The futility of it all

It is a tough world for a student, isn't it? Especially in India. Where we are taught to deal with the hardships of life through the toughest courses possible. Probably the credit for the world's toughest two entrance exams (IIT-JEE and CAT) lies with us. But the "grooming" for the "competitive, big bad world" starts much sooner these days. From school onwards. Where children are (directly or indirectly) taught and told to compete or perish. The latter path being something that some students unfortunately resort to.
Is teaching in our educational institutes done with the intention of education? Is telling students to get more marks, and how to get them, education? Is the coaching offered by the plethora of institutes spread across the length and breadth of the country really education? Or just tools and techniques to help them compete? To help them satiate the egos of parents, teachers and schools - I won't take the child's ego into account here, most children hardly have them. To help them score more marks.
That is what everything is, in "education", at least at the school level. Not learning. Not creativity.Not discovery. Not science. Not experimentation. Marks.


Where is the time for children to experiment, and think, when their homework and tuitions and coaching will not let them rest for 8 hours each night? When all their effort goes into competition? When they are hardly taught about the real life aspects of every situation, and how to apply their concepts?
Education is meant to develop physically,mentally and emotionally healthy people who can contribute to the society in an effective way, and also lead peaceful, happy lives. Unfortunately, the extraordinary emphasis on marks has changed the meaning of education. The excessive competition and focus on marks is taking the joy out of learning new things. It's all about winning the race, which it never should have been.
It is important to understand that in education, there is no race. It is all about learning. Or at least, with regard to our system, it should be.
"Chabuk ke dar se to sher bhi circus mein kartab dikha deta hai, par aise sher ko well-trained kehte hain, well-educated nahi"(Even a lion performs in a circus due to fear of the whip, but such a lion is called well-trained, and not well-educated) Aamir Khan, 3 Idiots