I have always wished to write, so here i begin this journey with baby steps.

Schooling and education: A great irony

I have often wondered what are things that really matter in life? And whether what we pursue really makes a difference at the end of the day.Ironically as i pass through each phase of my life,
During schooling,the onus has been always on good grades and academics.I think i must have felt the real pressure only in standard 10th, where the all important Maharashtra Board exams decide your fate in terms of admissions to certain streams and colleges( the combo!!) & in Std XII as the admissions to any proffessional course was decided by the Std XII marks. This often lead to students really neglecting the Std XI course . And the way tution teachers justify huge fees is by showing impressive comparisons of the one time tution fee( some times to the tune of 18K for a single subject) to the cost of a payment seat( 50K) for engg or a lac for medical.
Engineering was a different ball game and so is an MBA.And after it all, work often demands a different skill sets altogether.So the all important question is..Was it worth pursuing grades the way the rat race dictates? Is that all that matters? Does real learning and hands on experience have anything to do with grades.. nothing.. a very poor correlation as i have observed.
The problem i am reffering to is the syllabus that schools omit to complete Std X and Std XII syllabus in advance. I believe the syllabus writers are really veteran educationalists.So why do schools cut through a lot of 9th standard syllabus in a hurry to teach Std 10th syllabus? Isnt the foundation important for students?. Unfortunately i suspect this damage is more long term than many parents understand or percieve it.
And at the end of the day, i believe education really builds a strong foundation for the child. It enables a child to reason, to have sound decision making skills and an ability to assimilate and apply the knowledge imparted. If these are not being fullfilled by education,do all the marks matter?
I guess we are being taught to be expert copiers.. with large volume memories. the larger the better.Often our primary education rewards this ability. So then what should be our focus? No doubts why we are so good at copying the west!!
A good way to start is by re-examining the objectives of education and checking whether our examination and evaluation system really are in sync with it. And lofty objectives and ideals are not enough. Execution is as important as strategy. This often depends on the incentives built into the system to facilitate holistic learning. How about having weekly short assessments instead of an exam? How about more assignment based assessment or short projects. Sure it is more strainious for teachers and parents. But for the sake of a better future for children, i think it is worth the pain.