Education System In India: Make A Living or Make A Life?Yet again a teacher sent to jail for having slapped a child and yet again a

student at IIT attempted a suicide! On one hand is a teacher who threw

acid on a girl’s face because she rejected his marriage proposal while on

the other hand a student fails in all his exams but still gets promoted and

gets a first class degree because of donation and bribery. These have

become an everyday news headline now. So who is to be blamed for all

this- the Education system, the teachers, the parents or the children?

First let’s start with the basic meaning of education and its purpose.In

simple words it involves two main processes i.e. teaching and learning.

The main purpose of education is to develop knowledge, skill and the

character of a person. It is process of passing information from one person

(teacher) to the other (student). Today education is just a social symbol to

prove that a person is literate. It is both the passport and visa for

getting a job with a high salary package. But can a person with many

degrees, holding a high position in a reputed company and having no

moral values be called educated?

Today, education has become a mere business. In an attempt to increase

the number of educational institutes, the quality of education is being lost.

As the number of institutes increase, the need for teachers also increases.

There are many teachers who teach for the sake of good salary and easily

shift to another school if he/she is offered a better pay. I do not deny the

fact that we also do have many teachers who teach whole-heartedly.

Modern schools may teach discipline, but when it comes to ethics and

moral values, all of us know very well what the result is. The present

system teaches how to make a living not how to make a life!!

What is life without morals? Where has the values-based education gone?

There was the time of Gurukul education where the moral values were

given more importance than the materialistic book knowledge. Teachers

were treated like Gods. In the Gurukuls everything was taught right from

the Vedas to archery, Forestry to meditation.I am not saying that we

should get back to the Gurukuls and learn the moral values and Vedas but

In our education system moral values and material knowledge should be

balanced. The syllabus in schools should be made flexible to

accommodate for both the essentials. The outside world is changing

everyday and so should the syllabus being taught in schools and colleges.

If the students are supposed to just rattle off the same things that their

parents and grandparents learnt years before, then what is the use of

such education? The syllabus should include courses that enhance one’s

thinking abilities, that builds up one’s character and of course give an

introduction to the subject chosen by the student.

Also, parents play a very important role in determining their child’s future.

A child should be given freedom to choose his/her own career. Right from

7th standard the parents pressurize their kids to study well so that they can

get admitted in top colleges like the IITs and NITs. They send their

children to coaching centres who are ‘manufacturers’ of IIT and NIT

‘products’. But they don’t realize that it’s ultimately their kids who are

going to suffer.

I am not here to talk about the drawbacks of the educational system. If I

lay further emphasis on the flaws in the system, you’ll surely say I am

being too pessimistic. Every coin has two sides- the good and the bad. I

have spoken quite a lot about the bad side. The modern educational

system is scientific and more realistic. It helps in building up a competitive

spirit which is most required in today’s fast paced world. It has been

bringing a socio-economic transformation in the society. The Indian

education system is considered one of the best systems of education. It

makes the students mentally strong to face the cruel challenges of life.

The system could be made better with the cooperation of the students,

parents and teachers. The students first need to be clear about what they

really want to do in life. The next step has to be taken by the parents. As

parents their role should be to encourage their kids to take up what they

wish to do. After a particular class, say 8th standard, the educational

institutes should make it optional for the students to choose subjects of

their interests. In colleges, instead of laying much stress on the book

knowledge, what could be done is give an introduction about the subject

to the students and then make it compulsory for each student to do a

research/project on that respective subject and finally give a presentation

on the research topic given by them.

A bit more moral-based education and a more analytical and practical

approach rather than a theoretical approach could make the educational

system in India stronger and education more worthwhile. As an individual

we surely can’t bring about a change in the system but if each and every

one of us who is a part of the educational system right from the

authorities at high levels to the students does our bit individually in trying

to reform the system we surely can succeed up to a certain limit. It is up

to us to decide whether we wish to opt for a living or a life!!