We were all raised listening to the proverb, "education is the foundation of a nation." Unfortunately, in our country, the education system has been defective on several counts. In most cases, the academic curriculum is found to be inadequate to impart proper knowledge to the students.
The problem is further compounded by the dearth of efficient and dedicated teachers. Furthermore, there is a glaring gap between the educational institutions in terms of their faculty composition, standard of teaching, availability of modern facilities, etc. Apart from this, memorization has been the most substandard approach to our education system for a long time.
Normally, it may be for the students at an early age to memorize poems, tables, etc, under the guidance of either their parents or tutors. However, the continuation of the same practice at senior levels in the education system is simply unwarranted and damaging, with many of its negative consequences for the students.
Some of these negative consequences are as follows:
(i) Memorization keeps the knowledge space limited and confined. Generally, the students memorize without properly grasping the essence of the subject to score a little high;
(ii) It may not permit a student to go into an in-depth understanding of the concepts. Thus, anything learned without understanding is simply transient in nature;
(iii) Learning by heart inhibits the growth of free and critical thinking in any student. As a result, a student, despite scoring high marks in the examinations, fails to develop a scholarly bent of mind with innovative thoughts.
Unfortunately, this is a practice instilled in us by our parents from an early age. From the admission test in school to the university evaluations, our intention is always to eat, memorize, and throw out the things we memorize.
The relevant question is: When it comes to real life, does the memorization game play a significant role?
Being blessed with an opportunity to teach two computer science courses at a private university, my foremost objective was to bring the students back from their infatuated inclination to memorization, stressing more on practical application of their knowledge.
Initially, the students were dissatisfied, but the blame could not be placed squarely on them. Some students expressed the opinion that they lack fundamental knowledge on many subjects due to their teachers' insistence on memorization as the only way out to do better results in the examinations.
We are well aware of instances of plagiarized research papers at some renowned public universities, although most of the exceptional talents of this country are from these institutions. Even the private universities that are outperforming other universities are unable to support every student as the funds are always limited for research and development.
While acknowledging their placement in the top 1000 universities list, we could have achieved even higher rankings if more resources had been allocated to research and if the students had been encouraged to engage in research activities during their academic years.
Besides, people often blame the youth for their incompetence and sole reliance on study materials. But, do parents create an environment where the children can read through other books alongside the academic books?
Perhaps, their upbringing and educational environment may have prioritized textbook memorization over practical skills. In such circumstances, a holistic education could have been more beneficial.
If properly implemented, that might even encourage the students in critical thinking and learning daily life skills alongside academics. In Nordic countries, students are encouraged to participate in various activities that blend traditional learning with practical life skills from a very young age. For example, as a part of an assessment, they are required to sell a bunch of clothes or chocolates based on some lessons taught in the class.
Memorization cannot lead us to a deeper understanding of life or foster positive societal and personal growth. We are in such a state now that our youths spend more time sharing the news about someone's divorce than on the burning issues of society. Our education may eventually pay our necessary bills but cannot provoke our minds.
Apart from being a barrier to empathy among students from an early age, this also leads them to bully and harass others, developing a self-centred mindset and be ignorant towards societal development.
We are now passing through a difficult time in Bangladesh. Consumers are the constant victims of the price spiral of essential commodities, our currency has depreciated tremendously against the dollar, lower research facilities at universities remain the norm, increase in diseases like dengue, and we are even taxing our provident funds.
These are some of the pressing issues that should concern us, yet, many are more focused on which celebrity was being injured in a celebrity cricket tournament. No one can educate us until and unless we have the innate desire to make a positive change in ourselves.
Hasin Shahed Shad is Senior Officer, Insidemaps and Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Manarat International University.