Is the education system a waste of time?
Have you ever considered the fact that education can be grossly overrated? All over the world, students are taught to conform to the rules and regulations of schools and their intelligence and work ethic is merely certified by the education boards, instead of highlighting their talents. Standardized tests do nothing to prove the ability of a child, it merely serves as a tool for schools to rate students who simply show the ability to memorize information rather than learning. In fact, the education system of United States of America and the United Kingdom lags behind other countries such as Sweden and Finland where learning is prioritized rather than memorizing facts. Students are taught useless things on a daily basis which don’t benefit them. Schools were created in the industrial age in order to churn out obedient workers, and they reward people for following the rules and not asking any questions. In this dynamic work environment of the 21st century, our educational institutions need to adapt and provide students with a holistic learning environment where individual excellence is celebrated rather than scorned upon. The primary reason why most of us believe that the education is simply a waste of time is because most of us have forgotten what we have learned in our schools. What is the point of going to schools if students forget about what they learned in class?
Most of the students hunt for easy A’s by simply memorizing information instead of learning about new things. This is why, even after decades of growing access to education for the general population, the quality of jobs have not increased and the wages have remained stagnant for much of the 21st century. We need to equip our teachers to encourage students to learn about the things that really matter, instead of memorizing useless facts that serve no purpose. Schools need to encourage students to express their talents and stop these standardized tests which serve no purpose.
Our labor market values grades over knowledge, although grades merely reflect a student’s memorizing abilities. We need to change this culture of awarding employees with the highest grades with the best jobs. Students need to run after knowledge, and not seek gratification by getting meaningless grades which fail to address their aptitude for knowledge. We have to let go of this useless rat race to the top where individual brilliance and talents are shunned on a daily basis, and society awarding students after graduation with a job that they don’t deserve. A university degree is the height of ignorance of the society, and it is the single biggest fact where employers can judge students by their ability to conform to rules and regulations of an organization instead of valuing knowledge and practical skills. Governments need to cut spending in education and change the way schools operate in order to bring a meaningful change in the lives of the students. More priority needs to be given to vocational education where students are taught practical skills which they will need to succeed in their workplace. Instead of teaching our students how to compete with others and outshine their fellow peers, we need to teach them real world skills which will bring value to their lives.
More research needs to be done in our education system in order to identify the things that are not working for students. Why is it that the entire world is becoming technologically enhanced but we haven’t changed our schools since the industrial age? Everybody is a genius. But if we judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
