Many of my students come to me and share their anguish over not getting selected in interviews of different kinds whether it is to get through admission into MPhil program or doctoral program or for job placements in different companies. Their concern hits a serious cord when I see their marks in the courses they have pursued, be it postgraduation, undergraduation or any other formal degree program. Surprisingly they are the ones who have secured good marks. This is true of many students in the country. Most of these students secure good marks or very high grades as throughout their engagement with education and learning, their focus has been to get good marks or higher grades. Their visible concentration is more on getting marks as compared to gaining knowledge. This is disastrous for the students, teachers, society and system at large.
In this brief writeup I wish to express my concern over the issues in a subtle manner deriving much from my personal belief and conviction. Much of it is based on my personal interactions with students who keep crowding my office room or who keep texting me or sending mails about their anxieties. It is also influenced by my interactions with fellow teachers. I feel it would help students to think and develop their intellect and might help them reduce frustration.
Our teaching-taught system is considered much like an event. Students coming to class, taking notes, reading cheap notes or popular bulleted versions of notes for securing marks, appearing in exams, waiting for results, getting the mark slips, obtaining diplomas and degrees, results in finishing an event. After this event is over searching job and getting it becomes another event. During the course of performing given tasks at the workplace/s, lot many events get organised and completed. Different time-spans and life activities get processed and finished as event. The journey called life gets divided in organizing and participating in different events. At times measurable feedback drives our future actions which are part of subsequent event.
Everything approaches as a tangible object and gets programmed on the basis of evidence. There are numbers all over the places in different kinds and types, sizes and shapes— top-bottom, left-right, denominator, numerator, linear, binary, central, skewed, spikes, regressed, probabilistic, variable, etc. The spaces are all filled with figures, integers and statistics of all kinds. We get so over obsessed with numbers that nothing that is not convertible into digit form sounds foreign or weird to us. All sacred texts, teachings and preaching, epics and odes, stories and poems, music and art, pictures and profundities, all that which cannot get converted into numbers falls flat before the arguments defending the measurable world. Measurable, that makes a miserable world.
Knowledge is intangible and knowledge is power much beyond measurement, much beyond money power. Marks do not reflect true character and the inner strength that you possess. Marks may not represent your competence and capabilities. The world around marks is short-lived. Benjamin Disraeli said—There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. Though numbers provide defense, it is only numbers which takes one away from humanity, from the world of art and appreciation. Marks might show your reality for a while but what shall stay long and keep you stay strong is your real knowledge.
So the focus has to shift from getting good marks and higher grades to gaining more knowledge and developing better skill sets and competencies; from considering it to be an event to considering it to be an experience. It is possible through shifting your concentration from reading compiled volumes and cheap notes to reading authentic and original writings. Narrations are better than bullets. It is possible through developing interest in the studies beyond the motivation of getting a particular package and particular kind of job. This shift in focus may result in securing good marks as well, making it double edged sword, on one end you gain knowledge and on another you get good grades. The experience of getting education should create more choices rather than restricting them. The process of learning should be entertaining and should help in developing critical thinking faculties resulting in broadening horizon of thinking. The intellect so acquired should help you deal with mind-heart conflict effectively.
Life is a journey and we keep meeting all kinds of people in this journey. A teacher keeps teaching and preaching to as many as keep coming on the way. Much the same happens with a student, in his/her life different teachers keep coming and passing after leaving behind experiences, memories and marks. Sometime when a student starts enjoying the company of a teacher and gets influenced by his/her teaching, it invites reciprocity, leading to build mentor-mentee relationship. Fortunate are those teachers who get acknowledged and admired by students and believe me, fortunate are those students who get appreciated and mentored by teachers. For a teacher these are assets and investments. Teachers are real wealth creators, relationships are real investments, continuity is the real check and satisfaction is the real return or achievement (degrees/diplomas are not).
The very purpose of education is not to get you job or make you market ready but to allow you to explore yourself to the fullest. This exploration is as much about outer self as it is about inner self, it is as much about roots and routes as it is about sailing and climbing, it is as much about being successful and humble as it is about failing, falling and learning. The journey called life become worth enjoying when one is surrounded by people of one’s choice and expectation. Creation of this choice expects lot of investment of different kind. One needs to identify, ideate, idolize, and implement accordingly.
