Those who have read the story 'Mukti' by the great writer Laxminath Bezbarua can feel how the existing education system can create terror in the minds of children and push a student to death. Education is our greatest asset to move forward in life and achieve any goal.
Without education, no human being can become self-sufficient. But when the methods and system of education bring darkness to the lives of many students like Sukumar, the protagonist of Bezbarua's story 'Mukti', we should pay attention to the basic needs of education as well as the shortcomings of the education system.
Bezbaruah says in his liberation story, “Schools today are not schools that impart sacred knowledge to students as they were in the past. It is a cruel factory adorned with chairs, tables, benches, clocks, guards, etc., and associated with a short-term relationship without the sincerity of the teacher and the disciple. There, the mental virtues of the students are not enhanced but they are ground like rice in a mortar.”
Recently, suicide among gifted students has become a burning problem. Before entering into the complexities of society, it is necessary to examine our educational system based on suicide for the sake of a few marks. We have been celebrating 'Teachers' Day' every year from schools, and colleges to universities. But in reality, is the education policy based on the ideals of Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan?
Has this so-called festival day brought any change to students, teachers, and our education system? Dr. Radhakrishnan said, “Teachers are not only those who create a treasure trove of information in the minds of students, in fact, but teachers are also those who prepare them for the time to come.”
Dr. Radhakrishnan did not talk only about marks-centric education. He was talking about the human development of the students and the education of the students to become healthy and strong. He wanted The end-product of education should be a free creative man, who could battle against historical circumstances and adversities of nature. In other words, Dr. Radhakrishnan was talking about giving birth to a free-thinking person who can fight against any environment through education. In reality, does today's education give students this courage, strength, and critical thinking?
Today's students seem to be forced to leave behind 'education for human development in the pursuit of marks. Who handles this? Our education system, teachers, and parents are to blame.
The current job and vocational education system have created an environment in which low marks in examinations cannot achieve one's goals. It seems that every year, students who have achieved high marks in the high school examinations are given a day to fill with photos, interviews, etc.
As a result, a number-centric mentality is created in the minds of students. But in reality, how many students have been able to maintain this trend being tracked? It is good to encourage students. You must also have a goal in life. But how appropriate is it for 'education' to become a cause of suicide to achieve the goal?
Thus, discussing an incident without changing a system does not solve the problem.
Like Dr. Radhakrishnan, Bezbarua mentioned the education system of Assam and India and several ways to improve it. In one of his essays on 'Kahundi and Kharli' he says, “The rising children need to be educated in such a way that they are qualified for the job.
We believe that the current system of education in schools and colleges has become an obstacle to that great purpose. This requires a radical change in education.” He emphasized giving students a free environment to think and empowering them with their own judgment.
Bezbarua advised boycotting memorization, the 'note-giving' arts of education, and the system of an examination upon examination. He also said that 'closeness to the outdoors, society and free nature is essential for every student to become a human being and emphasized the complete abandonment of the practice of teaching students with severe punishment, demands, beatings, and Penglai.
In fact, aren't we the ones who force today's students to run after numbers? Today, marks are given priority over knowledge and qualifications. The 60% to enroll in good educational institutions has now increased to 100%.
College teachers' jobs also began to be based on the number of examination marks, papers, articles, books, etc. rather than qualifications. So what is the way for students? Today, college teachers cannot get jobs without good marks from high school to university.
Today's education system has started a great battle among students in the name of competition and many have committed suicide in that battle. This battle, but, is not started by the students. It is the policymakers of our administrative, social and educational systems who have started it.
While photos and interviews of students who have achieved high marks in the high school examinations have been published, have such students been promoted as role models who have established themselves as successful people in society despite a thousand failures? There is no established person in today's society who did not fail matriculation!!
In contrast, there are students who got good marks and made their names in the newspapers with photos, interviews, etc., but today they have become ordinary people!! These should be reviewed. Then students will be inspired that life is not a single failure.
Success can be achieved at any moment in life with one's own skills and knowledge. For this, we need to change our society, education system, and especially our mindset, only then will students have the courage to come out with marks and results and live.
Today, the question is often raised that human values are declining all around us. The new generation is misguided. What role models or 'values education' have today's schools set for the future generations of a society that the rising generation has been able to recognize themselves? The main condition for changing the existing society should be to change ourselves first and start the process of change from ourselves. But are schools today teaching this self-correction?
Do today's students have the opportunity to learn other subjects amidst book education, marks, exams, tuition, etc.? Without the education of human values, social reforms, customs, manners, etc., can a number-centric education system produce a new generation of true qualities? And without such a new generation, can we hope for our social change?
Unless the policymakers of our administrative, social and educational systems consider these issues and take realistic steps, we will continue to move towards a dark future.
Finally, it is important to remember that a student who earns his own money and gets 60% marks in an ordinary school without thousands of difficulties and tuition is more necessary for society than a student who gets 100% marks in mechanics.
Unfortunately, today's education system, higher education, and job market never allow the next generation of students to move forward. In his autobiography, Bezbaruah admitted his fear of school, saying, “If school were not a house of fear but a house of joy in my mind, and if it were the same for a hundred unfortunate 'school panic' boys like me, what would be healthy in our country? A generation of strong bodies and minds would have been created (My Memoirs of Life, p. 32).” These fears and mindsets should be changed while there is time to build a value-based society.
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