Indian Education System : A Depressing Tale

Dearest Indian Education System

Broken promises of a glorious land

Our education system is depressing! There are just no other words for the Indian education system other than "depressing." Why, you may ask, am I so hostile towards our education system? Well, to answer your question, it's not just because it's the root cause of anxiety, depression, and an unhealthy amount of unemployment in the youth, but also because it's hopeless and contradictory to its own beliefs and objectives.

"If someone believes that they can be successful with the help of our education system, then they are in a delusion," and they're in for a rude awakening. And yes, I mean it! You see, I didn't always have these opposing beliefs towards our education system. In fact, I used to like it very much because I was a good student. Since childhood, school and learning have been the most important part of my life. I love learning; my report cards and teachers also agreed to the same.

I finished my high school and intermediate as a very passionate student who loved learning, and even after that, I didn't start hating the system, you see. I was convinced of a bright future if I continued pursuing my academic goals.

After graduating from school, I started preparing for the NEET exam, like most of the science stream students who choose biology. Because for a science student, or heck, for all students, there are just limited options of subjects that they can choose from: either art, commerce, or science. 

To put it nicely, we didn't have an option but a ticking time bomb, and we were forced to choose something which guaranteed success at a faster pace—faster than the time limit of the time bombs strapped to our heads.

And especially for those students who have chosen science ( death), and in science, you either have math or biology, and logically, other than being a doctor or engineer, what else could you possibly be? Nothing, right? Because they are the ideal and seemingly only careers available.

Everybody wants it: your parents, your neighbors, your society, your distant relatives, your town, your city, your state, and your whole darn nation. Everybody wants it! Just those two careers. I mean, if you are not a doctor, what even are you? And being an engineer is kind of like a national duty now, and we've been doing this since the nineties.

Come on now, the fact that "If we are good at something, we should stick to it" is the motto of our education system, and that is the reason why all the students are doomed.

And at that time, when I was preparing for NEET, I also believed in that motto. I thought, "I studied biology; pursuing a medical career is the only good option I have, and that option is in everybody's interest, from the parents to the nation, just not mine." Later I realized NEET wasn't in my interest.

Now you are probably thinking that it was because I had given up due to the entrance exam being such a fancy cup of tea. But no, that wasn't the case. I didn't give up. I studied as much as I could from the study materials available to me. 

Now, at this point, I should let you know something: the year I first appeared in this exam was 2019, and usually the syllabus for this exam is from eleventh and twelfth standard science books, but specifically the NCERT books. At that time, in our school, those books weren't in trend like they are now, which is actually great. Now you guys don't have to go through the extra trouble we did.

But that's the whole point: our schools don't care about our future academic career at all, like, at all. Whatever you are preparing for, whatever you are planning to do after school, is strictly your business, and your school wouldn't interfere in that matter at all, like, at all. That's why most of us leave school not knowing anything about the competitive race we're just thrown into, because that's the system.

The schools would be so loud about your homework but not at all vocal about the career you're going to choose. Forget about guidance; they never mention it. And yes, I am not forgetting about that God-forsaken question like "What are you going to be in your future?" If only the real world was that simple and knowing what you want to become would lead you to becoming that, but out there in the real world, things are much too complicated for us students who are at the mercy of our dearest Indian education system.

So, as I was saying, due to the fact that the questions came from the book I'd known for two months, the first attempt was pleasant to say the least. And here, I'm not just blaming the schools for not using the same books or the considerably short amount of time we had after board exams. I get it; it was my fault. I didn't get selected. I obviously didn't get the hang of it as much as the other seven lakhs or so applicants. I totally get that.

All I'm saying is that our education system doesn't help at all in these dire situations we are forced to face after graduating from school. It's like they couldn't care less if there are ten lakhs students appearing for an exam which has seats only for seventy-five thousand, or a lot of students appearing in these exams succumb to the sheer amount of pressure and commit suicide, or that we actually need more doctors but there are not enough medical colleges to have more medical graduates.

Like there are so many problems all leading back to one thing, but no one can do anything about it. Really, our education system gets away with so many things, and it shouldn't be this way. And now some people will say that "you should be grateful you even have an education system." Like, it's been seventy-four years since our independence, and we still need to be grateful for an education system? Like, are we progressing forward or backwards? And by no way do I mean that we shouldn't be grateful for the things available to us; we really should be practicing gratitude, it's all cool and stuff. But it's not an ideal situation.

You shouldn't have an education system you could be grateful for, but you should have an education system you could be hopeful for—hopeful for the future, an education system you could be sure of, assured that it would be an ideal vessel that would lead our future to new heights.

My problem with our education system is that it doesn't prepare us for what is to come at all. Like, are we supposed to know stuff, or are we supposed to pay the tuition fees for the preparation of these exams?

I don't understand for which type of students our dear education system makes these entrance exams? Do they assume we are all born geniuses, or all of us are financially stable enough for coaching services? Like, who are those entrance exams for, sir? Who? A high school graduate? A twelfth standard student? How are you so sure that their teachers taught them that stuff, because I've never seen anything like that happening in all of my school years, not even once.

Or maybe you guys believe in the power of self-study. Let's just say we use that power, and that power is really something, but still, that power won't give you results in two months (strategically the time given to us after the final exams) or even a year. You need two years beforehand to just prepare for that entrance exam, that's what the experts say.

And that's why you are supposed to start the foundation from ninth grade. And if you didn't know that, then you're stupid, and you'll pay for your stupidity after your graduation. When you have to take those extra years, and this part and this whole process, this is not the only thing depressing about our education system. No! This is just the tip of the iceberg. If you're feeling uncomfortable now, I suggest you should leave now because it keeps getting worse from here.

