It’s disturbing when you read articles like the above too
often these days, and more disturbing is the fact that no one wants to take the
responsibility of trying to correct the situation. I remember, a couple of days
after the 9th grader murdering his teacher took place in Chennai,
all the channels were busy airing discussions, debates, etc. on the topic.
There was one such show in which a school principal, a students’ union leader
and a parent were invited to voice their opinions. That’s one of the crappiest
shows I’ve ever seen, in which, each person’s aim was to throw the ball onto
someone else’s court. Nobody seemed to discuss how the three of them could work
together and find possible solutions to address such problems (Of course, I
didn’t have the patience to watch the show until the end).
Not only murders, attacks and assaults, student suicides are
also on the rise. The above article (though from a couple of years back) shows
the statistical data on the increasing suicidal incidents among students.
Some of the reasons the stress in students can be attributed
to:
1
The need to score good marks in ALL the subjects
: How fair is that? A kid may be interested in Math more than he is in History,
obviously he scores well in Math and manages to just pass in History. The
teacher says “You are weak in History, better spend more time with your
History.” This is absurd. Anybody would
want to spend more time on something that he likes and learn, research and
improve on that. The system focusses on improving on weaknesses, rather than
improving on strengths. Why is it not enough that I just pass in History,
knowing only the basics, when I am not going to pursue it in the future? This
brings the kids’ morale down, rather than boosting it.
2 Comparing marks with fellow students : I’ve
heard parents and teachers say, “When he can do it, why can’t you?” or “Look at
him!” and the like. But why should I be like someone else? Just let me be. Each
kid is different in his own way, and comparing his performance with someone
else’s, is like comparing apples with oranges. The right thing to do is compare
his current performance with his previous performance and work out ways of
improvement. The only comparison that can be made is with himself.
3 Need to pertain to the school’s
syllabus/schedule : For instance, take the Math: History case. Since I am more
interested in Math, I might want to learn it quicker. Being in sixth grade, I
might have completed the entire Math that is required for that grade very early
and would want to go to the next grade, but in History, I might be a little
slower. The system doesn’t allow me to advance my Math by one grade and let me
take my time with History. I have to wait for a year to pass on to the next
level.
4 No time for other activities : The schools on an
average function from 9am until 4pm. After school, you will only have time to
work on what you did in school that day and prepare for the next day’s lessons.
You might even be enrolled in some private lessons, because you are weak in
some subject. I heard my cousin in Bangalore tell me that a lot of her son’s
friends take up tuitions after school. Ask me what grade is her son in? – First
grade. Tuitions for first grade? Ridiculous. Don’t we have the knowledge and
time to teach a first grader? After all, we have also studied under the same
system of education, and if we are not capable enough to teach a first grader,
whats the whole point in toiling and finding your way through the education
system? My cousin also says she is tensed as there are lots of portions to
cover in first grade. Are we forgetting that we are talking about a five year
old kid here? When he has a whole life ahead of him, why not let him learn and
grow in his own pace? Aren’t we depriving a child of all that is supposed to
experience at his age? When the focus is only on school-related stuff, where is
there the time for family bonding, spirituality, reading other good books,
nurturing the kid’s interests, etc?
5 No individual attention : In a class of 40 and
odd kids, its impossible. The so-called
SMART KIDS become the teacher’s favorite and the other kids feel left out.
6 Independent thinking not encouraged : How often
have we heard these? - “Just do as I say” or “I know what is good for you, you’d
better listen”. With time, the child is tuned to just listening to what is
being told to him, and he thinking for himself and being independent becomes
difficult.
I’m sure we can all think of many more
reasons. Its complicated to think about changing the whole system immediately.
But we can surely think about taking the control of our kid’s life(in terms of
how he should be molded) rather than focusing on the system as a whole. Little
drops of water do make an ocean.
Why don’t we let our kids grow up in their own
pace rather than making them join the rat-race?
No comments:
Post a Comment