Thursday 10 November 2016

Holistic Education For The Next Generation

Top post on IndiBlogger, the biggest community of Indian Bloggers

Yet another child has committed suicide. Few may feel that a few marks less in a paper doesn't matter. But, for many, unfortunately, it's the end of the world. They decide to end their life while their parents and friends may not be even aware of such a far-fetched reality...

Seeing the spurt in the suicide rates, I am convinced that our system is flawed and needs to be fixed. Just IQ (Intelligence Quotient)  is not enough, EQ (Emotional Quotient) is needed too. Schools & parents must ensure a child's holistic education.

Education should be much more than gamy rote-learning and bookish knowledge. However, our schools focus on 'marks' more, rather than stressing on 'understanding'. Many students are enrolled in private tuition, mostly conducted by teachers of their school, so as to score more marks. It is believed that such teachers would share the sure-shot questions that are probable to be asked in the examinations. 


TOI, Children's Day 2016*

Schools and parents should encourage the kids to take up subjects they love. Once they study and do what they enjoy, they will excel. Also, the kids must freely share their thoughts and ideas with teachers and parents, who in turn should be sincere listeners and advisors. Schools and parents must be there and be available to guide, support and counsel the kids and help create a better world. 

Schools and parents must strive to build the basics or fundamentals of a child. They must try to generate their child's interest in studies, so that the child is happy to learn, and not forced to learn. There must be more practical-based learning that is experimental, experiential and fun. Students should be given real-life case-studies that they can relate to. It will make learning enjoyable and easy for them. Smart-Classes with cool Audio-Video (AV) training, lessons and assignments will be interesting for the students. Schools and parents must take students on educational tours and encourage their participation in extra-curricular activities. The young minds need to express themselves, feel free and release their creativity and potential. Arts and Crafts, Dance, Music, Painting, Yoga, Meditation, Gardening, Cooking etc can have a calming effect.

Apart from all this, the future citizens should also be given hands-on-opportunity to help and make a difference in the lives of the needy and the less-privileged. They must learn to be grateful and to value life- theirs and of others. The future independent thinkers and doers must be shaped today. Kids must be well-trained to exhibit emotional stability and empathy. They must learn to stand up on their feet, be responsible, and tackle problems. Kids need to understand that 'suicide' is not the solution, rather it is a halting step far away from success and life.

Do you agree? What do you feel? Please share your comments below.


Linking with-
Three Word Wednesday

*Written for the prompt by Ms. Pooja Mahimkar. Glad that a part of this write-up has been published in the Children's Day- Nov 14th, 2016 edition of the Times Of India, Mumbai.
*Pic Credit- Ms.Vinita Bahl

8 comments:

  1. If children are self harming on account of the education system there is something wrong with it. However it is more likely it is parental and peer pressure that is causing anxiety as well as the attitude of educators themselves who are responsible for the children they are teaching. Not all children can achieve very high marks and children do not all develop uniformly with age. Allowances should be made for this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good article – actually motivated me to comment.
    India needs balanced curriculum and parents should accept the fact that all of the kids in the country are not born to be C.A, Doctor or Engineer. Remember comment of a teacher of my brother’s school: “Who will be plumber or mason then?”
    More than method, I think we need a change of mindset regarding children’s education. Most of Indian middle class parents, I don’t know if parents of my generation (in their forties) are any different - expect children to fulfill their dreams in life, instead of understanding the kid’s. When children become the tool for parent’s achieving success, proper social skill development of an individual (as the kid grows up) in the long run is difficult.
    On the other hand, teachers should be little aware of a student’s individual existence too. When schools\coaching centers consider kids as money-vending machine, unpleasant incidents are unavoidable.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, I totally agree with your points, Anita. We need an education system that brings us close to the nature, that lets us to realize that nature doesn't need us but we need it and that life would be most beautiful being a part of nature.
    TC, keep smiling :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Agree with your points, Anita. Our education system is a flawed one and in many ways it has negative impacts on our children...

    ReplyDelete
  5. i guess nowadays with the competition getting fiercer we really have to work on ways to stop this new disturbing trend. Maybe we can begin at home by taking it easy. The kids are monitored at home and at school to be achievers. Underachievers on the academic front are looked down upon. Parents feel embarrassed if the child does not excel. We are also responsible as parents in making our kids insecure. If we can take it easy ourselves many a dire situation can be prevented. Apart from the education system we all must look inward too.
    Thank you Anita and you know why. Love and hugs.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The present education system should be given a complete overhaul. Frankly speaking it does not increase the IQ in any way. Children just learn things by heart just for the sole purpose of writing the exam.

    ReplyDelete
  7. We need to overhaul our system. In addition to that parents should understand that not every child can excel. We should be a part of this race of numbers. Congratulations on the getting published too.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It is unfortunate that the pressure from the society forces some children to take the extreme step. I agree with you that learning should be made more fun.

    ReplyDelete

Your words mean a lot to me.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...