Solution to the problem called education

Imagine going to the same cinema hall to watch the same movie again and again. That is when most of us do not even like the movie. The only silver lining is that invariably most of your friends too would be there. 

For  the last 100 years or so we have been going to the same hall, watching the same movie.

In little ways, over the decades the movie has been made better, earlier it was black and white (remember our textbooks), now colour has been added, the visuals have been improved, animations and slicker technology has been added. But the cinema hall and the movie are the same.

The projectors (teachers) are now more contemporary and viewer friendly, no doubt. The cinema hall has also been upgraded, more comfortable and modern, even air is now conditionied. But the cinema hall and the movie are the same.

The parents feel good that their child is going to the same cinema hall and watching the same movie they watched. If the child comes back cribbing about the movie, they sell them the movie even harder. They even send the child to smaller repeat shows (tutions) so that the child masters the movie or some parents given children tabs at home which screen the same movie in a different way. They have even created a toddler version of the movie (called preschool) where children can get prepared to go to the cinema hall for the movie later. But the cinema hall and the movie are the same.

In conferences, in publications and media, in drawing rooms and discussion groups, in debates across the world, this watching the same movie in the same hall has been lamented, criticised and shown to be the greatest malady of industrial revolution. But the cinema hall and the movie are the same.

Most of us, when we think of the problems with education, resign to it, declaring it is a humongous and futile task to change the movie, the cinema hall, the system.

We have an invitation to you all. SImply walk out of this system, walk out of the hall. Life is a multiplex. The moment you walk out of the cinema hall you can see so many more movies outside. For one interested in music, there are musicians making musical movies. For one interested in football there are clubs playing football movies and for techie geeks there are coders coding movies in open source communities. I am sure you get the idea.

For the children not sure of one kind of movie, they can explore myriad kinds of movies in the multiplex of life and choose their calling in due course of time. Many of us, called entrepreneurs, can even create new movies.

We do not need to change the system, we can just step out of it to (www) a wide wonderful world. 

Interested? Welcome to open learning.