By-heart the text and forget learning

Memorising and reproducing the content: the pattern of education in India

Deeptha Sreedhar

The problem with Indian educational system is that we forget to actually learn something. We only memorise and reproduce the text. “According to Archimedes when a solid immerses in a solvent, it is misplaced,” read an answer script in my sister’s class. What was even worse to know is that the children did not understand the mistake in it! When told that it is displaced and not misplaced, the student retorted saying, “that is how it is printed in the book!” Such is the sad state of affairs in learning. 

The disease called ‘by-hearting’ has grown deep roots to an extent that it is a national disease to which we are yet to find a cure. The disease has started to spread in DNA with every generation slowly forgetting what is meant by actually studying something. From a point where learning meant understanding concepts and writing them, Indian education has evolved to memorising and reproducing the content, verbatim. 

While our counterparts are analysing ancient Indian educational system by going back in time and implementing learning outside the classroom and et al, Indians are fast imbibing all negative aspects of western education and are losing their essence. Learning is a process. Somewhere down the lane, we lost its original meaning when marks were given importance over sparks. It does not matter whether we understood the concept and are able to explain it. It only matters if we are able to photocopy what is given in the book.

As Rancho of 3 idiots rightly puts it, “This is college, not pressure cooker. Students are not taught, but are trained!” Frustrated, if one tries to analyse where it all started to go wrong, we realise it is not what we learn is a mistake, but rather how it is taught is the problem! 

The minds are curtailed from imaginations and the only questions students ask about are marks. What learning will take place if the communication is singular like a mono acting session? Learning is best done when kids make mistake and learn to correct it. This way, the mistake is never repeated. However, in today’s upside-down scenario, it is okay if we are not correct in what is learnt, it only matters if there are any errors in what is memorised. 

There is no use in being proud of the fact that India has the largest youth population in the world when the youth produced are useless. It is high time that educationists come to their senses and realise that learning needs to earning and not vice versa.