RACE – RAPID ACCESS TO ACE EDUCATION (10-June-2022)
RACE – Rapid-access to ACe Education
Abracadabra, the rarest of rare
sights! Education should have been
spared but that was not to be. Enter the
rat race and one is bound to see unhealthy competition. It appears an offshoot of the peer pressure
that has transcended borders, families, gender, and what not!
‘Rat race’ is today the omnipresent
truth. Look at the loving parents
shepherding their ‘generation-of-tomorrow’ young ones into coaching classes at
unearthly hours. This is for a
‘make-believe’ short-cut to success which catapults their wards into the
career-path of choice – mind you mostly the parents’ choice! One is left to wonder where this is leading
us!
Does the student choose the stream of
choice, or blindly follow what is chosen by parents? Student is at the crossroads when he reaches first
the 10th grade and then the 12th grade and is misled by “Opportunity
never knocks twice,” “Make hay while the sun shines.”
The predicament of the child who cannot
draw from experience is truly precarious.
Sitting at the altar of adulthood the child thinks of a myriad of
choices! Do I leverage home school? Do I go for subject coaching but then run
from pillar to post – one teacher to another?
Do I go for subject coaching in those subjects that I am especially good
because I am told ‘build upon your strengths’ or do I rather concentrate on
those that I am not good? Do I go to a
coaching center which has made a good name in the regional area or one which is
a national brand? Do I commute across
the city in today’s traffic to get the best in class or do I settle for a
below-best in the neighborhood? When I
am unsure to be an engineer or a doctor, how can I be sure to select my
coaching center?
The bold parent stepped in here preaching “Child
you are faced with a dilemma; let me take charge and decide for you!”
At a coaching center I overheard a parent
“I am not giving a choice to my daughter; she has no clue that she needs to
wake up at 5 am to be here for a 6 am start; but what the heck she better do
this for her own good!” Oh Child you cannot decide on your wake-up
time!
The other parent in this conversation suggested
“I don’t want my son to decide his future; he anyway is undecided. I want him to be a doctor and he needs to
wake up early for that!” Child if you are destined to be a doctor
then the prerequisite is to wake up early!
Another parent who joined added “My child goes
to subject coaching. I will come back to
this coaching center for an accelerated session towards the end of the academic
year!” Will the child remember what was
taught, in which class and coaching center?
Do we view education as what one can soak
into their system, or as knowledge nuggets for the larger society to
benefit? Is education about pumping in
or drawing out? Well, even before the
child steps into the real world to face the challenges, the parents have done a
brilliant job of extrapolating and cramming the future into an ‘uncertain
present’ – to secure a safe passage to a bright future.
The million-dollar question is why then do we
enroll our children into full-time reputed educational institutions with an
exorbitant fee structure! We are Indians
and we always want to be doubly sure – RACE is the expressway for the future!
Helicopter parents ensure that the child spins like a rotor..Ramani
ReplyDeleteYou bet Ramani... where's this leading... but then who cares. All are doing and I'll do it too...
DeleteThanks for your time
In this mad rush, parents have minimum time to inculcate good habits and make his/her child a good human being which is more important
ReplyDeleteThank you... wish you had left your name. I agree...a better life-skilled person or better studied and we know what parents want today....
DeletePrasanna you have brought out the reality splendidly. But there is also the other side of it; I mean the deficiency in teaching in most schools, which is also very real. A very important aspect to be improved in our country.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree... we forget education and how to draw the best out of students and instead focus on textbooks and what can be pumped in to students... irony...
DeleteThanks buddy
Your write-up bares facts.But the scene is slowly changing now..An engineering grad steps out of college, maybe works for couple of years in that field &quits to follow his/her passion-say music/psychology.ive come across quite a few such instances now.
ReplyDeleteI agree and have met a few... but I'm talking about kids at earlier age who are not at adulthood....
DeleteThank you so much
Things are changing and hopefully for the better. A parents dilemma is when to step in and when to let nature run it's course. All decisions taken are right as of that time and context
ReplyDeleteOh yes i agree.... at that moment if that was not right then that would not have been the final decision.... dilemma always there but one has to Let Go
DeleteThanks a lot
You said it Deshabhakta. I really pity those poor children but doubt this will change anytime soon. Good write up.
ReplyDeleteThank you... it won't change till times change... did i make sense... well... thanks a lot
DeleteVery well brought out. The father saying that he will decide for the child was definitely happening , and maybe happening now too, but hopefully this should change soon!
