The current education system of India

The current education system in India is fairly a strong one. We have inherited our education system from Britishers and have made significant changes in it in the past 60 years. India is emerging as a global power now though there are deficiencies in the system that needs to be worked on. But, we have made substantial impact at the global level. Yet, the education system of India is also cited as one of the most ancient approaches to enlightenment. Not only in terms of the enormous content of knowledge provided to the students but also in terms of technology. In India, theoretical knowledge is given pre-eminence as opposed to practical knowledge. This is an issue entering the limelight in the recent times.

It is known and accepted worldwide that practical knowledge alongside the hint of its theoretical approach is the cue to survive in this ever-so-fast moving world. Yet, statistics show that Indian students have much greater theoretical knowledge as compared to the foreign students yet meagre knowledge in practical areas. There is a dire need for revolutionary changes in the India’s education system. Not just the syllabus and pedagogy, but also the attitude change towards the marks system need to be changed. With the effective learning system, India can successfully utilize its vast human resources.

Undoubtedly, because of the glorious Indian cultural ethics and beliefs, most Indian students yield to the norms of the system. Being clouded under the stereotypical idea of the superiority of certain subject combinations and inferiority of certain others, students often disembark the path to their dreams. Because of this, and also the uncontrollable population of the country, stressful competition is seen in certain sectors like engineering and medical careers. Statistics show that the students competing to fit into these careers have tremendously high stress and anxiety levels amongst them. So much that certain educational boards have made it mandatory to appoint psychologists in their schools and regular sessions from them as an essential part of their curriculum! Yet, in certain other sectors like veterinary study the amount manual help required is terrifyingly larger than the current scenario.

This isn’t the only drawback of our system. One of the major drawbacks is also the prevailing illiteracy which needs to be eradicated from the root. Yet, due to parameters like family, socio-cultural backgrounds and again, the ever-increasing population of India, some sections of the society remain devoid of basic education.

 The current system of education requires a transformation if the youth of our country need to stay ahead in the years to come. This is especially important for children with limited access to education, both in rural and urban India. They have all the rights to access the best quality education, the best insurance a child can have against poverty and lack of upward movement.

On the brighter side, the quality of education provided has certainly contributed to the reputation of high intellectual level of Indians in the world. If one is able to mould into the system without complaints, then it bodes well for them as well as their career which takes a discernible upsurge. In more recent times, the number of students following the international board has increased. This system provides liberty to pursue any subject combination of preference and focuses on value education as well as extra-curricular growth.

Education is one of the major sectors contributing to the Indian economy and its growth is the direct growth of our economy, of our country. It has been aptly said by Nelson Mandela that, “education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world”.

Five thriller movies which will blow your mind

Thriller is a genre desired by just about everyone. Thrillers are characterized by the moods they inspire, giving the viewer a heightened sense of suspense, excitement, anticipation and anxiety. Yet, what every filmmaker of this genre struggles with is maintaining the build-up and creating the perfect atmosphere for an epic climax. Several movies can maintain an amazing build-up yet fail to hold a climax doing justice to the rest of the film. Yet, in the last decade, the world has seen a few epic thrillers which led them to question reality. Such was the plotline, direction, acting and overall the film in a holistic sense.

     1)   Interstellar- hands down, this movie surely tops the list! With a non-linear storytelling and a story entwined in the cosmos, this movie is sure to play with your mind. This movie depicts a dystopian Earth, from which a group of astronauts who go to space in order to find a planet with inhabitable conditions. This movie follows an unparalleled perspective in depiction of the universe with ideas and concepts amazing enough to question reality. Not until the very end, everything falls into place and makes sense. The actors who perform their roles perfectly in this movie are Matthew McConaughty, Anne Hathway, and Michael Caine amongst others. This movie is, truly, a masterpiece.

Mathew McConaughty in Interstellar

    

    2)  Inception – Like interstellar, this movie is directed by Christopher Nolan who doesn’t fail to shock his viewers with is amazing creativity and expertise in his art. This movie shows a very outlandish perspective on dreams and their analysis. It shows how a group of people who learn to control their dreams and gradually others’. They soon travel to different layers of dreams (dream inside another dream) to accomplish a task. Complications arise and the end leaves you shocked and baffled. Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom hardy an all the other actors do a remarkable job in making the movie truly glorious.

Major characters in Inception

    3) The Prestige- Two inseparable friends and fellow magicians become hostile enemies after a unforeseen tragedy. As they dedicate themselves to this rivalry and undermining each other and proving to be the better one, they make sacrifices that bring them fame but with terrible consequences. This movie shows marvellous actors like Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Scarlett Johansson, who do justice to their acquired roles. This is also a Christopher Nolan classic and he does justice to this movie just like his other masterpieces.

