My Views on School Education

School was fun. Every morning we stood in perfect lines in a uniform dress code singing prayers in synchrony, that ended with the national anthem. The course schedule followed the rest of the day, that had a mix of both interesting and boring subjects. Maths and physical sciences went always with logic; languages with fascinating stories and beautiful poetry; biology and social sciences with memorisation. English was particularly tough, with a complicated grammar and with new vocabulary introduced every now and then. Some subjects bored us. Which year was the battle of Plassey? Who cared? Physical education wasn't structured well. Those interested in cricket formed teams and played regularly; the others formed groups and alternated between “smaller” games. On certain occasions the school made us compete on writing essays, elocution, singing, dance, painting, fun races like lemon-and-spoon, along with the usual sports competitions. And close to the end of the each year they prepared us for the much awaited annual day. We used to start rehearsing for plays or dance programmes several weeks ahead. School closed by around 4 pm everyday; we could play amply and go home. Exams focused theoretical knowledge, so practical sessions and projects were minimal. Everyone expected us to study well, that's why we were in school after all, they said. As years progressed, we were supposed to grow to become more “serious” about studies and give our best at the secondary school exams.

There was no better junior college than Narayana. Everyone joined there for maths branch, or its rival Sri Chaitanya for biology. Those two “crucial” years were to entirely focus on studies for a bright future. Core subjects that lead to an engineering seat needed prime focus, languages were less important. Without having us waste our time reading entire books, they provided us with ready-to-consume study materials that summarised all the formulas. Entrance exams were all of multiple-choice questions: we must pick the correct answer from a quadruple of pre-given candidates. They trained us on eliminating the wrong candidates without having to work with the straight-forward methods. We had 10-12 hours of instruction per day, with dedicated study hours for each subject. We were also taught on how to maximally utilise our time at home to study, to make us realise how six hours of sleep each day was more than a luxury. Extra curricular activities were not even thought of. No debates on random (or “useless”) topics, no competitions on sports or other activities and, of course, no physical education. We had to concentrate on exams that bombarded us twice a week. And a detailed analysis of our performance, or rather criticism, would follow every single test.

Many aspects about the college bothered me. The first, they seldom taught us how to derive their readymade formulas. We were supposed to just mug them up and apply in the exams, without caring to know how they arrived. How boring that was! They prescribed books that resembled their own study materials: summaries of formulas and endless varieties of questions with multiple choices. Even their library had similar books. I didn't need them, I wanted reference books that logically explained through the topics with care and passion. Such books would teach us problem solving abilities; not the mere formulas or shortcut methods to eliminate wrong answer choices. Most of us had no internet access and nobody to prescribe good books. I felt constrained, for I wasn't even sure if any good books really existed out there. There were times, later in my life, when I thought I should have known a particular book back then, for example Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday and Resnick. Another aspect was practical training. They took the least time to make us conduct experiments in physics and chemistry, for they had dealings with the external examiners to pass us through without proper examination. Another aspect was that I wasn't free to choose to read what I wanted whenever I wanted, if at all I really wanted to read. When they mechanically imposed study hours on us to read specific topics from subjects of their choice, I just couldn't concentrate. I needed freedom. And the last and probably the most important, physical activity and leisure time were entirely abandoned. Human brain grasps much less than its capacity without them. I believe all these aspects caused boredom and inhibited my genuine interest. I strongly feel this applies to most of today's students as well. You just can't make someone study by imposing long study hours. Sure, you need them to stay focused, but not with restraint. Instead, make them realise the importance of time and planning using practical methods. You need to nurture an interest in them towards the subjects and make them practice and read on their will, while allowing them to do other activities that improve their life skills. Some educational institutions have become factories that merely try to maximise the number of ranks on their display boards, without giving a damn about students' lives. I feel I am fortunate enough to have come out of this mire of dispiritedness, but it costed me years that I would never get back. But many students don't, they end up trying to falsely push themselves, end up being mediocre without knowing the reason behind it, and with their confidence levels dropped to nothing.

So how did I overcome my hurdles? I don't entirely know “the answer” yet, but surely certain positive aspects during my school days helped me. My mother helped me in homework early in my primary school, but soon insisted that I read and wrote homework on my own. Our biology teacher randomly picked one of us everyday to summarise the previous day's discussion; so we tried intently to listen to the entire classes. I understood how listening eased comprehension. The teachers insisted on reading textbooks by ourselves after classroom teaching, and discouraged readymade answer guides. I picked this up later and that helped me a lot. You should be able to read on your own and make notes and deductions. You need inspiring teachers who make the subjects fascinating to you: I was lucky to have my maths teacher. He insisted that I should not take an additional tuition just for the sake of scoring marks, and that I should practice at my will and pace. I never had dedicated study hours at school or home. We had no pressure at school to score marks. We were encouraged to discuss topics among ourselves and share knowledge. We took exams in a competitive spirit, but that never stopped us from discussing and clarifying each others' understanding. Of course, some aspects could have been better. Some people I know have a genuine interest in history. It turns out that they learned it in a better way than us: picking up a chapter, taking roles of characters and playing the story live in class; taking up case studies at will, reading reference books of their choice and presenting a writeup, etc. How fun is that, compared to sitting through the teacher's monologues and memorising facts from the textbook to write it on exams? The entire curriculum could have been more practical.

In India people expect children to study well in their curriculum, and do not care to develop other interests in them. They often neglect physical education. Teachers respect you if you study well; parents compare your marks with those of the neighbour's child. But only a few children can study all the courses well. Many have specific interests, and many have talents in other areas: sports, dance, literature, drawing, cooking, public speaking, creative design, general awareness, etc. I believe schools must try harder to bring them up in children. Some of these paths may not give a monetarily rewarding career. But each child deserves a platform to try and improve its skills in all possible aspects. This imparts their confidence, builds up expertise and nurtures their overall development. This will enable them, when they grow up, to work towards what they like and to find ways to make their living.