ReplyDeleteWe don't know if it'll change.... the mad race has left everyone mad... time to wake up
DeleteThanks
Most people succumb to peer pressure and look for social acceptance.. rather one should invest in inculcating the right behavior and just guiding the child to find his own calling
ReplyDelete..Jaideep
Oh my ...Jaideep i agree 100%... problem is when to Let Go the child is the biggest question for parents
DeleteThank you
Yes it is true. Hope this will change
ReplyDeleteThank you... we've to wait... and be patient too
DeleteTotally relevant article. Creates a new generation of workforce or professionals that will not be passionate about their daily achievements.
ReplyDeleteVery true... hope you had left your name... thanks
DeleteSo true Pres! It's crazy.
ReplyDeleteCrazy is getting crazier.... hope sense prevails
DeleteThank you
It is a mad race with no sense .Especially these days it is torturing the kids to satisfy our ego.Everything makes sense if we stand apart and view it as witness as you have so beautifully put -Dr Anil
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Anil.... our ego and their lives and how sad.... wish sense prevails for this wrong to be righted
DeleteVery well expressed.Atleast i feel lucky to be born in a generation when the mobile phones itself were not invented during our school and college days.Life was still competitive but far more simpler than today as there was less pressure during childhood days.
ReplyDeleteYou bet on that sir. I share the feelings and my sincere feeling is to live a simpler life today has become more complex for many. Thank you very much for your time....
DeletePrasanna another good one ...
ReplyDeleteThanks Mei.....you have always been there to support me...
DeleteI guess, as parents, our approach has become my way or the highway! Perhaps we have forgotten old adage that child ia a father of man. About time for democracy to start at home!
ReplyDeleteVery true...and we need to provide that space to the child. Deciding a coaching institute is one thing, but to take the whole career into their own hands is another thing which can stunt the growth of the child. Thanks for your read and comments
DeleteMy two cents on your very thought provoking blog.
ReplyDelete1. "unhealthy competition" is the probably the perception of the parents, because they did have to go through the same.
2. The need for coaching classes are because of the gaps in the curriculum, but it has to do more with the students of today, they have too much of distraction, too little attention span all leading to spend more hours to assimilate same which could be done in lesser hours.
Parallels can be drawn from WFH during covid times, employees were much more productive because they were under lockdown and nothing else to do, but as things have opened up the productivity is coming down.
Thanks Umesh...I hear you 100%. I am not as much worried about eh coaching classes as much as the parents shepherding their wards. Also they're making decisions on behalf of their child...like what profession to get into which means the course is pushed down their throat. There should be study groups....remember 'combined studies' during our time where we learnt from each other...and that was good enough.
DeleteAppreciate your time buddy
Your article explores students dilemma what to become in future or rather parents dilemma what to do about their child's future.Its true they are willing to sacrifice anything and take ,' too much care' to achieve their goal.But they failed to understand to give value based education and teach morals,good character,respect for elders,discipline, honesty etc.In this ,' rat race' because of parents pressure child psychologists are busy during exam time.Its high time they took care of their wards.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much madam. Each individual is designed to be the best (s)he can be in this life. But then other people do their best to mould the individual, more so the parents. Who try to decide their child's destiny, while destiny is already decided. That doesn't mean there should be no role for parents....be the guide and the philosopher to instill a value-system that will take their ward a long way. If not we will see new grades recorded, while moral values eroded!
DeleteA very real and sad situation. I guess education has become a full fledged industry, and additional coaching is like forward integration, whether it adds value to an individual or not is debatable. I'm reminded of Pink floyds hit number " We dont need no education ".
ReplyDeleteToday we don't have the courage to speak up against wrong doers in almost any sphere of life, we teach our children about the Gita, and how to do good deeds without expecting any rewards.
While in our hearts we know of the half truths we have been telling.
As you very rightly mentioned in your last line, in the process of rechecking everything to be perfect visually, we seem to have lost our Vision.
Sanjaya Uwacha....what more can I say friend Sanjay. You are spot on. Say one thing for the outside world, but be something else in teh inside world which is just the opposite. However this does not work and does not pass on a good message to the youngsters. There is nothing wrong with education being an industry, but then the value system that it fails to instill in its wards is the bane of our society today. We need to make amends soon before the damage is more permanent. Thank you for your comments and your time.....
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