Education - Just Marks/Grades or Acquiring Real Knowledge?

[MuchMore]

Yo kiddos, stop ranting. (I mean it. )

May be you don't have the best educational system. But if you ARE THE BEST, there is no way you won't score in these shitty exams we have here.

It is only when you dwell too much on what you don't want(cramming) than to actually do what you want(learning), that you start failing.

If you are actually good at 'learning' concepts and implementing them then the useless exams of boards and competition level will seem.. umm.. 'uselessly easy' to you.

@Kshitij, Moreover, with the thing called 'Internet' you can learn ANYTHING you wish in CS/IT field. So, just join any college you want or don't join one at all and you can still learn whatever you want. And trust me, if you are really 'that' focused on learning then our college system is not where you want to be(unless you are talking IIT and other selected few ones - about which I'm not sure of).

So, cheer up. You're still on the right track if you are doing what you claim to be doing.( 'Learning' and not 'cramming'.)

 

[Kshitiz_Indian]

Yo kiddos, stop ranting. (I mean it. )

May be you don't have the best educational system. But if you ARE THE BEST, there is no way you won't score in these shitty exams we have here.

It is only when you dwell too much on what you don't want(cramming) than to actually do what you want(learning), that you start failing.

If you are actually good at 'learning' concepts and implementing them then the useless exams of boards and competition level will seem.. umm.. 'uselessly easy' to you.

@Kshitij, Moreover, with the thing called 'Internet' you can learn ANYTHING you wish in CS/IT field. So, just join any college you want or don't join one at all and you can still learn whatever you want. And trust me, if you are really 'that' focused on learning then our college system is not where you want to be(unless you are talking IIT and other selected few ones - about which I'm not sure of).

So, cheer up. You're still on the right track if you are doing what you claim to be doing.( 'Learning' and not 'cramming'.)

Its all easily said mate, but frankly just my knowledge won't be enough. People want degrees, and people want degrees with big brand names. No one has a place for someone who knows everything yet doesn't have a degree.

 

[MuchMore]

Its all easily said mate, but frankly just my knowledge won't be enough. People want degrees, and people want degrees with big brand names. No one has a place for someone who knows everything yet doesn't have a degree.

Looks like you are not looking at the right place then OR you are just 'assuming' that your knowledge won't be enough.

Trust me, I have been there, done that and YES, people do value people with knowledge over people with degree. MANY(not most) of them do. You just need to find the right kind of people but not to worry, they are ample in number.

And even if you can't reach the 'right' set of people, its not the end of the world. Go freelancing. If you can 'actually' implement what you know, there are ample IT projects on several freelancing sites to earn your bread, butter and some beer too.

Just focus on what you want(learn) and stop whining about what you don't want(shitty college system) and you are well on track.

PS: Watch 3 Idiots - the dialogue where Amir says something along the lines of "gyan par dhyan do.. number/paisa/success to jhak maar kar tumhare paas aaenge". And yes, it is NOT just a dialogue - it is THE truth. It is what 'foriegn' education systems implement. Just give it an honest shot. College or degree hardly matters. Bill Gates is a college drop-out.. right? So is AbBh Choose your role models

 

[King Cricket]

Yo kiddos, stop ranting. (I mean it. )

May be you don't have the best educational system. But if you ARE THE BEST, there is no way you won't score in these shitty exams we have here.

It is only when you dwell too much on what you don't want(cramming) than to actually do what you want(learning), that you start failing.

If you are actually good at 'learning' concepts and implementing them then the useless exams of boards and competition level will seem.. umm.. 'uselessly easy' to you.

Ironically, that's pretty much the truth. I never gave a damn to tution classes, coaching centers, and cram schools despite my parents and teachers constantly telling me to do so yet I emerged as the topper of my class last year with above 90% marks in almost all the subjects bar Bengali and English Literature, and that did come as as a surprise to all as they just didn't expect someone who is hell bent on not doing what 'others do' to perform so well in an exam which strictly adheres to tradition and convention.

And I wasn't exactly ranting there. Just trying to counter what Varun said. Maybe our educational/examination patterns haven't been much of a headache for me now as of now, but I've seen many others in my school itself who are leading a miserable life out there as their parents are trying to impose their ambitions on them and therefore, are sending to themselves to thousands of cram centers and stuff ruining whatever personal space/innovative skills they have left after rigorous schoolwork and that is what amplifies my anger against the educational system.

Not to mention that I myself was once pushed to such a cram school (which apparently 'stays on top and creates toppers of Madhyamik' according to their catchphrase) against my will and I didn't really have a pleasant experience there.

