The education system has been evolving and acclimatizing its role with changing scenarios. Society has come a long way from directly relating academic success and a promising future, to leaving it an open ended enigma. Most of the developed nations are in the process of evolving an education system that relies on fun based learning rather than one propelled by performance as its basis.
There is a greater focus on making the classrooms stress free. In US, for example, students get their summative assessment report in sealed envelope, only to be opened by parents, and children are discouraged to compare academic performances among peers. It sounds an ideal recipe for a just society where nobody is neglected or celebrated in terms of their academic performance. It is a well-intentioned move to control bragging and bullying among peers with regard to learning ability.
What maybe the educationists of today missing or overlooking is that learning through books is primarily an acquired skill, which needs to be inculcated from a young age. It requires motivation to raise a level of interest in some fields of study. Subjects like mathematics require greater focus than reading a story book.
So, by choice, maybe one child among a group of hundred children might be intrigued by the weird ways numbers work but the rest may find it too stressful to pick a book on numbers than an engaging story book, where the plot unfolds fast and is explained by the narrator without much of a mental exercise.
Concepts of mathematics and subjects like physics, chemistry, geography, and economics are a little far-fetched to a young mind and need a little encouragement to raise the interests of children.
A generation back the marks on report cards and a remark like ‘good work’ did the magic for students, and there were many seekers for it. But now things have changed, maybe not so much in India.
A few days back my nine-year-old came to me and asked, “Why should I even learn mathematics and practice it every day when nobody cares about it? Most of my classmates think I am queer. They all hate math.” I had practically no answer to his question. No matter how hard we try to be unaffected by praises but the fact is, recognition gives a person the motivation to do better.
We want our bosses to recognize our dedication towards work when we already get paid for it and expect children to behave otherwise. For them it becomes even more difficult to maintain consistency without accolades and assurances for relatively tougher tasks.
Yes, it is true that extreme sense of competition and the fear of failure can have a wrong impact on a young mind. But it is also true that like all other emotions, an innate desire to outsmart others is also a part of basic human instinct.
A healthy competition brings the best out of people. Children also compete in how different kinds of toys they have, what kind of clothes they wear, where are their parents planning their birthday parties, and so on. Surprisingly not many of us take that very seriously, though it is no less intimidating.
Recently an article published in Huffington Post by Dominique Mosbergen revealed that the reading proficiency among U.S. students have declined from 2017 to 2019 and math scores among few grades have also stagnated. It can be attributed to many other factors as well but one thing is for sure, that there is a problem. Various studies have revealed that children at a young age have immense learning potential and if realized effectively they can achieve proficiency in many subjects.
But before we tilt the balance towards one side and see it in the light of what is said above, there is another side of the argument too, perhaps more daunting and threatening than the former. An article written by Molly Fosco titled, ‘Why does a Quaint Town in India have the World’s Highest Suicide Rate’, zeroes down on a seemingly unlikely cause. It quotes Vikas Menon, a professor at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research in Puducherry, India, who has studied suicides rates for that particular town.
According to him, it is the intense pressure on children to perform well in studies, the shame of failure, and the hapless state of job market in the region, which are the cumulative causes and bring the spine chilling scenario of dangerously high rate of suicide in the region.
The education system of small towns and rural areas in India are often marred by dearth of quality teachers and adequate facilities needed for an overall improvement in academic performance. So, while few outshine the impediments, many perish in the process.
The rate of suicide among college goers in the U.S. is also thought provoking. An article published in ABC news titled, ‘Rising Suicide at College Campuses Prompt Concerns over Mental Health Care’ by Eden David states that suicide is the second most leading cause of death among college-aged students.
It stated that among other social and personal causes, the pressure to succeed also often pushes the students towards suicidal behavior. A sudden pressure at a certain age coupled by the realization of future difficulties may result in an extreme behavior. Until 25 years of age, the ability to regulate impulses and emotions is not completely developed. So, what do we do?
Here in US, maybe we are not raising a generation where we are teaching the children to handle stress and failure from a young age. With no homework and no textbooks policies of the current education system, parents have a negligible role to play in the school-based learning process.
Many of us go to the parents-teachers meet with little idea of the studies taking place in school. Besides, in an age of fast paced life where parents are struggling to juggle the responsibilities of professional and personal existence, the easy way to deal with children at home is to provide them with whatever they need, want, and desire.
The moral question of reigning the desire never strikes as long as we have the ability to provide. Saying no to a demand would require time and patience to deal with its aftermath, which many parents may not be willing to indulge in.
The two fundamental institutions school and home that shape a young mind, are experimenting with a new approach towards education and learning, making it a thoroughly enjoyable experience for children.
Hope the elements of sincerity, dedication, and hard work may also find a place in the process of learning and eventually make the young minds realize that learning is also profound and not just frivolous.
Some days are just imperfect, but there’s always a reason to smile