Education - Just Marks/Grades or Acquiring Real Knowledge?

[Varun]

'India has exam system, not education system' - The Economic Times

So very true.

 

[Atharv]

As far as I know, MOST (not all) toppers are people who have mugged up every question from each and every ████ guide/helpbook. The topper of my class, is a topper, because before the exams she goes through all types of questions that are probable to appear in the exam paper. If there's a question, which challenges her critical skills beyond the level of learning, she's really doomed.
This isn't intelligence, for she has the answers, but not the opinion.

Mugging up the entire textbook/guide ? Is that possible

Secondly, even if the topper gets the marks - most of times (in India) - they're really immature idiots in practical life, and know nothing 'bout the outside world.
None of my classmates, barring few know about the Jasmine Revolution in Egypt, or the civil war in Libya, or any other current affairs.

Having knowledge abt current affairs does not imply that a person is intelligent.

And if I am not wrong Jasmine revolution is connected to Tunisia.

Thirdly, and finally, marks/grades don't really matter in the real world. Einstein was considered dumb by his family and friends, and many other personalities are living examples of this fact. Complacency is what matters, not reputation or a degree or a top job.

I am really really confused .



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No, it doesn't. Ask a volcanologist, an astrophysicist (Stephen Hawking and others), a photographer. Most of them probably won't be what they are because they got better marks in the classes, or topped an exam; It's just because they pursued what they strove for.

But that does not mean they are intelligent. It is just that they have a better aptitude(is that the right word) for something that the next person may not have.
And really what is intelligence ?

4 lakh students attempting the JEE or the CAT. You CERTAINLY cannot expect everyone to qualify through. Even if all of them scored the same marks, or to put it in another way - if all of them TOPPED THEIR CLASSES, surely all of them won't make it through. The competition will finally rip their conscience, their thinking ability apart.

We need coordination, cooperation more than competition.

I know my thoughts are rather impractical (or seem so); I've been chided by my friends for carrying around an impractical attitude, but I've read enough success stories to know that they ARE practical in some way. We consider them impractical, because we haven't even TRIED.

I remember this quote from Michael Jordan - "I've failed again and again in my life, and that's why I succeed."

A job is necessary - of course it is, you cannot remain unemployed - but the attitude that only a lucrative job matters is farcical. And money can buy happiness, that's way more farcical.

There will always be people who will follow the beaten path , there will always be people who will look for the next big career thing that will give them and their family a decent life. And this will happen in any education system and in any country. There is nothing wrong in what they are doing .
But there will be people who will turn there back on the beaten path and make their interest and hobby their profession despite the risk of failure.
Take your pick .
There is no point in crticising somebody because he/she makes a different choice.

 

[Atharv]

Well that's the point. In India, one can't do what he/she wants, rather they have to tread on the career path which leads them to prestige, and status.

That is one bizzare statement .

 

[Varun]

And really what is intelligence ?

Intelligence is the ability to assess a situation correctly, and take a proper action, and produce a correct opinion, to put in least words.

And this will happen in any education system and in any country

This is a facile generalization. And in India, it happens on a gigantic scale.

 

[Dipak]

I totally agree with what Varun says. You can easily get full by mugging up the entire textbook. The topper of our class (a muggish nerd) perfectly wrote in the exam that CuSO4+Fe gives you FeSO4+Cu. But when the same question was asked by the teacher next yeah and CuSO4 replaced with H2SO4, he was clueless, On the other hand we have a classmate who genenrally scores scores less marks in Science just because he can;t express his thoughts in words but has immense knowledge about the subject and clears our doubts

 

[kashan123999]

I totally agree with what Varun says. You can easily get full by mugging up the entire textbook. The topper of our class (a muggish nerd) perfectly wrote in the exam that CuSO4+Fe gives you FeSO4+Cu. But when the same question was asked by the teacher next yeah and CuSO4 replaced with H2SO4, he was clueless, On the other hand we have a classmate who genenrally scores scores less marks in Science just because he can;t express his thoughts in words but has immense knowledge about the subject and clears our doubts

Totally agreed with you....BUT
What I think is that the education system of at least India/Pakistan is to first get clear concepts of science subjects,then "Mug up"...I mean the checker won't bother about seeing your whole paper,He will only see what is written in the book...I mean don't laugh...........this is reality...
2ndly: I think Not everyone is lucky/rich/fortunate as Steffen Hawking ("rich" is applied for the people other than hawking) or other professors/scientists etc....

 

[Dipak]

I mean the checker won't bother about seeing your whole paper,He will only see what is written in the book

Couldn't get what you meant here

2ndly: I think Not everyone is lucky/rich/fortunate as Steffen Hawking ("rich" is applied for the people other than hawking) or other professors/scientists etc....

You don't need to be Stephen Hawking to pass a Class X exam.
And even if you mug up, you're bound to forget it at some stage, whereas if you understand it well then you'll remember it for the entire life and it helps you to understand other concepts as well

 

[Atharv]

Intelligence is the ability to assess a situation correctly, and take a proper action, and produce a correct opinion, to put in least words.

Shouldn't that be common sense ?

This is a facile generalization. And in India, it happens on a gigantic scale.

Not really . It happens everywhere . But as you said the scale might differ(but then you are also saying that this is a facile generalisation ). There are many reasons for this varying scale .



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I totally agree with what Varun says. You can easily get full by mugging up the entire textbook. The topper of our class (a muggish nerd) perfectly wrote in the exam that CuSO4+Fe gives you FeSO4+Cu. But when the same question was asked by the teacher next yeah and CuSO4 replaced with H2SO4, he was clueless, On the other hand we have a classmate who genenrally scores scores less marks in Science just because he can;t express his thoughts in words but has immense knowledge about the subject and clears our doubts

This is a very popular argumnet . I am yet to come across such a person. My fault .

 

[Varun]

Shouldn't that be common sense ?

Common sense is the sense that makes you know/understand things that are obvious.

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This is a very popular argumnet . I am yet to come across such a person. My fault.

That doesn't mean they don't exist. I meet people like such, putatively intelligent, everyday.

 

[kashan123999]

One who is successful is Great...Otherwise,Poets and Philosophers are The most enlightened and Thoughtful....But not practical...So what they give to this world,nothing...and what the world gives.... "Aristotle,O yes a great thinker,not a great MAN...." Practically nothing