The Excruciating Education System: Are We Educating
Children or Burdening Them?
Education is supposed to be a journey of learning,
curiosity, and personal growth. However, for many students and parents in
India, the education journey has slowly become a source of stress, financial
pressure, and constant anxiety.
Instead of focusing only on knowledge and skills, the
education system appears to have become increasingly focused on marks,
competition, and commercial aspects.
Recently, our Prime Minister requested citizens to adopt certain measures to reduce the impact of rising fuel prices caused by global conflicts. Similarly, I would like to raise some questions and request the government to examine certain aspects of our education system.
1. Why the Dependence on Additional Private Textbooks?
The NCERT curriculum is designed after careful consideration
of academic requirements. However, many schools insist that students purchase
additional private textbooks and study materials.
Do students really get enough time to absorb multiple sets
of books?
If an NCERT textbook costs around ₹100, private reference
books can cost several times more. This creates an additional financial burden
on parents, especially when the same concepts are repeated in different
formats.
2. Are We Ignoring the Concept of Reuse?
Governments and environmental organizations regularly
promote reduce, reuse, and recycle practices.
However, in many schools, students are often required to
purchase new textbooks every academic year. In some cases, the content remains
almost the same, with only minor changes in design or cover pages.
This raises an important question:
Are we teaching children about sustainability while
following practices that increase unnecessary consumption?
A system that encourages book reuse, sharing, and recycling
would reduce costs for parents and also promote environmental responsibility
among students.
3. The Financial Pressure of Advance Fee Payments
Many educational institutions collect fees for the entire
academic year in advance. Private tuition and coaching centers often follow
similar practices.
For many families, managing a large one-time payment can be challenging. Could there be a more parent-friendly system where fees are collected in installments?
If the education system expects parents to plan financially
for their children's future, institutions should also consider the financial
realities faced by families.
4. Language Learning: Choice or Burden?
Learning multiple languages has many benefits. However, the
approach needs careful consideration.
A child's primary education is often most effective when
taught in the mother tongue, as it helps in better understanding and conceptual
learning.
Students should have the opportunity to learn additional
languages based on their interests and future goals rather than feeling
overwhelmed by multiple compulsory subjects.
Language should become a tool for communication and
knowledge, not another source of academic pressure.
5. Attendance Rules and Learning Outcomes
Most schools and colleges require students to maintain a
minimum attendance percentage.
Attendance is important, but it also raises a question:
Should education measure success only by physical presence,
or by actual understanding and learning?
A student who attends every class but does not understand
the subject is not necessarily achieving the purpose of education.
The focus should be on improving the quality of learning
rather than only enforcing attendance numbers.
A Need for Reform
The purpose of education should be to create confident, skilled, and responsible individuals. Students should not feel that education is only about surviving exams. Parents should not feel that educating their children is becoming an endless financial challenge.
A better education system should balance:
- Quality
learning
- Affordability
- Practical
skills
- Creativity
- Emotional
well-being
The future of the country depends on the quality of
education we provide today.
Education should open doors of opportunity — not become a source of pressure for students and families.
