the failure of our times

Change is inevitable but growth on the other hand is optional. Day by day we witness evolution to a
great extent: amongst people in the way they think, behave and learn. The question is, change is
seen but however is it growing?
This article is close to my heart ; it is my opinion on the education system of our country as well as
several others opinions. As a student I do not think that this education system is promising our
growth and as a citizen of this country I do not think that it is helping in the growth of the economy
of the country either.
We as Indians have come far. We have gone through some of the hardest and toughest times , we
have faced several years of exploitation by colonial rulers, yet we have made an impeccable
amount of progress. The only thing that is failing at the moment is our education system.
The system which we are following right now is old and mundane, with regard to this, the need for
growth has never been more pressing. It is completely destroying the Childs creativity, innovation
and analytical skills. This whole system only revolves around marks and nothing more. If a you get
good marks such as 90 and above you are said to be intelligent but if you get mediocre or less than
mediocre you are said to be of no use, people look down on you , teachers give up hope on you
which all together forces the children themselves to destroy their self esteem and believe that they
are of no worth. However this is not true and this message has to reach out to the mass and that is
the sole purpose of me writing this article. The child who got mediocre marks has more chances of
going places than the child who got a whooping 99 this holds good in the cases of Elon musk, Steve
jobs etc. Everyone has their talents and abilities but the system right now is suppressing this. Its
setting a concrete curriculum for the youth to follow where there is a tremendous lot of uniformity.
Are we creating robots or individuals who have the ability to create and innovate? This, as a matter
of fact is the first question that arises in my mind. If that is the scenario, robots might as well replace
human beings and therefore what is the use of humans?
A child who has gotten a 60 or a 70 may have other talents where they can grow immensely but this
isn’t acknowledged at all. This is what results in teenage suicides and this is why our country’s
teenage suicides are so very high. I think we should all ask ourselves do we really want that? There is
something to learn from everyone; no one is useless. It is the job of the board of education of India
to ensure the growth of each and every child.
We really have to question ourselves are we really going to use the textbook’ish knowledge?
Learning is all about going out there and figuring things out on your own, that really is the definition
of learning. In spite of this we are being trained to cram things given and vomit it on a sheet of
paper, to the system now this is called intelligence. Well this might fetch one numbers on an answer
sheet but its sure as anything won’t contribute to the numbers in your bank account . Leaving that
point of personal benefit it won’t even improve the condition of our country. The worlds largest
share of people living in poverty is said to live in India. In addition to this ,we also have a lot ofcorruption going on, and what do the textbooks have to say about this? Mitochondria is the
powerhouse of the cell?
The world’s best education system is said to be in Iceland. This is because of their concept of less is
more. They are also one of the happiest countries because of the lack of stress levels. They are able
to set their mind free and learn new things and experiment. I must say we really must learn from
them if we want a better and brighter India. If we carry on like this it is safe to say that we are
doomed.
As a matter of fact even Rabindranath Tagore wrote lengthy articles about how the Indian education
system needs to change. Ironically , from the colonial times very minute things have changed. ThE
present system was first introduced by the colonial masters for clerks and we have not yet deviated
from that path. In this country, millions of students are victim of an unrealistic ,pointless and
mindless rat race. Education system in India is failing because of more intrinsic reasons . There are
systemic faults that do not let our demand for good education translate into a great marketplace
with excellent education services.
Here is my wish list:
1. Focus more on the skill based education system: knowledge is largely forgotten over a
semester exam. Still many Indian students continue to cram information. The best crammers
are rewarded by this education system
2. Rewarding creativity, original thinking, research and innovation. :deviance is discouraged,
risk taking mocked . Right now memorising has more value over originality.
3. Implement massive technology and artificial intelligence in classrooms (this is an absolute
must in today’s times )
4. Take mediocrity out of the system
5. Personalise the system. You can’t expect a sheep or an elephant to climb a tree. We all have
our own talents and would like to be recognised by them. Please do not label us on the
basis of marks
6. Allow choosing subjects from grade 8 which is the beginning of high school. 10thgrade
already has tremendous pressure. For example I am not a science student I’m more of an
economics person. It’s as though like I’m being forced to learn physics when I have no
interest in the subject at all. If I had the option to choose I would flourish much more.
I hope my voicing out can change something and reach out to the ones who really needed this out
there. When the world around us is growing why can’t we?

JAYANI PRITHVI    Contact the author of the petition