Education System:

A good education is worth investing in—that has always been true.

In ancient times, India had the Gurukula system of education in which anyone who

wished to study went to a teacher's (Guru) house and requested to be taught. If

accepted as a student by the guru, he would then stay at the guru's place and help in all

activities at home. This not only created a strong tie between the teacher and the

student, but also taught the student everything about running a house. The guru taught

everything the child wanted to learn, from Sanskrit to the holy scriptures and from

Mathematics to Metaphysics. The student stayed as long as she wished or until the

guru felt that he had taught everything he could teach. All learning was closely linked to

nature and to life, and not confined to memorizing some information. I think that is what

we would call a wholesome system of education whereas what we have today is a

dysfunctional education system that puts more weightage of rote learning and on the

scores of a test.

However, our school system provides a one-size-fits-all strategy to provide education by

standardizing how a student is assessed. In contrast, countries like Finland have tried to

standardize the funding of schools and teacher training rather than how students are

assessed. I believe every child is unique and has different needs for an all-round

growth. And I firmly believe that education system is about helping and guiding the

student to recognize that uniqueness.

References:

1. https://www.gnu.org/education/edu-system-india.html

2. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2013/02/15/how-should-we-rebuild-the-u-s-

education-system/

Students are self-centered

You can find numerous studies that suggest that today’s students are self-centered with narcissistic

tendencies. They are less likely to be empathetic. I believe the reason for this is two-fold; increased

competition and individualistic society. Today, the competition is so fierce that it becomes imperative

for every student to be self-centered and highly focused to achieve success. It becomes case of either

you or somebody else. Our education system has been very much proponent of such a mentality by

having competitive exams at every opportunity it has.

Added to that, we have been moving towards a society which is individualistic with importance of

society or the greater common good disappearing fast. Technology has played its part. We have come

closer to the gadgets but moved away from connecting with friends and family at a more physical level.

This does diminish the importance of sharing and role playing.

However, I believe, this behaviour in students is reflective of society and the times we live in rather than

unique to the students.

Theoretical Knowledge vs practical knowledge/skills

Knowledge has two aspects -theoretical and practical application of theory. I personally think we cannot

say one is better than the other. Rather, they are complementary to each other. There needs to be a

balance between the two aspects of acquiring knowledge.

Theoretical knowledge helps you understand the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of things, the reasons and causes of a

phenomenon or event, whereas practical knowledge is essentially about applying the theoretical

knowledge to use it for creating or building something. A very obvious case in point is automobiles.

Although, today’s cars seem all about engineering and practical knowledge, you would agree with me

that these would not have been possible without first discovering the Newton’s laws of motion and the

principles of thermodynamics among other theoretical laws.

Taking a Dip at Holy places washes away sins

A sin is an act that adds moral filth or dirt on our soul. We take bath regularly to clear our body, from

the outside. In that sense, taking a dip at holy places is to help cleanse the soul by washing sins off our

soul. This, I believe, is in a way, more symbolic act as water is considered a life line of human race and

we use water for cleaning a lot of things from clothes to utensils. Holy places are usually around the

water bodies like rivers, and visiting holy places helps in attaining a more relaxed mental state and calm.

This, in turn helps in purer thoughts and actions, and taking a dip at holy places symbolically cleanses

our soul by bringing in good thoughts and actions for the greater good of society.

Bad Behaviour in class

Bad behavior in class is a rather normal problem that is faced by the fellow students and teachers. It

negatively affects the teaching and learning and may range from excessive talking to verbal or physical

abuse.

It is very important to maintain the decorum and discipline in the class. Any bad behavior must be dealt

with by going to the root of the problem rather than just reprimanding or punishing the student as there

can be many reasons behind such a behavior like learning disabilities, physical and psychological

problems. Therefore, it is important to understand the reasons behind such a behavior and work to

remedy those causes.

Reference:

http://www.ehow.com/about_6383286_do-students-bad-behavior-classroom_.html