Youth Incorporated Magazine

Stop Focusing On Marks

Not everything is about numbers. More than focusing on how many points you score, , why not try and understand the subjects and the knowledge that each one of them has to offer?. The Indian education system is based on a model that provides a single ground for testing each student’s  intelligence. A country with a population of more than a billion and still we have the same set of tests for everyone. Almost as if they’re trying to turn us into robots. Those numbers don’t test your intelligence or how much you know. Students aren’t born thinking that about marks, it is this education system, the teaching models that  trains them to look only towards one direction- MARKS!

Textbooks And Nothing Else?

Every subject taught in the Indian Board has a textbook and that’s what we’re supposed to stick to. You can’t possibly fit the knowledge of a WHOLE subject in a 500 page textbook! More than learning about the subject, it’s mugging up the textbook. To have knowledge is to understand. If you only remember the words without what they really mean and use that knowledge in real life, what’s the point? Aren’t schools supposed to teach us about the real world ? The fact that most schools don’t encourage extracurricular activities and only focus on academics, puts a lot of pressure on the student and it doesn’t balance things out. Every subject which is being taught by the Indian study board have a textbook and the students are expected to stick those 500 (or on some cases, even less) pages. These students are expected to understand the depth of each of these subjects based on prescribed textbooks. And the learning processed is, in most cases, turned into a ‘mugging-up’ process. Remembering words without understanding them… Like swallowing your food without even chewing it! The indigestion caused by mugging-up, surely is unhealthy. And schools usually miss out on the part where they are supposed to prepare their students to face the real world.

There Are Hundreds Of Careers To Pursue!

India is opening up a little bit to the fact that there are jobs other than being just a doctor, or an engineer or a lawyer,  which is of course a good thing. But more than the education system we need the parents to open their eyes and broaden their minds. The child can’t be forced by the education system, but can be forced by his/her parents. The students need to be aware of the multiple careers options that are available. Which brings us to another important point – development of career council cells in schools and colleges.

Teachers

First of all, a teacher plays one of the biggest roles in a student’s life. Teachers are often said to be ‘second mothers’ and they indeed are the first source of knowledge for them. It’s in their hands what a student learns; teachers shape lives and morals. Let me quote one of Prince Ea’s videos “A doctor can perform a  heart surgery and save the life of a kid, but a great teacher can reach the heart of that kid and allow him to truly live. See, teachers are heroes yet they often get blamed. But they’re not always the problem, they work in a system without many options nor do they have as many  rights. Curriculums are created by the policy makers, who barely have never taught a day in their life”. He also mentions how teachers are underpaid and should be paid as much as doctors, and if they are paid as much as doctors so many more people will want to be teachers! He also talks about the fact that these teachers are most of the times highly underpaid. We haven’t heard of a teacher who earns as much as a doctor. The fact is, had they been getting paid as much, this profession too, would be highly sought after.

Public Schools

Public schools have pathetic teaching facilities, horrible infrastructures and hardly any options of subject to chose from. Studying till 10th grade isn’t enough, government schooling should be free till the 12th grade and it should also promote the importance of graduating.

Colleges And Quotas

Why should anyone get preference over the other person who is equally deserving. Everyone should get an equal opportunity to get into colleges of his/her choice. To get into colleges, a student should not only be judged on the basis of his marks. Equal or at least some weightage should be given to the students interest in the chosen field of studies as well as their achievements that are non-academic.

Sex Education

One of the biggest problems, which I think with this education system is that, there has been a degradation in the content and quality of sex education provided to Indian students. For teenagers who are growing up, experiencing all these new feelings and with all the hormonal changes they face, adequate sex education is a must and should be implemented by every school. What most people don’t understand is, as these kids lack proper guidance in this subject, they are bound to make mistakes and fall into trouble… So at least with sex education they know how to be safe, what to use, what not to use. What rape is what you can do if you’ve encountered situations like molestation or even rape. Counselors for sex education in a school should also exist. Schools should educate boys about periods and give free sanitary napkins to girls. Usually in villages, periods are a taboo, talking about it in school will raise awareness; inform the girls that is normal and it shouldn’t be such a big deal. Another thing is that, sex education might help raise awareness about is homosexuality. Recently, a sex education book was released and 6 states have already banned it. Mostly because it talks about sex and will promote it, but also that if you have feelings for the same sex, you don’t have to worry about it. It’s normal, that you don’t have to feel different, but of course every conservative Indian jumped up at that and said it’s pathetic and disgraceful and said that our religions will consider it as a sin. Hence we need to make sex education more important.

To finish this up I would like all of you to watch this video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja-n5qUNRi8