Rethinking Education In The 21st Century
When we hear the word “education” all we think about is our school days. More than learning and studying, we miss our friends and teachers and those memories that we spent with them.
Anyways, the education system somewhere has always been responsible for who we are today, how we stand out in crowd, our career, personality and thinking.
But, this education system has not evolved as much as it should have along with the changing world. It hasn’t kept pace with a changing world whose needs are changing as far as human resources and their abilities are concerned.
The world has been progressing day by day, be it in terms of lifestyle, communication or technology. But has our education system been updated over time according to our changing world? I think not.
The Problems Facing The Education System
The education system today seems outdated and riddled with problems, and completely not up to the standards of modern times. It is lagging behind as it’s not helping the younger generation to cope up with real life challenges, struggles and ups and downs of life.
Every child is special and unique with different perspectives of life and capabilities. His or her capabilities are being ranked in comparison to the others. In schools we have been taught that we shouldn’t compare ourself with others, but this system does the very same thing.
Albert Einstein explains it well enough, ”Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid”. That’s exactly whats happening in our education system, if we score less in one subject even though we are good in others, we would be labeled as “weak” or a “failure”.
Instead of respecting and understanding students’ view points, they are being changed according to the teachers’ own perspective and view point. The student’s thinking and perspectives are being shaped according to the system, due to which they can’t think out of the box. I don’t know about other countries but in India and Nepal, the students have a fear of being punished, if they ask out of the box questions.
It’s High Time To Rethink The System
Now, we all need to rethink and work on it, so the younger generation will be able to cope up in the real world and can look at life from different dimensions and can handle any situations in their lives with their abilities.
To begin with, I think instead of competition, we should teach them cooperation. Because when we have always been taught to compete with others, some where our whole life becomes a competition. We start competing and comparing ourselves with others, forgetting our own unique abilities.
And somewhere because of this competition, individuals become more egoist, as they think they will do something better than others and won’t let them win. So, if we teach them about cooperation, they will be able to work more efficiently in a group and in a company. They will learn to be kind and help others and uplift them for their better future.
Special attention must be given according to their capability, interest and passion. So, the creativity within them comes out rather than being killed or hidden due to pressure on higher educations.
Even we should focus on other dimension which are really important in one’s life. Like about health and mental care, time and money management and how to maintain social relationships. Because these things really play very important roles in our lives. There should be an all round development of each child.
For A Better Future
- A Happy Soul
We've been following the same damn system for over centuries now. Our education system focuses more on competition rather than collaboration. It's all about finding the best when instead we should be thinking about making the best.
The sad part is, most adults neither understand nor give a f*ck about the whole problem, and those who are willing to make a change, are often shunned out.
Our education system was primarily designed in a way to create efficient employees who follow rules without questioning anything and that's why we judge students based on their grades and not their potential abilities, as if they are machines and not humans.
I agrees to you point that we should focus on making the best instead of finding the best. If we did that then, we could have more talent at our disposal than ever which could change the world for the better.
You are right that we need to modernize education. In the U.S. I think colleges and universities are incredibly over priced and completely outdated. I think this lack of innovation trickles down to high schools and that trickles down to grade schools. We need some serious reforms for sure.
You bring up one very important point. Along with all the things that are outdated in our current education system, it is also highly expensive. Education shouldn't be like a commodity that people need to be wealthy to afford. It should be available to everyone alike. We definitely need to redesign education system from the ground up to enable the next generation of humans to change the world for the better.
Totally agree with you here. The whole system needs an overhaul and it need it quick!
Yes, I agree that the whole system needs to be redesigned.
Great and timely post, the topic is extremely relevant and sensitive and deserves a thorough discussion.
Thank you so much! Yes, this topic needs to be discussed and a solution should be sought for.
Excellent article and you are absolutely correct. I don't think it is only in India.
Yes, the whole world needs to change the education system, not only in india.
@manisha.jain9 Today’s education has become job-oriented rather than the life-oriented. In a commercial language, it has become a commodity. In an educational market, there are buyers and there are sellers. It has many layers; we have to keep peeling them. As it is aptly said it helps to reach our unlimited wants but fails to fulfill our few needs.
@manisha.jain9 If you like, you can read my views on education. https://steemit.com/mgsc/@deepakbellale/education-is-a-way-to-explore