There are different ways to study – but the the Indian system of studying still relies mostly on memorizing (hopefully with some understanding! :)) Most schools in India have a textbook for each subject(or many textbooks might be prescribed for a single subject too) and there will be a notebook(s). These are some ways to study that is followed in a majority of schools in India even today:
- A chapter is completed
- Questions given at the back of the chapter will be discussed
- The answers will be written in the notebook
- In addition, ‘Fill-in-the blanks’, ‘Give reasons’, ‘Make sentences’, ‘meanings’, ‘opposites’ are some sort of exercises that will additionally be done.
Schooling in the US:
Now, contrast this with the US education system which we were a part of, for about 9 years. All my son took to his elementary school was just a simple folder and all he got as homework was just a Math worksheet till 3rd grade…!! 🙂 Now things might have changed after middle school but the US way of studying is fundamentally different from India’s and children are equally smart and intelligent here and there. The US and Western means of education rely predominantly on research and tabulating the findings by means of writing. Research, practical skills and writing skills are an important part of Western education right from a young age.
Indian system:
Now coming back to the Indian system, there are several ‘naysayers’ and ‘ayesayers’ for the Indian education system which include the two main boards, CBSE and ICSE – while, which board you choose for your child depends on you, it is all but certain that they have to face the board exams at the same time ie. in grade X and grade XII.
With the Indian Xth and XIIth grade board exams currently underway in all of India – we always come to the ultimate question:
‘How good is the Indian education system’?
Is memorizing way of studying good enough?
Are the students only memorizing or are they understanding and studying as well?
With this type of education system, how do they manage in corporate environments later in life?
The reality as I see it:
Interestingly most of them do well in life and corporate environments later in life. Most of the Indian students adjust very well to Western education system as they migrate to foreign countries for higher degrees too. Since the medium of instruction is English for many of us in India, most do research and write papers with ease. They acclimatize easily and get top grades too.
They also get good job offers from organizations abroad and most of them adapt very well there too…
Now, our education system is not too bad…is it? 🙂
Seriously though, learning anything new is hard and memorizing and studying it is even harder. The sheer volume to study by means of memorizing petrifies many students and creates an ugly feeling of learning.
The memorizing way of studying has to be overhauled as it is quite stressful for the children who go through it especially at higher grades. But change never happens in an instant and is a constant and gradual process.. and I can already see a lot of changes with e-learning industry (like BYJUs) slowly creating its footprint to make the students understand the concepts much more clearly.
Here’s to better education for India and making learning a much more pleasant experience for the students… 🙂