This weekend while cleaning my stuff, I found an old slam book I had during my school. In that, there was a section “When I grow up, I will be__________”. The answers written by my friends were both hilarious as well as ambitious. IITian, Pilot, Singer, Dancer, Businessman, Don, Teacher and everything they saw on TV and were influenced by. And when I look at them they are either IT employees writing codes, or doing sales either at executive or at business level or have their shop opened. None of them became what they wanted to become. This is not a matter of surprise but definitely a matter of worry. Because we are a part of a system that kills the dream of every kid and trains these kids to become modern-day labor. So let’s do a brief analysis of why children have to give up their dreams even without taking a single step.
Let’s consider a child who is very interested in technology. Somehow he heard about the CEO of Google SundarPichai. He started seeing him, he followed him and got highly influenced by him. Now he also wants to become like him. But the child has only seen his outer life. He sees his interview, his public interaction, his yearly salary package, etc. But does he knows how he reached there? Does he know to become the next Google CEO what stream he has to choose in his graduation? What will be the best master’s degree course for him, whether he will need Mumbai University transcript (if he graduates from Mumbai University), whether he can apply for online transcripts, etc.? Nobody educates a student about these.
What you learn in schools are how to get more marks, how to solve a maths problem, how to write mole concepts, and how to classify different chemicals? You will learn all the concepts and theories in the world that you might never need in your life. And when the whole focus of a student is on getting marks, when will he think of where to use the knowledge he is receiving in school? A child never knows but his career decisions are gradually influenced by the people around him. They choose a career path that their parents decide. They choose a course which their elder neighbors are doing or choose a career based on any movie or series they saw without having any idea on how to pursue them. And by the time they have completed their graduation or post-graduation, they realize they just followed a herd mentality without even thinking about what they are made for.
So what’s the solution? It becomes the responsibility of parents, teachers, and the school to prepare for the real world. The schools need to change their business mindset. Instead of teaching students to get marks, they need to educate them. When the students complete their school, they should know:
- All the career options available in market
- How to find and pursue the right career for them
- If they want to study abroad, how can they find the best college abroad, how to apply for online transcripts, how to get a Mumbai University transcript, DU transcript, etc. for their study abroad application.
- How to start a business, how to get a loan, how to get funding, etc.
It is time that we change the age-old education provided to us which is mostly of no use. The schools and colleges need to focus on more practical and real-world knowledge. If a student knows all the concepts of selling and doesn’t know how to sell then what’s the use of that knowledge? Whereas if a student can sell anything even without knowing any concept, he can climb the corporate ladder fast. Today’s education makes us perfect modern-day labor. We are trained how to work for big companies. We are trained on how to build software but not how to build a software company. Therefore starting learning by self. Learn from Youtube, learn from blogs, learn from eBooks. If you learn to innovate, you will not have to focus on survival. It’s time to become a producer from consumer. So what do you think, are you also a victim of the Capitalist education system? Comment below.