The board exams results are out and they follow a well-known trend!
Girls have outperformed boys as usual and there are so many kids who have scored in high 90’s with this year’s topper M Gayatri scoring a mind blogging high percentage of 99.2%!
Feeling proud of our nation? Is this giving you a sense of accomplishment that the good days are around, our kids are getting good education and soon these toppers will bring a change in the society? Well, there is never a tax on wishes, right?
Let’s get practical guys. Only a few of these kids have scored these high marks and there is no guarantee that all these toppers are genuine learners and not the masters of rote-type of learning ingrained in our psyche for past so many decades! The world is changing very fast and what we need as a nation are the youth who can adapt fast, learn fast and use their own heads instead of following a herd mentality. They should be able to take their own decision rather than being given books to rote from and vomit it out on an exam answer sheet!
Compared to the tried and tested education system based in school, home education or homeschooling as it is called in the west is gaining ground with lots of advantages. It is like education is also evolving and it makes sense to move with the change rather than resist it.
Homeschooling is a concept where the parents take responsibility of teaching their children at home and only those subjects which are important for the overall development of the child based on his/her interests and aptitude. Not only that, the personal attention given to the child helps him learn faster in a comfortable friendly environment away from the bullies, strict teachers etc. Not all kids are bullies or all teachers are bad, but studying from life rather than mugging the notes is always better to prepare a child for the challenges in life.
We all agree that all those subjects and topics that we studied in school are hardly of any use in our day to day life. In fact most of us don’t even remember what we studied in school! So why to pass on the same dated system to the next generation? It would be better if our education boards and policies of the education ministry align itself with the concept of home schooling so that those who prefer it can take advantage of it without being away from the main system. It could be something like studying at home and then giving exams to test their knowledge in subject which they want to pursue in their life. Grading can happen accordingly and the admission procedure in various colleges and institutes can integrate this way of schooling as well.
It is not easy in such a big country like ours, but not impossible! Efforts have to be put in to bring up thinking individuals who can utilize brains instead of servants taking orders!
We are born intelligent; don’t let outdated education models make us dumb as we grow up!