 

[jkartik]

let me just say that ever since i dropped out of college 2 years ago,
i havent touched a SINGLE academic book and yet i've learnt MORE than what i did in 15 years !!

 

[ARay]

Yo kiddos, stop ranting. (I mean it. )

May be you don't have the best educational system. But if you ARE THE BEST, there is no way you won't score in these shitty exams we have here.

It is only when you dwell too much on what you don't want(cramming) than to actually do what you want(learning), that you start failing.

If you are actually good at 'learning' concepts and implementing them then the useless exams of boards and competition level will seem.. umm.. 'uselessly easy' to you.

@Kshitij, Moreover, with the thing called 'Internet' you can learn ANYTHING you wish in CS/IT field. So, just join any college you want or don't join one at all and you can still learn whatever you want. And trust me, if you are really 'that' focused on learning then our college system is not where you want to be(unless you are talking IIT and other selected few ones - about which I'm not sure of).

So, cheer up. You're still on the right track if you are doing what you claim to be doing.( 'Learning' and not 'cramming'.)

Now who is going to explain that to our parents
They will pretty much still push us the same way like they always have.
Expectations, expectations and more expectations. I am doing A levels, so my situation is slightly better but the thinking is still the same

 

[MuchMore]

If you think about it a little more deeply or rather start living it, you will realise parents are the first in the list of people who will understand you. I mean, they are the only 2 people who will ALWAYS believe what you have to say.

All they are scared about is the 'risk' you might be at if you don't go by the norms. Otherwise, most of the times they are the ones standing by their kids in almost every situation.

So, instead of worrying about cramming n stuff - utilize that time in learning. You see, parents often look at the end result - The Report Card - The Marks - The Percentage - which in my view should be a piece of cake if you are actually learning things. You have a better chance of scoring when you learn than when you cram.

Now, what troubled me in my academic life was - my parents wanted me to score good in EVERY subject, which might be troublesome as people often have an 'area of interest' and are reluctant to things outside of it. So, what I did was that I scored enough(95+) in my 'area of interest' which could get me a decent aggregate despite low 70s in other subjects.

With time, my parents realised that having an 'area of interest' is not that bad as one makes a career in certain filed only and if he has good knowledge in it, it's more than enough.

Moral of the story is, once you give end results(95+ in my case) parents do support you and understand what you have to say. It's like a bribe for listening to and considering your case.

 

[SaiSrini]

I also believe it has something to do with the expectations from business companies which expect freshers to have really high grades and dole out jobs based on the 0.1th difference in grades between two students. If they can change their expectations and consider the students who get 80% and above but who might have special other skills, the situation can change. Basically, keep the doors open for those who get 80% or above and you will see changes in the attitude of the parents and a reduction in these coaching centres.

Here in the US, a 3.0 GPA (out of 4.0) or higher is enough to get into an entry level job. If you get all B's in your college (with 1-2 A's), you can easily get a GPA higher than 3.0. Here they look for the skills that you have in certain areas and they mix your academic performance with that to evaluate you. I think thats a good thing and it should be followed in the subcontinent too

 

[Highlander999]

India is a very very very strange country, lol, with some very very very weird idea's on how to judge/evaluate people. I suggest you all come over to Britain, just for the fact that you'll actually have a good time partying 90% the time and only having to work 10% of it, whilst still getting a good degree

 

[SaiSrini]

India is a very very very strange country, lol, with some very very very weird idea's on how to judge/evaluate people. I suggest you all come over to Britain, just for the fact that you'll actually have a good time partying 90% the time and only having to work 10% of it, whilst still getting a good degree

You cant manage with us for too long. You will start wanting us to go back to India again, desperately.

I hope and think India will change. We are slow at everything (technology, education, etc).

 

[King Cricket]

We are slow at everything (technology, education, etc).

Thing is that we are slow but steady. As you see, after tolerating a HRD minister who had been indicted by his daughter-in-law for demanding dowry at the time of marriage (Arjun Singh) and another who wanted the universities to teach a pseudoscience like Astrology (MM Joshi) for ten straight years, we finally have a guy with a good intention who is trying to change how we perceive and look at education (Kapil Sibbal) and has made headway as of now. So that's not bad, is it?

If you think about it a little more deeply or rather start living it, you will realise parents are the first in the list of people who will understand you. I mean, they are the only 2 people who will ALWAYS believe what you have to say.
All they are scared about is the 'risk' you might be at if you don't go by the norms. Otherwise, most of the times they are the ones standing by their kids in almost every situation.

So, instead of worrying about cramming n stuff - utilize that time in learning. You see, parents often look at the end result - The Report Card - The Marks - The Percentage - which in my view should be a piece of cake if you are actually learning things. You have a better chance of scoring when you learn than when you cram.

