Thursday, July 7, 2011

Method of Education

Education plays a vital role in our life. No matter whether one is successful or a drop out, practically everyone, had seen life of schooling. But what does an education system does in our life. It imparts data and information.  

What we normally see in our education system is a 'Banking System'. In fact all throughout including the major part of my Jesuit training of 12 years, I have received knowledge through Banking System. Therefore I know certainly how rapidly it has formed many students together. It is one of the most important ways of imparting knowledge and clarifying data and doubts. On the other hand I can say that this type of education does not help in developing one’s own natural talents, potentials and strengths. Hence we need a system of education which will help the individual student to become what he is most capable of. For instance a shepherd boy is very good in playing flute and in addition he can also identify the best flute just by producing melody with it. Now if this boy is admitted to a school where knowledge is fed from the books, which he finds hard to digest, obviously it would ruin his life.

Therefore education must be beyond any formality. Let everybody, the shepherd boys, farmer boys, housemaid, street children, brilliant boy and all – come to school. And in the school the teachers will be their guide. In this new system a teacher though has a major role to play, he is not as important as the students. He is just a midwife who helps students discover what they are good at. All the students are given enough and more opportunities and exercises to realize and develop their own potentials. Therefore a huge amount of resources are required for this type of education because each of the students’ talent could be unique and different from the other. The task of a teacher here is to investigate and find out by means of various test, experimentation, observation, analysis and experimentation, what a student is the most capable of. And once the real talents of the students are realized they are formed on the basis of their talents.

Those who are found good at painting they would be trained to become good painters and not a mathematician. Those who are naturally talented towards shooting let them be trained further to become good soldiers and similarly those who have the intellect guide to become teacher. What happens in this system of education is that each of students is discovered talented in some way or the other. Therefore why to impose something on him which he is not at all suited for and make him a victim of education system? In fact in each student there are tendencies to become someone like Sharukh Khan, Ustad Vilayet Khan, Micheal Jackson, Sachin Tendulker, Sania Mirja, Abdul Kalam and so on. But unfortunately their talents and happiness is murdered and sacrificed at the banking system of education. Therefore this banking system must be a directed towards the discovery of their potentials. The students are to be given more freedom and hope to discover what they are.