True education: Need of the hour

Students should at least know what they are learning and why they are learning and how they can use their learning in their lives in making contribution to the society and the nation as a whole

A friend of mine recently talked about worsening (exam) results and growing negligence of Nepali students in all levels of study. That prompted me to evaluate the trend of our students and the benefits of the current education they are acquiring in Nepali academic institutions.

As an instructor, I tried to delve deeper into how I myself have been imparting my so-called stuff of knowledge to the students for many years. “Are we teaching practical education that gives them a meaning in their lives or just wasting our time as well as theirs in the name of education?” I wondered. Then I realised there is something amiss about our education system; we are yet to understand what “true education” is.

True education is what students learn with interest and purpose. It is given to them as per their passion and enthusiasm. Without these qualities, a student cannot acquire real knowledge or education. The student must understand how and why education is used. True education spurs interest in community, society, nation and the world as a whole. The receiver of education is always enthusiastic to learn something and wishes to utilise an optimum level of education.

True education does not need any marks, grades, certificates and so on. It only focuses on the result or outcome. It encourages students to develop skills in the required task. The person vigorously dedicates oneself to the responsibility.

The acquirer of knowledge does not need anyone to tell whether the person is good, bad, capable or incapable because his/her performance proves the efficiency or inefficiency. True education helps people identify their duty, morality, discipline, self-motivation, time management and many more. Punishment, rules and regulations automatically disappear if true education is given to students.

Although education is given to individual persons, it should be planned by the government. The government knows what kind of education is required for the students. There is tough competition in every sector these days.

Education is the basis of all activities of a nation. If educationists are not serious enough, nothing can be expected from other sectors. The academicians are role models of a nation who can lead by the example.

Despite the efforts made in the past, we are yet to see improvement in the quality of education that is being currently imparted.

Our focus is still on marks, grades and certificates, and sadly, they are the major hindrances when it comes to producing quality human resources.

Students are so focused on scoring “good marks” that they often tend to forget their purpose and passion.

Let us look at our exam system. Questions are asked primarily from previously collected items, which are almost fixed. Many questions are repeated – directly or indirectly. Memory-based questions are asked in almost all levels.

If anyone writes a research paper, s/he either copies from other sources or writes without knowing the research design. The instructors do not seem to be inclined to improving the qualities of their students and themselves. They suggest or guide students based on the education they had acquired years before. They do not seem to be dynamic and are reluctant to change with the times. Only a handful of professors are updated.

Innumerable teaching learning methods are devised across the world. However, our instructors seem to be still following the traditional ones, basically lectures. Students just listen to the teachers and write notes. Cramming up is still considered the best way and students write in exams what they can memorise. Creativity and research are conspicuously missing.

To bring about a drastic change in our education system, there should be cooperation among instructors, students and parents. If we continue to impart education in such traditional methods, we are certain to destroy the future of our children – and the society and the nation.

There is an urgent need for the government to pay more attention to the education sector and the system. Research and practical approach seem to be completely missing from our education system.

I presume that almost 80 per cent of students throughout the country do not know why they are getting the education. What will be their future?

They are uncertain whether their current education will help them in the future or not. Students are not being taught what they should be. This has left students with no option than to focus on exams and “good marks” and certificates or degrees.

We are ignoring that students need life skills and practical knowledge as well to cope with the challenges in today’s competitive world. Students should at least know what they are learning and why they are learning and how they can use their learning in their lives, in making the contribution to the society and the nation as a whole.

It’s high time we laid more emphasis on changing the education system so as to make our youths capable and efficient.

Marasini is an M Phil scholar in English at IACER, Pokhara University