And then they have the audacity to question why after twelfth most of our students leave education. Like, how? They can't get the education they want even if they try their hardest, and the fee structure is not the only problem. The whole system is a problem because even if you passed intermediate at the age of eighteen with flying colors and did the preparation, managed to crack the entrance exams by the age of twenty-five—that's not bad, actually, that's quite good, impressive. It would be bad if you're twenty-five and you haven't cracked it yet, not even BDS. And if you forget to at least get a bachelor's degree in between those heavy preparations, then you're definitely doomed.

But still, that's not as depressing as some other streams of our dearest education system. Metaphorically speaking, our education system doesn't look for a horse in the field of donkeys, no, because everyone is a horse here. They look for a goddamn cheetah in the category of horses. Like, if you didn't know they were looking for a cheetah, you will by the end of it.

They don't like to make these things obvious. They will always say "anyone can apply," like, anyone. In the end, they are just aiming to break our self-confidence. Like, if the race is not for me, why even call me? There are so many things they could do to specify what they're looking for, but no, millions of people who apply are met with disappointment, a disappointment they didn't even need.

The thing is, if you get rejected by our education system, you should know that you are good, very good indeed. And if by any chance you get selected, then you should know that either you're very, very good, or there's something wrong with you, like you should be a human, not a walking encyclopedia.

The thing is that the education we get in school is nowhere near to get us through the entrance exams, and the entrance exams vary according to the universities. Like your job too, the more good and profound the university, the more foreign and tough the entrance exams, and the more foreign and monetarily stable jobs, you know.

Our education system looks very good on paper: the diplomas, degrees, universities, colleges, exam patterns, preparation period—they all sound good on paper.

But in real life, they suck. What is on the paper lacks the reality of the situation, and what is the reality of the situation lacks the definition of the paper. At this point, I won't be surprised if people give up on the education system altogether and start taking their social media accounts more seriously... Oh wait, they are already doing it.

Do you know why the coaching companies are so popular in India? So popular that they are even sponsoring IPL, the IPL, and their brand ambassador is Shah Rukh Khan? Because they are the life savers, only for those students who have money, but that's another topic. But they are still so much better than our schools and colleges put together.

Our education system gives perfect opportunity for these kinds of institutions to be born and be well-adjusted in society, and they did. And of course, most of them are owned by engineers. They will keep showing up literally everywhere and in everything because we have kind of started to have too much of them.

Like, if the schools were factories, then the engineers would be their best-selling products. They are everywhere. It could have been that in their place, there would have been an artist, painters, singers, writers, dancers, actors, travelers, photographers, even a hairdresser, a media person. But no! They have to be an engineer first, spending the better half of their life trying to prove to everyone that they are indeed capable of achieving something and they are not a total failure.

After that, they can be anything, which they do. From your astrologer to your boss, engineers are everywhere. And I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, but it's proof that it took them so long to choose their passion, to follow a path they actually like. Because in the beginning, they were not given the choice by our dearest education system. It's also because there's a certain fear in every Indian that they can't afford to be unsuccessful, a fear of failure that lures us to do almost everything.

We don't want to be unsuccessful; we could be anything but unsuccessful. And that fear is legit when the rates of unemployment are so high in our country, in our state. We know that no one will give a darn if more and more people become unemployed.

We have slaved away our youth and earnings to the education system, and it wouldn't even blink if we disappear off of its surface, not having enough resources to continue on, and also not having a good enough qualification to land a nice job.

All I want to say is that I'm not a worker, sir. I'm a student, and I'm not getting the education I need. And to get the education I need, I'm supposed to be someone I'm not. Someone who is financially stable without working; instead, he is studying 24/7, which means they are studying for quite some time, time that I don't have.

It kills the spirit of a child. Do you all remember when we were younger, our career options seemed to be limitless? And as we grew older, they seemed to be more and more limited. And after graduating from school, the career options seem to be one or two, and after college, forget about career and settle for a job that pays your bills—any job, that's it.

And yes, that's all thanks to our dearest education system. I would be talking forever but couldn't be able to cover all the problems our education system has. Way too many problems, given we are a developing country, and opportunities are sought after and fought for. 

What is really saddening is that our education doesn't help or prepare us for the real world at all. I mean, the Gurukul era was better. At least they tell their students that after this training, you'll be facing a war. At least they knew what's expected of them.

You are on your own here, and the question is, if I was on my own all along, why the heck did I pay so much for the education when it's inapplicable in the real world? There's nothing more scary than unemployment at this day and time, and our education system left us at its mercy. It's like jumping from a flight without a parachute.

Having a degree can make you broke, but not having a degree is not an option, not in our society. Because your family would disown you if you don't have a degree, and if somehow they don't, then your partner's family will... Oh wait, without a degree, you won't have a partner. Yup, sad reality.

What I don't understand is, who am I? I'm the byproduct of this system (the education system). Then how come I'm not what it requires of me? What is this involvement of some foreign elements that declares that it's for me but also for someone four years ahead of me, and it's nowhere near fair?

It's saddening and sickening, the fear that feasts on us each waking moment of our educational journey.

And the worst part? The government and the education system actually feed on our fear. They know that no matter how much they raise the standards, there still will be people crazy enough to climb it.

We are way too afraid! And we need to stop being afraid!! Forget the education system, do your own thing. You have to! Otherwise, you'll be following a lengthy system that won't get you anywhere, and if they don't listen, raise your voice. After all, we are the majority; the youth is the majority of this country. 

We should know what we want to do and where we want to go, and we can take the country with us in that direction too. Create your own path; don't just follow. Because that beaten-down old path won't lead you to new destinations. And they can't ask us this:

"They can't ask us for a bright future, while giving us the darkness of their present.”