Need to modernize education
Aubaid Ahmed Akhoon
The current educational system is like a patient declining in health. Unfortunately, it does not produce the citizens required in the pragmatic world outside. On the contrary, it produces batches of the handicapped individuals that may be replete with information but hollow of usable knowledge.
Our educational system needs a complete overhauling. The syllabus that we teach our children is obsolete and outdated. Thousands of students appear in various board and competitive exams. Almost all of them secure positions and distinctions but tens and thousands of them fail to do something to support themselves economically.
No matter how many exams they pass and how many degrees they hold, they never get off the shoulders of their old parents. They are unable to earn for themselves. They live like the handicapped people.
To tell you the truth, there are a number of factors contributing to this unusual human disaster. To start with, the syllabus prescribed in schools and colleges deals with abstractions, futile theories and rotten ideas.
A graduate and an illiterate person has the same value in the market today. It is a pity that an illiterate driver earns more than graduate nowadays. Therefore, the syllabus needs to be revised. More and more practical courses and vocational courses must be added to the syllabus of the students.
In other words, there is a dire need of the vocationalisation of education. Education must help an individual to stand on his feet. It should not amputate him. It should not produce an army of unemployed people. Rather, it should produce skillful people, artists, artisans and craftsmen.
Secondly, there are thousands of government schools and colleges in the valley but parents prefer to send their children to private schools. Why is it so? Until the staff of government schools is not updated and the government institutes are not modernized, the parents won’t change their thinking.
Either the institutes should be modernized or they should be closed down. It is a matter of shame that over 90% modern graduates fail to introduce themselves properly in the languages they learn for years at the present institutes. There is hardly any difference between the one who goes to schools and colleges and the one who has never been to any school and college.
Thirdly, it is time to look beyond the bookish education. Apart from current courses there are areas like sports, various types of art, cinema and media, agriculture, environment related areas, IT and unprecedented business areas. The education of the said areas need to be introduced in schools and colleges so that the students, after passing out, will be technical hands and not helpless.
Finally, the death of morality is actually the death of a nation. We don’t need doctors and engineers. What we need are honest doctors and sincere engineers. What is the use of education if it distances us from basic human values? Education must produce the citizens who are loyal to their culture, nation, language and traditions. It must teach the youth to ward off the activities harmful to one’s health, environment, nation and the humanity in general.
To conclude, the world has moved ahead but our education system has lagged behind. It needs to renovate itself and catch up with the fast changing world. The syllabus needs a huge change, the staff needs a big change, the libraries and labs need to be modernised and the students need to be introduced to new areas of studies. The school environment must not stifle and suffocate the children under the load of unnecessary restrictions, rather, it must be favorable to their creativity, ingenuity, fresh ideas and the much needed freedom.
(The columnist is working as Sr. Edp Head and Counsellor)
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