College versus Education

Never let your college interfere with your education.
This altered statement of Mark Twain is self-realized guideline in mine learning throughout past years.

I am giving you a little disoriented but true thought of my mind on this jolly topic. My idea of education is to unsettle the minds of the young and inflame their intellects. There is only one Education, and it has only one goal: the freedom of the mind. I felt that more you give attention to the academics ,greater will be the intellectual property loss. Academics in India (Partialy IITs &IIMs) is like Wahhabi Islam. You have to submit to teacher with blind faith(closure of mind) and complete loss of scientific temper. Most of the teachers do not change with time and makes education boring. They ensure that more emphasis on written work than learning concepts. They bring same yellow pages of notes to dictate lectures over years.

Student feel academics as:''The sad mechanic exercise, Like dull narcotics, numbing pain.'

The age of innovative thinking and curiosity is dumped down in classes. Securing threshold attendance has became primary objective of the student community. The learning curve will follow a negative slope reaching nearly to zero. From the word "go" in college life, the motto of most student is just to pass and get the degree of freedom.Commitment for studies become zero in coming years. Loss of passion and self motivation for improvement is major disease prevailing in most of the colleges. Its not loss of reason or logic but loss of enthusiasm that bring pessimism inside you. An anger is agglomerated inside student against unjust and inefficient system. A sincere and logical student behaves as irrational in mob or group due to this frustration.The lament of teachers on lack of discipline is correct but no other way is possible. You cannot expect reformation of religion from the priestly class. Similarly, the administrators do not want to evolve with changing times.

So what are the choices remaining for the students in this passive environment?

Student politics damage more career of the student than college property destruction in universities. All of the student submit to the will of management in professional courses.But this is not the way to have inefficient people upper edge to you. I personally stands against the system. No system is perfect, we can not make it perfect also. We have to try for excellence with limited resources.

No man who worships education has got the best out of education.... Without a gentle contempt for education no man's education is complete. ~G.K. Chesterton

Both the student administration have to cooperate with each other with. Questioning on authority should not be taken in negative percepts by administration. Transparency in both economic & administrative decisions should be there with involvement of alumni, students and teachers, not just few self proclaimed youth leaders. If neither of us stand up against minor unfairness, nor we will have enough courage to stand against bigger crimes.

India vs U.S. education system: Sabeer Bhatia view here---

The Indian system of education is “knowledge-based”, while in the U.S. it is “inquiry-based”. The former encourages rote memorization, whereas in the latter students are encouraged to ask questions. In a fast-changing world, where knowledge is becoming obsolete every few months, it is more important to have “thinking” individuals who ask questions and create new products/ processes than individuals with a lot of knowledge. The other aspect of U.S. education is that educational institutions attract the best and brightest from all over the world. So, you get a very competitive environment, which brings out the best in one. The mantra of “meritocracy” extends beyond education. As a result, you have great companies where merit and ability are more important than seniority. Institutions in India tend to value experience and seniority over intellectual ability and creativity.

Bottomline: The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men. ~Bill Beattie

Previous brilliant articles by author about teacher and student relationship--Young Minds & Teachers and Movies for Teachers. For more quotes about education, read this;