Indian education system If you tell the CEO of a company that to get appointed, he has to appear in an interview in every department of his company. I can bet on the fact that no CEO would be able to crack the interview of every department. It could also be the case that some …
Indian education system: British origins, herd mentality, outdated learning, and consequences
Indian education system
If you tell the CEO of a company that to get appointed, he has to appear in an interview in every department of his company. I can bet on the fact that no CEO would be able to crack the interview of every department. It could also be the case that some CEOs would not be eligible to appear in that interview. He is still running the entire company. The reason for that is that CEO possesses leadership and skills required for running a company.
This is the reality of the factories which create human robots. Indian education system. The hollowest part of the backbone of this country.
India, which is one of the youngest countries in the world. A country where if youngsters are given proper education, information and implementation No one can stop this country from becoming the golden bird again. But there is a huge difference between what ought to be done and what is actually being done.
Every year India produces more engineers than the total population of Switzerland. But still, in the matter of research and education, Switzerland is number one and India is nowhere to be found.
Everyday, 20 children commit suicide in India. Which means 1 suicide is attempted in every 90 minutes. And most of these are happening due to academic pressure and career anxiety.
Indian education system: who established it?
Obviously, Britishers.
Let me explain this to you in details.
Two major problems in controlling the Indians
When the Britishers were ruling over India, they had to face 2 major problems in controlling the Indians.
The first problem was of communication. Indians did not know English, which made it very difficult for the Britishers to instruct and manipulate us.
The second major problem was the lack of manpower. Not the intellectual manpower, but the manpower which would only be obedient to instructions. Clerks, office boys, factory workers, all of these were much needed because they had already brought the leaders alongwith them. They just needed the followers. The people who wouldn’t question, and would quietly follow, the kind of people who would not use their brains at all. The kind of people who only knew how to follow the patterns.
The English Education Act in 1835
In order to solve the first problem, Thomas Babington Macaulay launched the English Education Act in 1835. Which started the trend of speaking and learning English. Britishers have now gone, but we have not been able to leave this trend.
As such, we say that English is the most widely used language in the whole world. But none of the countries celebrate English like we Indians do. Trust me, English is not merely an acquired language in India, it’s sort of a status symbol of fashion- a never ending fashion.
We gradually moved from ‘Namaste’ to ‘Hello’, then our books started getting converted into English. Spoken English was made compulsory in schools and an ideology began which created divisions amongst people. People who spoke English were considered high class and those who could not speak English properly were considered lower class.
And this is how the Britishers easily solved their first problem. And the evidence of it is that today India is on the 2nd position amongst the countries with the maximum English speaking population.
Herd mentality taught from childhood
It was the turn to solve their second problem.
We all have heard a lot of times and you too must have seen it that people blindly follow one another in India. This is also called as herd mentality. But do you know that we do not have this mentality, rather we are taught this mentality? Yes, we are taught this herd mentality from childhood.
Pay close attention and try to observe that the format of our schooling is just like a factory. Entry, lunch, end upon the bell ring. Right from childhood, students are being trained to follow the patterns, to stay in control. Sensors are being set in the brains of children which would naturally react upon the bell ring. This happens in colleges and till date in the corporates also.
Because when the East India Company wanted factory workers and clerks They made sure that Indians were trained for slavery at the grassroot level. And you must have heard that to bring a social change, you have to change the books and methods of schooling. And this is exactly what has happened with us.
But the sad part is that they did whatever they wanted to do and left. But despite being the world’s largest democracy, we have not be enable to take off those fetters.
Outdated teaching and training students for the past
Till date, our schools are teaching things which are completely outdated.
We all have studied, “(a + b)2= a2 + b2+ 2ab”.
Our country is producing more engineers than the population of Switzerland. This much cannot be consumed. Students in our country are being trained for the past and this is why India is many years behind from the world.
Things which are actually going to be useful for real life
Like:
In the last 10 years, the world has changed as much as it had not in the past 100 years. Today, there are several ways available in the market to become rich.
