There is no doubt the present modern age is fiercely competitive and there is no room for mediocrity and however much some people may oppose Darwin's theory of evolution, it is increasingly becoming clear that the world today presents a situation where only the fittest will survive. It is no wonder that today kids all over the world are thrust into the big bad world of competition right from their early days and come to think about it, the burden the young shoulders have to carry everyday is frightening.
Today it is not uncommon sight to see children who are barely five years old carrying school bags that weigh anything between one to two kgs being packed off to school in packed school vans by anxious parents who want their children to excel in everything they do, especially in academics. It is fine for parents to put some expectations on their children but when these expectations become a burden on their children then it becomes disturbing.
In fact so suffocating have the atmosphere become that children today do not have much time to grow up. From school children are again packed off to their private tutors to gain that extra edge over their peers. There is nothing very much wrong with private tuitions, provided it is given to children who cannot cope up with the rest in the class room or for students who need extra attention, but the problem starts when each and ever parent jumps onto the private tuition band wagon.
This also raises the very disturbing question of whether the school or teachers are able to pay enough attention to the young students in the class room and if not we may ask why. We may also ask whether the culture of private tuition has been able to produce good, quality students.
Banning private tuition, as mulled by the West Bengal Government is not the panacea to the issue if the more important aspect of over hauling the present education system is not given due consideration. Why do we need to burden our young children with endless private tuitions? Is it dictated by a keen and sincere desire to ensure a safe and secure future for our children or is dictated more by the aspirations of the parents to realize their unfulfilled ambitions through their children?
And why should children be exposed to such fierce competition at such a tender age when they should be growing up naturally? Is the academic performance of the young children going to be the decisive factor in determining the future of the children? We raise these questions because the burden being placed on the children of today is enormous and we feel it would do a whole lot of good to everyone if some thoughts are spared for our young students.
We agree that the kids of today have to be prepared to face the big bad world of cut throat competition but are we really preparing our children to face the future or are we unnecessarily over burdening them with unrealistic expectations? We have a number of civil societies which have started launching numerous campaigns to usher in quality education.
But sadly we have overlooked the fact that children of today are our best assets and over burdening them with unrealistic expectations is surely not the way to go about harnessing the assets of the future. Or maybe we need an ‘education system’ for the parents. It would be interesting if some of our intellectuals and civil societies initiate a debate on this point.
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