Atlast I have successfully completed my four years engineering. So, now when I look back the four years I have spent in my college, I wonder what I achieved in last four years. What I learned? Will it help me in the future corporate atmosphere?
When I was studying eighth standard, The period when engineering was started as a professional course in India, My dad told me you should become a civil engineer like that person, So that you can earn more and You can be successful in life. I asked to my dad “What should I do in order to become a civil engineer?” I thought my dad would say you have to study well. But instead my dad said you have to get top marks in my board exams. So, I thought everything depends on the marks we get.
When I was in my 11th standard my mom came to me and told “you know one of our neighbours got a seat in the best engineering college. So work hard and get 90 percent, So that you can also get a good college”. Once again marks were predominant. So, I got good marks in my twelfth standard and accordingly got a seat in good college.
This not only happens at my home. This is the situation in each and every home. Everyone needs marks. Does this academic mark alone judge or decide a potential of a person?
According to our Indian Ed
ucational System, The marks alone are important. In one of the news papers recently, I read one article in which the writer specified a mother sends her ward to IIT coaching so that he might write the exam and walk into IIT for a better future. You might ask what's wrong in that. But the irony is that the boy is in his fifth standard. Can you imagine a fifth standard boy preparing himself for IIT? So parents urge their child to go to tuitions right from their fourth and fifth standard. Students go to school, then come back and heads directly to tuition. Spend two to three hours in tuition, comes back home at 7’o clock. They eat, do their home work etc. But Is there anything which makes the child to think? The analyzing capability, the creativity everything gets spoiled. They start to mug up their subjects due to the pressure from the society for getting good marks. So by the time they finish school they lack the creativity. They don't know to implement what they have read.
So everything in this education system depends only on marks. That's why after completing our degree we run behind various MNC’s for getting a job, instead of starting our own company.
I personally feel every parent should insist each and every child to be creative. For this I am not saying marks are not at all important. They are only basic criteria to prove yourself in front of others.
Image Courtesy: http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/biology/images/academics.jpg
13 comments:
Well thought and well said pal. Good one.
I agree with Shankar at every point. Most of the parents today think about only one thing better education means only Engineering or Medicine. Imagine the number of Coaching centers we have around for the competitive exam coaching. A child as young as may be 10 yrs starts these coaching. Do we let him do only one specific coaching. No our ambition is always for more. So the kid is sent to all possible coaching. The kids in 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th standards, I guarantee they must be studying for 18-20 hrs. The only supportive words we get from parents is this that we have to work hard.
How hard does a kid need to work? 18-20 hrs a day. Leave out our parents, anybody visiting our house will have a free advice – study hard.
when people introduce their children, they will say, this is my son so and so working for infosys or wipro or may be some company in US, he did his masters in some university in united states and engineering in IIT or BITS or someother prestigious college.
I have one of my cousins who is in the US Navy, you will be surprised at people’s reactions about it or atleast I was. People sympathized with him. Their immediate conclusion was he doesn’t study well. So we conclude that anybody who is not an engineer or a doctor is fit for nothing. Then where is the question of developing creativity. For our present society even if you are Subramanya Bharathi(due respects to him and he is my favorite poet), definitely you are less because you are not an engineer or a doctor.. Are we even thinking what we are doing to a future generation. I am a great fan of Ex-President Abdul Kalam, I am sure many of us would have read the book “Ignited Minds” which is written by him. He says we have so many wonderfull thoughts in our today’s kids. But what are we doing to these wonderfull thoughts, diverting them towards our engineering or medical competitive exams. We are not even telling them that their thoughts have a meaning.
Let us give atleast a minute to think that our future is being ruined here. We are making our kids think with our mind not with theirs. They have no individuality and independence in their personality trait. We are taking away future abdul kalams from the face of the earth, which is very bad not only for us but even for the society. Think honestly and sincerely about what am i doing when you are making a decision for your kids. Lets get them to discover themselves and live a better life.
Well said lavanya... I first want to thank you for such a long comment. Next I really appreciate your cousins courage to take a job in US navy. Its not so easy as we think.serving for a nation is better than any anything else in this world.I really get annoyed when some of my friends say I have to go to Canada,US,Australia for doing MS... I have to earn more.. I have to be happy.etc..etc.... Everyone is self-centric. Everyone here want to get a job,get married, settle in life.No one is thinking out of box(it includes me,as i belong to this society...I am no different).I regret myself for being like that. Everyone thinks going to Canada,US makes there life better. Everyone in India has made this a fashion. And they complain back from their that they are being racially abused. Does anyone from Canada or Australia are coming to India for taking their PG course? I don't know when this is going to change. Our country should change. It should change to such an extent that every foreigner should come to India for admissions in colleges... Instead of Indians going to other countries. And I am confident that my countries citizens wont racially abuse the other country members.
I will not disagree on some of your comments shankar. But i will definitely disagree with this stmt -- "I am confident that my countries citizens wont racially abuse the other country members." because racial abuse is bad. And we are born in a great country where we give love in return to hatred. This is Mahatma's land. Ofcourse with the boom of ISB, i guess and hope students will come from other countries for business studies. Especially with people like Laloo Yadav showing huge profits for railways, people would want to come and learn business principles from us. I am not completely sure but i think students come to our country for courses in music and dance forms. But their population is lesser compared to us so you dont see significant numbers.
I live in chicago. Recently i was hearing a speech of illinois's education dept secretary. He told that education in countries like india and china is better than here. So i think they are recognising it. And i dont have to specially mention IT industry of America is ruled by indian professionals. Definitely we are getting there. Its just some more years when Americans will be thronging at indian consulate for study visas :-)
Sorry my mistake had a typo in there.. disagree should be read as agree.
ya..i am looking out for such a thing to happen..but I still see many Indians migrating to foreign countries... which i completely regret...
Nice Post! I agree, more than the marks, its the interpersonal skills, creativity, communication skills, leadership qualities et all which will lead you to success! Our schools and colleges should be focusing on these things too!
this is the problem when ask people to mug up definition of other people instead of defining themselves. I feel that objective question can solve this, It can be easily valued and the person has to have in depth knowledge to get good marks. There will no biased correction based on hand writing, how can decide this is 7 marks or 8 marks it is highly subjective, students fall victim to this.
Sadly i dont see this happening any soon. And marks are proving to be the judges which i completely disagree.
hey I agree with everything you have written here.. nice post!
*Do Academics Alone Matter
Sorry if I seem pedantic but it's a glaring error that can/should be changed, especially because its in the title :)
In short... we're turning into laborers rather than artists and scientists, and those who do strive harder than the herd.
Most of my batchmates had and many still don't have any idea why they trained in engineering!
Hi abishek...
welcome to my blog... thanks for your comment..its so true..even we dont know what we did for four full years...
It was important topic covered by you Shankar.. You were right in each and every point raised.
But viewing today's scenario what do u think? Is it a good idea to scrap board exams from curriculum or building so many IITs to 'reduce' the pressure off the students...
But I dearly oppose the decrement of creativity in students due to very hefty schedules...
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