The culprit is our education system. It is forcing us to play the games of the 21st century according to the rules of the 20th century. Hence, our failure is certain.
Because a student who has passed the 12th grade must have done it with flying colours, remains unaware of the basic things about life. School is indeed developing the well filled mind of students but those minds are not well formed. Due to this, most of the people are not leaders because they are being trained to remain a part of the crowd only.
Degrees, report cards, and the hiring culture
We have seen how and why all of it started, now let’s take a look at where things have reached and how poor are our circumstances.
Let’s continue with the story of British times.
When this entire training was done in schools in such a manner that we could be made slaves Hirings in factories and companies was also being done in that way. Britishers wanted everything to happen according to the standard process that they had laid down. And to ensure the same, report cards were made. Degrees were made. So that, they could check the qualifications and performances.
And this culture continued. Companies used to do hiring on the basis of degrees and students started going to colleges and schools just for degrees.
Teachers’ salaries and frustration in the system
In fact, today neither in teachers, nor in students, there is an element of excitement in the Indian education system.
Teachers are given a monthly package of 16-17 lakhs in universities like Harvard and Stanford. In our country, teachers are given a salary of 30,000-35,000.
If the person who has the responsibility of India’s future on his shoulders is not able to even earn what a normal corporate executive earns How would he be happy. From where will the excitement to teach something extra or to teach something new in a different way?
After studying so hard and devoting so many years of one’s life, if a person is underpaid, he will obviously be frustrated. This is the reason why most of the teachers are unhappy frustrated and unexcited. When the teachers are dissatisfied, it is obvious that the students too will not be excited. And that’s why students don’t want to actually attend the classes.
But the pattern has to be followed. So, the criteria of minimum 75% attendance is imposed. Which means that they will neither live, nor will they let you live.
Learning beyond what schools and colleges teach
In the present times if you want to do something different and want a competitive advantage in the market You will have to change the way of educating yourself. You will have to learn the things which schools and colleges do not teach you.
Start learning the skill that you are interested in. Be it playing guitar, piano, digital marketing, graphic designing, video editing, cinematography, anything, literally anything. It could be any business that you want to build.
Because our Indian education system lacks two things- Education and System.
Practical education and the consequences
It is a very famous quote, ” If you tell me, I may forget, if you show me, I may remember, if you involve me, I’ll understand and apply”.
The biggest example of it is practical education. On campus training, practical learnings, which is completely opposite to our education system.
The consequences of which are that according to the reports of ASSOCHAM, 93% MBAs are unemployable. It means that they cannot be given employment, as they do not have those skills. MBAs as freshers, peons, security guards, all are getting almost the same packages.
The parents who spend on their children by selling their properties, gold believing that their child will get good education And all of their challenges will be gone.
In the last 3 years, there has been a hike of 142% in bad education loans. Because the students who are going to study to colleges through this money, are either jobless or what they are getting in the hiring packages Is not enough to even pay the interest of the loan, let alone the principal.
The requirements of our academic pattern are just assignments, homework, classwork and results. Students do not take it seriously at all, because they seriously don’t find any logic in that.
Research suggests that 38% to 58% students submit fake projects in their summer internship or viva assignment. And we all know that it is true.
Returning to the same point
We are actually believed to have the sharpest brains and the most adaptive ones. There is an immensely long list of Indians who are on the top management of the world’s biggest companies And they are representing our country. But all of them are working outside India.
When even the CEO of a company cannot crack the interview of every department, it is mandatory for 40 students of a classroom to pass all the subjects.
We can’t understand that teaching a fish how to climb a tree and a monkey to swim is a waste of potential.
This is not what I am saying, it has been said by the world’s greatest genius, Albert Einstein. That everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole
Raj Malhotra
Raj Malhotra is an education enthusiast, aspiring educator, and founder of EDUCARE Society. He is passionate about leveraging technology to improve education, create innovative learning resources, and empower students and future teachers through accessible, high-quality educational content.
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