The wonderful actors in The Prestige

    4)  Shutter Island- this movie shows a detective and his accomplice travel to an island sustaining a mental asylum in order to unravel their unethical practices. He goes on to decipher the several mysteries lodged in the enigmatic island. And as he does so, the movie shows to parallel and contradicting perspectives which drives the viewer insane to understand which is true and which isn’t. In the end, one is certain to be mind-blown as all of it turns out to be a pre-planned deception, again bringing out the question of what is reality, in fact. Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo are among the insanely talented actors in this film. This movie will make one venerate Martin Scorscese, and compel them to believe that he is surely a genius!

Leonardo DiCaprio and a glimpse of the Shutter Island

     5)  Gone girl- Based upon the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn, this is one of the most acclaimed thrillers of 21^st century. A story seen through the eyes of unreliable characters makes the viewer wonder what the truth is in fact and who is lying and who isn’t. Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne and Rosamund Pike as his wife Anne Dunne, are the lead characters who give the viewer alternate perspectives. Nick discerns that the entire media focus has shifted on him when his wife Amy Dunne disappears on the day of their fifth wedding anniversary. He’s in a pickle and unable to contemplate the situation. This movie is sure to give one the creeps. Also, Neil Patrick Harris has a cameo in the film, which is an add-on, making the film all the more appealing.

Ben Affleck in Gone Girl

So if boredom strikes or you’re merely intrigued, go in and watch any of these mind-blowing films with a tub of popcorn and brace yourselves for a lot of goosebumps and your mind questioning reality!

Can education be considered as an instrument of social change?

The role of education as an agent or instrument of social change and social development is widely recognized today. Social change may take place – when humans need change, when the existing social system or network of social institutions fails to meet the existing human needs and when new materials suggest better ways of meeting human needs.

According to Maclver, social change takes place as a response to many types of changes that take place in the social and nonsocial environment. Education can initiate social changes by bringing about a change in outlook and attitude of man. It can bring about a change in the pattern of social relationships and thereby it may cause social changes.

Earlier educational institutions and teachers used to show a specific way of life to the students and education was more a means of social control than an instrument of social change. Modern educational institutions do not place much emphasis upon transmitting a way of life to the students. The traditional education was meant for an unchanging static society not marked by any change. But today education aims at imparting knowledge. Education was associated with religion.

It has become secular today. It is an independent institution now. Education has been chiefly instrumental in preparing the way for the development of science and technology. Education has brought about phenomenal changes in every aspect of men’s life. Francis J.Brown remarks that education is a process which brings about changes in the behavior of society. It is a process which enables every individual to effectively participate in the activities of society and to make positive contribution to the progress of society.

Education has become one of the influential instruments of social change in India. It has led to the mobilization of people’s aspirations for development and change. Thus in modern complex national societies, education can neither be regarded as a controlling neither force conserving cultural heritage, nor could it be viewed as an agent of social change. It can only be regarded as a cooperative force in bringing about social changes decided by the forces possessing more pervasive power in society.

Education has been accepted as one major agency of socialization, and teachers and educational institutions as socializing agents. In describing education as an instrument of social change, three things are important: the agents of change, the content of change, and the social background of those who are sought to be changed, i.e. students. Educational institutions under the control of different cultural groups reflect the values of those groups which support and control education. In this situation, teachers Impart specific values, aspirations and to the children. Social reformers, who were educated emphasized values like removal of caste restrictions, equality of women, doing away with social evil social customs and practices, voice in the governance of the country, establishing democratic institutions and so on. They, thus, wanted to teach liberal philosophy through education for changing society. In other words they regarded education as a flame or light of knowledge which dispelled the darkness of ignorance.

 The use of education for spreading the values of modernization came to be emphasized from the 1960s and 1970s onwards. Highly productive economies, distributive justice, people‟s participation in decision-making bodies, adoption of scientific technology in industry, agriculture and other occupations and professions were accepted as goals for modernizing the Indian society. And these goals were to be achieved through liberal education. Thus, modernization was not accepted as a philosophy or a movement based on rational values system but as a process that was to be confined only to economic field but was to be achieved in social, political, cultural and religious fields too. Education was sought to be utilized as channel for the spread of modernity.

 According to the sociological perspective, education does not arise in response of the individual needs of the individual, but it arises out of the needs of the society of which the individual is a member. The educational system of any society is related to its total social system. It is a sub system performing certain functions for the on-going social system. The goals and needs of the total social system get reflected in the functions it lays down for educational system and the form in which it structures it to fulfill those functions.

In a static society, the main function of the educational system is to transmit the cultural heritage to the new generations. But in a changing society, these keep on changing from generation to generation and the educational system in such a society must not only transmit the cultural heritage, but also aid in preparing the young for adjustment to any changes in them that may have occurred or are likely to occur in future. In contemporary societies, “The proportion of change that is either planned or issues from the secondary consequences of deliberate innovations is much higher than in former times.” This is more so in societies that has newly become independent and are in a developing stage. Consequently, in such modern complex societies, education is called upon to perform an additional function of becoming

Thus, the relationship between educational system and society is mutual; sometimes the society influences changes in educational system and at other times the educational system influences changes in the society.