The killer competition

Today’s topic is broad enough to consume the space of two, three or more blogs but I will make a long story short.

Today’s education system and the competition are becoming a killer. Children have lost their childhood thanks to the so-called ‘our children should know everything right from the start’ concept. Kids of 1^st and 2^nd grade are under pressure. Concepts that can be difficult to grasp at this age are crammed in their brains. Some are good at it, some find it tough to cope and many just manage. This ‘manage’ category is the middle class of education. No need to write any further.

The pressure deepens as a student starts climbing the so-called ladder of success. Really? Taking someone’s childhood away; you call this success?

Thanks to our highly educated (sarcasm intended 200%) ministers that our education has become meaningless; especially our education till grade 10. Nobody cares about 10^th anymore as it is nothing more than momentary happiness.

I am friends with many teachers teaching grade 11 and above and with all due respect for them (which they, I guess, know that I have for them) say that from 11^th onwards, the life of these kids is no less than chaos and lack of personal space. Glorifying diligence and efforts are essential but making them slaves under this pretext is atrocious.

Kids are not even given a chance to enjoy their break after the 10^th exams. Everyone is in a rush to get them admitted in their classes. I mean, they are humans for god’s sake, not machines! The syllabus is rushed like anything and academic years are completed in 6 months instead of 10. Some teachers are empathetic enough to understand this plight of students but even they are left with no choice.

Talk to students who are in this situation and any teacher (with common sense) will realise that their glorification of hard work has driven the students to insanity. With no breaks and hobbies becoming a utopian dream, these years are cumbersome. Students do try to get a break but the ones who are sincerely working towards their dream, dream of a break.

The credit of this noble work (again, sarcasm intended more than 200%) goes to our politicians who for minting money, construct a college as if they are simply opening a chain of cafes at multiple locations. Since the number of colleges has increased, the crowd wanting to seek admission has increased. Solution: an entrance test. One common entrance was not enough that now, apart from the common entrance, every institution has their custom-made entrance test. Gone are the days when students got admission to the course of their choice just on the basis of 10^th and 12^th. These are now the things of the past.

Students too go with the crowd without realising their aptitude and to add to it, parental and peer pressure is always there. All this is super-duper subjective because we are just looking at some angles, not all. All this said and done, the system is becoming a killer and depression gifting business and this is the reality of the majority.

And hey you! Thanks for being here. Means a lot. If you liked reading this, do share it with others, comment your thoughts on it and help share the optimism.