What we don’t learn in school!

Huzaifa Khalid
The education system in Pakistan has a lot of flaws. Most students commit the text to memory for marks only. They don’t really learn anything, which is the whole point of education. During our time in school, we are taught a lot of useless information, and we don’t even know what the point of all of it is. Most of what we learn in school, we never use in our lives. Eventually, we forget it, and this goes on even at the university level. Other than getting a degree, it does very little to help us in our daily life. All the students follow the same textbooks, same exam patterns, and even the same environment. Most of the students don’t even choose their own major. They have a plan laid out for them from their parents. Even if they have no interest in engineering or medical, they still go for them as in our society, these are considered the most profitable professions. If you ask a group of students what they want to be in the future, the chances are more than half of them would have no idea. Our education system does not take into account individual personality types or interests. Everyone is expected to perform the same tasks without considering his propensity for them. Even at the university level,    we see students who are still unsure about their future. Proper counseling can mitigate this problem. Our education system does not prepare us for practical life; for example, even if someone has good communication skills, it will be ineffective if he does not know how to use them for a particular situation. This is what we lack; practicality. The schools in Pakistan are more focused on making money than they are on educating children. Most people continue their studies at the bachelor’s level because society told them so. Whether or not they want it, it does not matter. All that matters to them is a piece of paper after four years of unwanted struggle. Students with top grades have a splendid memory; concept is a word mysterious to them. It’s obvious, this type of education has no meaning. Imagine a university is preparing an engineer through textbooks without any hands-on experience; how would he turn out after four years? The way I see it, if I want to buy a house, no textbook I ever read in school will help me. Instead of so much useless information, why not teach how to deal with real-world problems? Our schools, colleges, and universities, where we spend years and years trying to educate our minds, are basically nothing more than a big scam. Being a business student, I have observed entering practical life will be more of a hurdle than most of us think. Basically, our education system is like a giant factory, where students are pressurized, crushed, and prepared as useless products that no one wants to buy in the market. Now, what was the point of almost two decades of education if we still do not know basic life skills? Our education system judges us on our ability to memorize, not learn. We need a complete change in our education system, with proper career counseling, a system that would prepare us for real-world problems. The self-help book “The Rhythm of Life: Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose” by Matthew Kelly contained a chapter titled “Everybody is a Genius” which began: “Albert Einstein wrote, ‘Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid’.”