, Christ and others were born for us. To teach us how to live selflessly. All we have done is just print their names in our history texts and have made it history. Past!!!! Living righteously can never be a past. It is the present and this present will decide our future.
This Article has been viewed 615 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)When it comes to write about a feeling, often the words are not capable... But my intense feelings can be expressed in just one word... "beautiful"... Everybody should read this. Great job friend!!
Clarity in expression, nice views on education. Worth to read. Great job!Thank you very much. I am indeed honoured.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.