When schools fail to see anything beyond the official curriculum, and want only standardised, market-friendly and “disciplined” products, many creative minds begin to see themselves as “outsiders”. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastava)
The results of the CBSE Class XII exams are here. And once again, a group of achievers, I am sure, will emerge as instant “stars”. Their “miraculous” performance in, say, physics, mathematics, chemistry and biology will be talked about and widely circulated through social media. Yet, these “success stories” do not fascinate me. Instead, I am worried that a hyper-competitive and exam-centric education is normalised and allowed to negate the very spirit of libertarian education. In this context, let me raise three issues.
First, here is a system of education that has been corrupted by an unholy alliance of regimented schools and utilitarian coaching centres. As tests and exams have acquired more importance than a creatively nuanced critical pedagogy, the joy of learning seems to have disappeared from the classroom. Ask any good pedagogue or educator, and you will likely be told that a young student needs to have a reasonably relaxed and dialogic space to reflect on science and poetry or history and mathematics. But then, when the system transforms you into a restless warrior continually running after “success” in an endless series of highly problematic and mechanised exams — weekly tests, monthly tests, Mathematics Olympiad, Board exams and the much-hyped standardised tests like IIT-JEE, NEET and CUET — is there any joy of learning? Or, is there any creative surplus needed for deep enquiry and exploration? Instead, the system tends to kill the creativity of the young.
Hence, even if the “topper” manages to get 499/500 in the Board exam, it does not necessarily mean that she/he has celebrated and internalised, say, a poem by Pablo Neruda, an innovative experiment in the physics laboratory, or, for that matter, an episode from Mahatma Gandhi’s The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Education is a deeply qualitative experience. However, the neurotic obsession with the quantification of what is essentially qualitative seems to have killed the joy of learning. No wonder, our “toppers” too function like machines. From schools to coaching centres; or from early morning to late night — they are continually running like a horse.
Second, let us be honest enough to accept that the minds of most of these achievers or “toppers” have already been programmed. Ask them: “What is your aim in life?” Quite likely, most of them will give you a market-driven/standardised answer: “ I wish to become a computer engineer or a doctor or an IAS officer”. Seldom do you find a “topper” surprising you by saying that she/he wants to become a filmmaker like Ritwik Ghatak, a social activist like Medha Patkar, a historian like Romila Thapar, or a scientist like C V Raman. Possibly, this homogenisation of aspirations among the “toppers” indicates how the system is manufacturing a bunch of conformists. If education fails to ignite the mind of the young, what do you do with a marksheet like this — Physics: 99/100; Mathematics: 100/100; Chemistry: 98/100; Biology: 97/100; and English: 99/100?
Third, I am not very sure whether we are capable of understanding those whose performances in the Board exam are not so satisfactory. In fact, in this age of inflated marks, you begin to see yourself as a “failure”, even if you get 90 per cent. As social Darwinism is normalised and “success stories” are celebrated everywhere, it is quite likely that those who “fail” will be compelled to live with shame and guilt. These days, many middle-class parents love to see their children as commodities with appropriate “placements and salary packages”. they too would feel ashamed if their children fail to acquire the “winning strategy”.
This is violence that manifests itself in the form of mental agony and even suicidal tendencies among those who fail to win this rat race. It is high time we began to rethink the purpose of education. Possibly, the fundamental objective of libertarian education is to encourage the learner to know and unfold his/her unique traits and aptitudes, and find joy and meaning in the domain of work. However, when schools fail to see anything beyond the official curriculum, and want only standardised, market-friendly and “disciplined” products, many creative minds begin to see themselves as “outsiders”. Possibly, some of the students who have not done well in the Board exam have immense potential in the domains schools are not interested in — say, in creative art. However, a one-dimensional/bureaucratized/dehumanised pattern of schooling destroys many young minds and kills many flowers.
Pathak writes on culture and education
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First uploaded on: 13-05-2024 at 18:46 IST
