Wednesday 26 December, 2007

How good is academic competition?

Another academic year has ended and a fresh batch of students has already geared up for their competitive examinations this summer. Thousands of youngsters are going to subject themselves to rounds of selection, or rather elimination, to make it to their dream destination. They had been working hard for it for the past couple of years or so and deserve a good position. Helping them were those several coaching institutions and teachers, some of whom have developed a certain cult following in the recent past.
Nothing has been spared in this age of cut throat competition. Competition has crept in our education system in a way that we find children as young as three or four years old vying for more and more marks. Can such education be considered close to enlightenment that stems from such intense competition? Is there any harmony between the two aspects of education? We support moral building and personality development when we talk of good education but we also look for that fierce competitive spirit in children that would establish their supremacy over others. We like to see our kids overtaking all other kids in every competitive exam they take. We teach them to step over others in order to be called successful. Should the light of knowledge lead us on a path where we step over each other to be ahead? It is also true that we can’t do away with this academic competition. In a country like ours where there are more people than there are opportunities for them, only the very best deserve a position in the institution of their choice. But let’s also not forget the real significance of education amidst all this chaos.
Oxygen … a movement View

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

First we have to understand the right attitude to be adopted for Learning. For learning one needs humiility and acceptance. Over the time we identify learning as a relative concept i.e how much is one better than the other, this has led to a madness, nobody wants to learn actually anymore, what one is only interested is remaining at the top, by hook or crook....this competition is causing early burn out and not letting us enjoy life as it comes.. `