REACHING HIGH

Listening to the very interesting stories of the witty Tenali Raman and the great Birbal, we have spent our childhood. The tales have always been fascinating and have provided us a new aspect to look through the telescope of our lives. Academics barely was able to pressurize us to study day and night and we have spent our teenage like a bird flying high in the sky. There was no peer pressure or sense of competition among all of the classmates. We use to learn, eat and share everything together. Learning process was more enjoying than a burden on students.

But, every coin has two sides. The darker side of that period hides the misfortunes of a large population of young children who were deprived of formal education due to poverty. Education was more for rich than poor. As the change comes with ceaseless flow of time,  there have been a wide change in the pattern, accessibility and availability of education. With large efforts of Government and NGOs, many Indians have been able to get the essence of fruits of education. The education, is now, easily accessible to all for free. But, the meaning of education is not the same now.

In the words of Albert Einstein, "Education is not learning of facts but the training of mind to think."

Today, children spend their childhood in cramping the facts from the big thick books. There are so many subjects to study that  the children have no time to play outdoors . If they do have a little time, they feel better to spend it on phones and televisions than to breathe in fresh air in the park. Blaming children for their behavior is more than a stupidity. They do so because they learn from their elders only. Now-a-days, education has emerged as  a business instead of being a learning process. A child needs to score more to be able to get recognition or admission in a good college or course.

Therefore, understanding things or gaining knowledge is not an important part of academics now. Coaching institutes are playing an integral role to increase the competition among students. The focus from overall intellectual development has been shifted to just cramping day and night. One can easily get above 90% but expecting the person to be that skillful is mere a dream. 

Things can be improved but we need to participate all together in bringing this revolution in the field of education.

"Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself." -John Dewey