48 thoughts on “EDUCATION – AS AN EVENT OR AN EXPERIENCE”
Indeed a worth reading article, sir.
It’s nice.
thanks
Sir, this is a very insightful article and a must-read for all, especially students. Indeed, it is crucial to move away from a myopic view of securing higher marks or getting a job, and instead prioritise holistic learning, exploring one’s potential, striving despite all odds, and growing while helping others.
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Very nice sir
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Beautiful as always.
Full of learning and though blooming
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Very nice
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It always inspired me to read…
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Very nice sir… Very interesting and intractive topic.
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very nice sir ,very helpful… totally based on the reality.
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Constant commodification of education is a topic everyone likes to brush it under the rug. Your article is thought provoking.
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स्वदेशे पूज्यते राजा विद्वान् सर्वत्र पूज्यते।
Sir, What you preach has huge implications on the well-being (including, but not limited to mental, social) of students across disciplines.
आपको साधुवाद।
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Truth very nicely described. The malady needs social action to remedy!
thanks. fully endorse your views and communicating my concern wherever I get the opportunity is my effort towards providing some little remedy.
Sir this very thought provoking and very well articulated. Our midset for education and knowledge needs to be changed.
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Very nice notion sir
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Thoughtful writing
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Sir, your thoughts are highly stimulating and effectively communicated. We must alter our mindset towards education.
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Wow… We just love to read your articles sir… They lead to intellectual development and broaden our thinking and mind…
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Dear Shrotriya, I do accept your that marks are not everything. But when comes to practical world, how much one scored becomes the first impression for an employer. In academics, we eliminate candidates if they do not have consistently good academic record, or one who does not have NET or JRF. I felt bad when some very articulate candidates who scored first class at PG were rejected only because they didn’t perform well in SSC and Plus 2. Marks alone should not be criteria. But unfortunately they are….
Thanks for your comment. You are right. The intent of this writeup is not to forget about marks but to make it secondary. Primary focus should be to improve one’s knowledge base.
Undoubtedly there are times when we tend to value extrinsic gains over intrinsic growth, but interactions with you have always motivated us to look forward to long term development Sir.
thanks Swati
Undoubtedly there are times when we tend to value extrinsic gains over intrinsic growth, but interactions with you have always motivated us to look forward to long term development Sir.
“The very purpose of education is not to get you a job or make you market ready but to allow you to explore yourself to the fullest.”
This line caught my attention for a while and I couldn’t help but question :
does the societal clock of getting independent and buying your first house or car, allow students to explore? Doesn’t exploration need time and a bit of a nomadic mindset? Drawing from this thought can we say education is not meant for everyone?
Good to get your comment which is hinting at the base of education. The very purpose of education is not to make one market ready, it is to gain knowledge and be independent. Education facilitates the mode of livelihood which is an inherent part of life and through one’s knowledge of self and environment, one assigns meaning to one’s life and accordingly chooses career. Career should not be the focus of education but the result of exploration that education ventures. Here exploration is not really on the lines of being nomadic in mindset but to keep looking beyond and within subjects and disciplines, arts and performances, life and livelihood, right and duties, roles and responsibilities, and many more such areas. Formal education should help in building skill sets as well as broadening thinking horizon so that one is able to make informed decision’s about one’s choice for leading a good life. Education as such is very important whether it is formal or informal, it is from home or from school, it is from observation or experience. It could be through any mode and in any way.
Keep exploring and keep investing in yourself through thinking.
best wishes
Indeed beautiful explanation. Thank you Sir, for giving a new direction to my thinking.
So relatable sir. Education system tests not only marks but also patience and persistence.
Indeed an article worth reading. The topic is so apt considering the current scenario. And so beautifully written and articulated. I am definitely going to share this with my students when they face the same situation.
Thanks for sharing, Sir!
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You have narrated truly the purpose of education but fear is it the direction our policy and society. Definitely not. We are all even NEP we are focusing more on employability rather growth of the citizens.
And I feel post industrial revolution and fall of churches and religion world wide the purpose of education is no more humans growth.
I am waiting for the shift
Thanks for your thoughts. Shall ponder on them.