Education System: Memory Test and Social Destruction?

It is a well known fact and a saying that if the foundation of a building is faulty the building could collapse at any moment 

In any society education is the most fundamental and vital pillar that shapes the character of the people. Education nourishes the society and brings a sense of positivism in the heart, mind and soul of the people. 

SAD FACT : IN PAKISTAN EDUCATION IS NOT SEEN AS A BIG DEAL BUT RATHER CONSIDERED AS A STATUS SYMBOL, MEANS TO GET A GOOD JOB OR GET MARRIED 

We see education as a materialistic commodity that can be purchased and our educational institution are also supporting the pitiful auction of knowledge and keep selling it to those who can afford it. 

In the tragic market of education from the very first day we are forced to enter the fierce competition of memorizing the curriculum instead of practically understand the concepts, And its really being a ‘photocopy machine’ that gets you the most exciting first position in the class and not the concepts. 

In our education system there is visibly poor effort on the character nourishment of the students. We are not taught the very basic human morals and ethics e.g to be honest, truthful, kind, generous, just, to have integrity and many other things that make us humans, but rather we are trained to be robots with good memory who neither have to ability to ask questions nor to think of their own. 

Another sad points is that in our curriculum we have topics related to ethics and morality but sadly we only focus to memorize those topics just to pass the exam not to improve the quality of our lives. 

HOW LOW CAN WE GO? 

We all are aware that in our society we could go to any level to secure an ‘A’ grade or to pass the exam. We feel proud when we successfully cheat to get marks, We try to befriend our course instructor to get a friendly ‘A’ grade, there is absolutely no limit for going down, such is the height of our character. 

FUN FACT: IF YOU WISH TO BE SEEN AS HIGHLY INTELLIGENT, SOPHISTICATED AND EDUCATED PERSON IN OUR SOCIETY, YOU DON’T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT IT, JUST SPEAK FLUENT ENGLISH WITH A TWISTED ACCENT AND ITS DONE! 

There is a term ‘PARHY LIKHY JAHIL’ which is widely used in our society for the people who are highly qualified from prestigious institution and yet they don’t know the very basic human manner and etiquette e.g how to talk?, how to drive properly?, how to dispose the waste?, how to wait for your turn?, how to behave? along with many many others ( It would take ages to mention all of them) 

Specially our way of communication and the choice of words spoken by so called educated class screams loudly that how much we are far from education and humanity. Such type of disasters occur when ethics and morality are absent from an education system. 

HOW CAN WE LIFT UP? 

We must realize the fact that education is not all about memorizing the syllabus and getting a degree, it is also about being enlightening yourself, understanding the differences and respecting the opposite point of views. True education makes us humble, patient and broad minded while many of us feel superior and arrogant when we are awarded with a degree. 

FACT: THE MORE YOU EDUCATE YOURSELF, THE MORE YOU KNOW THAT HOW LESS YOU KNOW! 

If we are to become a truly educated nation we have to shift our focus from memorizing to morality. Educational Policy makers must design such curriculum which emphasize on the basic ethics and morals from the very first day. We also need to draw their attention to the reality that exams are not important in the early years of education rather studies have shown that exams in the early years of education have a negative impact on the children. Differences between Good and Bad should be taught at the early stages so that the children they grow up to be the people of principles and not just the opportunity thieves