3 Idiots and Indian Education

Now everyone seems to have seen 3 Idiots and everyone seems to like it - Chetan Bhagat's crib not withstanding. Quite an entertainer. Looked at Aamir Khan reinventing himself (does that sound over-the-top ?) He has definitely reinvented himself in my perspective. Till a couple of movies ago, he seemed like a mix of an aggressive marketeer with decreasing focus on acting. But, this time I was forced to eat my thoughts (read 'words'). Brilliant acting.

The comment on education was extremely relevant to the times. We are all questioning our traditional education systems. The classroom education which was meant to produce people who could fit themselves into repetitive and clerical government jobs or probably just fit into the requirements of the industrial era, must undergo a change. Quite simply because if the times change and everything changes, so should how we teach and learn. In fact education should be forward looking. It should be able put a finger on the requirements of the world in the next few years and prepare the learners for that.

Does rote help in all this? Well, that's a no brainer. If we are looking at life skills, values and a love for learning to be instilled at the K12 stage then our current education system is not geared up to do that. A collective change is the need of the hour as against the sporadic little efforts that are happening at some schools.