EDUCATION is both a bay and an end in itself. Both memorization and observations are necessary. The former opens up the closed sections of the brain, while the latter is all about exposing an individual to the realities of life. However, all purpose gets lost when memorisation is taken to be education in toto. Infact, in the long run, cramming manipulates the fundamental purpose of education.
This malaise is not a product of only some years and has reasons that have brewed up to worsen the rot over the years. An outdated syllabi is the very first issue to begin with. For decades, a child-centered curriculum has been pushed by experts in vain. We’ve continued preferring evaluation over real education. The result is that for the sake of so-called learning, students memorize things without understanding it. Furthermore, notes are prepared by a third-party which makes even the little good go.
This culture has imbibed lethargy into students who now rely and depend on ready-made stuff. Instead of following the process of reading, comprehending and analysing; they jump to mindlessly cramming what is typed out on a handout given to them. This trend is encouraged by the system itself as rote learning is seen as a sure shot way to fetch good grades.
This race for merit is also one of the main reasons that education is going downhill. Instead of felicitating innovative thinking, our system makes students compete in such a way that they’d only want good grades by hook or by crook. Creativity, experimentation and observation is never rewarded, as a result, we end up creating a mass of incompetent students.
Our society is to be blamed at large for this. They’ve made themselves believe as though reading and writing is education. They are themselves oblivious to the beauty and real essence of education. In an unequal society, to find equality is education. Finding beauty in ugliness is education. This aspect of education is completely overlooked. When students need life skills and freedom to make their lives better and our world better, we force them into a rat race of nothing.
Syed Mustafa Ahmad and Syed Mehroosh
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