Question

Who started education? What are the drawbacks of it?

Answer 1

• Educational disadvantage” in the Education Act (1998) is defined as: “…the impediments to education arising from social or economic disadvantage which prevent students from deriving appropriate benefit from education in schools.” DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools.
• Education is looked upon as an end and not as a means: Education to us is a mere tool to help us get a decently paying job and settle down. Not a tool for exploration or experimenting.
• Inculcates a fear of failure: How often are we told that failing an exam and losing a year is worse than the end of the cosmos? Feed this BS to a 5-6 year old kid and what you get is a well-programmed robot that will go to any extent to not lose that year. Failure is looked down upon rather than being encouraged as a medium of learning.
• Dearth of qualified teachers: Those who have watched the move ‘Dead poets society’ must have been in awe with the way Robin McMillan handled his literature class. That's certainly a utopia. But, how often do we come across teachers who really wish to inspire or explore anything beyond the scope of the syllabus? By qualification, I'm not referring to degrees. But, a passion to teach. A willingness to push students towards pursuing that extra mile.
• Lack of regular syllabus upgradation: The syllabus which was prescribed a century ago still dominates our textbooks. The world out there remains a Pandora box for our students.
• Lack of flexibility: We honestly don't get the liberty of choosing our subjects. We are only given an impression of it. Not many schools will give you an option of choosing an ‘outsider’ course like history or business studies as an optional course along with the conventional PCM as an optional subject. Why not? I don't have an answer.
• Lack of a dedicated ministry: We don't have a central ministry for education. It falls under MHRD. It's good to decentralise it to states. But, the disparity in the quality of education is a cause of concern which needs a central authority and a uniform code of operation to bring a certain good standard.