If I ever have a kid.
I’m 20. I don’t want to think about having a kid or getting married but I am a compulsive observer. I observe things and draw inferences in my mind when my eyes move around. It’s not even conscious. When I look around, I start having a conversation with my brain (I call it Loki). I start asking questions about what I am looking at and Loki reasons with the answers. Now, Loki asks me questions and I answer them with reason and prediction (whatever applies). This goes back and forth and at the end of the exercise, I draw some inferences.
When I look at the parents around me, I can empathize with what they go through. Kids are wonderful. But, when they’re little, their parents make decisions on their behalf. The problem with that is parents want the best for their kids. I might come off as a dick saying that. But, it’s true. Since the parents want the best for their kids, they choose the ‘best’ as per their worldview. Most people’s worldview begins as expensive = good. So, as per them, if something is more expensive, the better it’ll be. And if something is the most expensive thing, it is the BEST. A lot of people change their worldviews while growing up, but an even bigger lot of people don’t. That’s why this philosophy gets carried forward.
Now, when we talk about kids, the first thing we think about is education. I mean nothing beats that. Education is to a human what hunting is to a tiger. It’s necessary. Perhaps, it’s not that necessary but you get the stigma around compulsive education. Since education is so essential, parents want their kids to get it. Not just that, but parents want their kids to get the best education there is. When I talked about the worldviews of people, I was meaning to say that worldviews are stubborn. That’s why people confuse education and the institutions providing it. Hence, most people conjure up images of school or college when they hear the word ‘education’. That’s a big complication.
‘Why is that a problem? Schools and colleges are mediums of propagating knowledge, so it’s normal to think about them when you hear education, right?’ I completely agree. That’s another problem. People don’t realize they’ve been brainwashed until a problem arises in the operations. And the flagbearers or the forefathers of schools and colleges don’t let operational problems arise. Because they’re profiting from it.
Let’s get back to the problem. If you check the stats, it’s not getting easier to go to universities. The average cost of attending a four-year college or university in the United States rose by 497% between the 1985–86 and 2017–18 academic years, more than twice the rate of inflation. The cost of attending a traditional four-year university has been rising more than twice as fast as inflation, and two-year community colleges a third faster. Are you able to identify the problem, now? Schools and Colleges have become a lucrative venture for businessmen. And they don’t really have to do a lot to attract customers (students, whatever). Since, parents have been schooled in the philosophy of expensive = good, they’ll admit their kids there. After all, they want the best for their kids.
And, you would expect to come out guns blazing with knowledge and curiosity about learning more about the world after the money these institutions charge you. Naah. Naah. That’s not what you’re taught.
Speaking about India — you’re not taught how to think or how to learn. You’re taught what to learn and what to write in exams. Very few teachers in the whole world can teach in a way so as to imbibe curiosity in children.
If I’m 7 years old, and you want to convince me to be curious about astronomy, you shouldn’t be teaching me astronomy. You should be telling me interesting facts about stars and planets and the universe and the multiverse and 1000 other things. You should be telling me about things that got YOU interested in astronomy. Because it’s not about what you teach; it’s about how you teach. When you talk about topics that you care about, you’re excited, gleeful, and persistent. Children can sense your enthusiasm. They can feel the energy. And when they sense that, they pay attention and become curious to know more about the topic. They’re humans after all :)
That’s why teachers should be recruited to teach topics that interest them. I don’t want to learn English Literature from a teacher interested in Maths.
Prediction: Schools and colleges won’t survive in the years to come because awareness does wonders to your decision-making that education can never do. And believe it or not, we’re headed towards a world where humans have achieved sophisticated awareness.
Even if schools and colleges exist in the future, I’ll not send my kid there. I’ve read and experienced enough to not send my future kid(s) to these institutions.
Homeschooling is the way forward.
I’m sure I’ll make a good teacher :)
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