Intellesctuals Corner

By UROOJ RIAZ

                              Is this called School?

I started teaching as a profession 4 years before. When i was in 11th standard. I didn’t used to go college because of my busy routine, instead of college i continue my studies in evening with coaching environment of my city.

In my teaching life i experiences lots of memories and got meetings with the peoples having different school of thoughts.

In that period of my life i personally feel something which i wanna share with u all.

There are two school of thoughts surviving in this profession. First is to make schools the hub of knowledge and second to spread knowledge on the power of stick.

First day at work. I thought it will b good day with children of the classes my  Headmistress assigns me as a class teacher of class 4. Bell rings, its my time to go in class I went in my class all the kids smiled and welcome me as there new teacher. That was really good to see. As I ended my intro to the class my headmistress come in my class and ask me to read a chapter just and start giving them work.

I asked Mam then how will they understand what are they writing about. She replied you should focus on the syllabus time is short complete 2 chapters in one period. I was just like.. what is she trying to do. It’s a school or what where kids have to complete the written work only, no one cares about what they learned, everyone is just busy in giving heavy home works. Well later in recess time I asked form the senior teacher about what she do, I thought may b she will tell how she deals with kids. She said they only wait for the 1^st week of the month when they get their salary other then that they mostly don’t take classes in the last months of the section because they had already completed the syllabus.

I felt very bad about the kids that they are so much afraid of their teachers that they don’t even ask questions. They are regular just because they scared so much by the punishment they got by the their school and by their parents. Poor innocent kids don’t find a way out just of heavy load of homework and afraid of schools cant learn what they should in true mean.

Right at this very moment, I finally understood why we fail to produce good students who seek learning and gain wisdom from their lives the way they are supposed to. It’s because we turn their schooling into a prison sentence. Every single aspect of their 6 hours spent daily at the institution assumes them as lowly savages who need to be tamed and disciplined in every possible way to turn them into civilized beings.

The irony of the matter is, the treatment with which they expect to turn these kids from savages to self-respecting individuals is the prime cause that makes them more of that same savage in the first place. Drawing from my own experience of schooling and now seeing the young kids at the schools , I really believe that not just the core pedagogy, but all the rituals attached to the notion of education plays a crucial role in repelling young minds away from the joys of learning.

The schools rules which are so difficult to adopt by the kids but they have to. Schools never consider on the way of teaching the thing matter for them is school should b strict then parents will come over to get admission for their children. Moreover schools now just want fame only, they don’t care for the students that’s why most of the school owners don’t have there own kids in there schools, because even they don’t believe that there school is good for there kids.

How does one even expect them to be excited to come to school if that’s what they are subjected to everyday for 6 hours? I can make my peace with the ugly uniforms; but there is a simple solution to the bag problem and half of the world already knows it: lockers. The teachers already have it so why can’t students?

Then, there is the issue of constant bickering and nagging to ‘walk in the line’, ‘don’t stand in the corridors’, and countless other similar pronouncements made copiously every day. I know most people would find this argument invalid on the basis such as ‘there needs to be a certain decorum in school’, or the classic ‘rules are made for our own good’; but here’s the thing: there’s something about these wonderful rules which is not working because despite all the training in discipline and propriety given at school, our kids are getting more rebellious and boisterous than ever.

My argument is simple: the rules are fine, there is nothing wrong with having some code of conduct established in an institute of formal education; but the problem lies in the implementation of these rules.

When you assume all teenagers to be devoid of any modicum of pride and self-respect and treat them like a trainer treats a wild animal in order to domesticate it, you mis-assume the most fundamental rule of human interaction: what you give is what you get.

The simple opinion which i gonna rise here is to give students, the rite to lead their lives...to do what they want and to lead confidently.

i know most of the peoples would not agree with my opinion. But i think the freedom to think gives help in exploring the world and prison-ness is just a way to mess the confidents n personalities.