Now, what troubled me in my academic life was - my parents wanted me to score good in EVERY subject, which might be troublesome as people often have an 'area of interest' and are reluctant to things outside of it. So, what I did was that I scored enough(95+) in
my 'area of interest' which could get me a decent aggregate despite low 70s in other subjects.

With time, my parents realised that having an 'area of interest' is not that bad as one makes a career in certain filed only and if he has good knowledge in it, it's more than enough.

Moral of the story is, once you give end results (95+ in my case) parents do support you and understand what you have to say. It's like a bribe for listening to and considering your case.

Excellent post with dozens of valid points. But still, there is one area where I kind of disagree. Well, if you're gonna dish out a good result to your parents then they would always be listening to you. But the thing is that it is not always possible for everyone to score as good as you've mentioned. You may have done it, I may have done it, but there are many others in my school itself who don't, as they were forced to cram ready-made notes instead of learning by their parents initially because of the conventional/traditional structure of our educational system and now their basic concept is so weak that they don't find any enjoyment in school and are having to hop from one tution to another and cram notes again as their families see that to be the only way out.

I don't wish to generalize here, but I've seen many 'comparing' their child with toppers of his/her class and always trying to draw parallel between him/her and them. I feel that its just not the right thing as it only creates an unhealthy competition amongst the students and burdens pupils. I also don't like it when someone tries to 'impose' his ambitions on the students.

Then again, like you said, parents are indeed the ones who love us and care for us the most and its really great to know that no matter what I do I'd always have two persons on my side, but at the same time, I do feel that as a parent, one should nurture a child's dreams, ambitions, interests from the very beginning and blossom them into successful careers instead of pushing them to rat race or being a bit too 'overpossessive', for want of a better term, about their education and careers. You need to free the caged bird and let it fly. It may have problems with flapping its wings at the beginning, but after that it will just be fine.

 

[MuchMore]

But the thing is that it is not always possible for everyone to score as good as you've mentioned. You may have done it, I may have done it, but there are many others in my school itself who don't, as they were forced to cram ready-made notes instead of learning by their parents initially because of the conventional/traditional structure of our educational system and now their basic concept is so weak that they don't find any enjoyment in school and are having to hop from one tution to another and cram notes again as their families see that to be the only way out.

That is a very severe outcome of this cramming tradition. But the only way out of it is to 'jab jaago tab savera' (start when you can). Just go back to basics, surely they can't be too difficult at the late age(given they didn't understand things at younger age). By whining, we are not getting to any solution. We need to start from scratch if that is what is required. Spend some extra hours daily. Sweat yourself a little, work a little harder and get on track and once you are there just continue doing what you like. No point in 'only whining' and not doing.

I don't wish to generalize here, but I've seen many 'comparing' their child with toppers of his/her class and always trying to draw parallel between him/her and them.

Yea man, seen that too often. Even experienced it a few times but thank God I wasn't that bad at academics.

Again, only way out is - give them end results. As long as you are sitting on your study table, they don't have an issue. Now its upto you to decide whether to spend that time sitting on the chair and cramming or learning.

The only problem I sense here is you are totally not into studies i.e. no 'area of interest' at all Then God save you from Indian parents. :P LOL

 

[King Cricket]

The only problem I sense here is you are totally not into studies i.e. no 'area of interest' at all Then God save you from Indian parents. :P LOL

Actually, that's just the opposite. LOL! I have quite a bit of interest in History and that's the subject I'd like to pursue as my higher studies, and like I said, I topped my class last year with 90% marks in all subjects bar English and Bengali literature though I did not attend any tution or coaching center. So, as of now, I don't exactly need God to save me from Indian parents as, well...I have never done bad in any exam starting from the very beginning of my academic life. Would always get above 90%. How internet can alter the outlook of a person.

I wasn't whining for myself or anything there, lol! Just stating some facts which stem from a collection of experiences I've had with my mates in school and neighbourhood. Quite a few of them are like what I mentioned, don't find any interest in schoolwork, have thousands of coachings, have the ambition of their parents' imposed on them and all. It's them I'm talking about, not me.

 

[ARay]

Moral of the story is, once you give end results(95+ in my case) parents do support you and understand what you have to say. It's like a bribe for listening to and considering your case.

You should meet my parents
They were upset with me because I got only 87% in physics and 94% in maths

 

[ste_mc_efc]

India is a very very very strange country, lol, with some very very very weird idea's on how to judge/evaluate people. I suggest you all come over to Britain, just for the fact that you'll actually have a good time partying 90% the time and only having to work 10% of it, whilst still getting a good degree

the 40% mark for the fresher year can only have been handed to us by the gods.