Towards a learning-based education system

Let us take a look at a typical day for a private school-goer. They wake up at around seven, make themselves fresh, get dressed up, have their meal, and rush to their schools. In front of the schools, a common phenomenon is guardians waiting outside of the gate of the school. These dedicated guardians often wait to feed their children quickly, sometimes on the road, for another favourite spot of theirs- coaching centres.
Coaching classes for academic subjects are an old phenomenon in Bangladesh. Especially, in our country, the students from class five to university admission seekers are regular attendees of coaching centres. Many may argue that coaching centres nurture a culture of destroying students' creativity and enthusiasm. Although getting extra academic help is always helpful for students, its misuse may do more harm than good.
Thanks to the failure of most schools in Dhaka, coaching centres have become a massive business. The introduction of creative questions is one of the many reasons behind this. According to the Impact Assessment Survey Report on Secondary Education Sector Development Project (SESDP) released by the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) in 2018 under the Planning Ministry, 59.8 per cent of students think they require private tuition to understand creative questions properly. If such a curriculum is introduced that leaves both students and teachers equally perplexed, that should be telling. Possibly the format of creative questions requires some modification for the convenience of students.
Very few schools can efficiently teach the subjects in question. Due to a very limited time and a long list of subjects that often have no correlation with each other, it becomes a tall task for even the best teachers to explain the content of the subject in an efficient and effective manner. Hence, students resort to coaching centres where they are often exploited.
Since our education is so exam oriented, there is always a horse race going on among every student to obtain GPA 5, stand first in the class and so on. However, most parents forget that the main goal of education is to learn rather than stand first in exams. It is important to focus less on the outcome and more on the journey. The constant race of being at the top of the mountain forces many to stumble and fall. As a result, they cannot reach their full potential. Such detrimental peer pressure needs to be kept in check.
Some numbers from the Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) will reveal something shocking. At least 293 children died by suicide and 22 others made attempts in the last 11 months. The rise is significant from last year's 213 dead and 11 attempts. In 2017, the number of death was about half of this year's.
According to many specialists, one of the main reasons behind such terrifying numbers is the external pressure from parents upon students due to exam issues. The tragic scene from "3 Idiots" where Joy "quit" on everyone is not as exaggerated as viewers thought. Many parents force their children to study rigorously with the hope of a glorious future. However, they forget about the present. Most parents seldom think about their child's mental health. They forget to take them to see country roads because their children's exams are ahead. Many families cannot plan a single vacation in years because of a never-ending cycle of exams at school.
The education system must be based on learning instead of being exam-oriented. Mere bookish knowledge can also be attached to practical wisdom. Schools must recruit skilled teachers so that they can deliver the highest at the class only. The salary of teachers must be increased, and government recognition must be ensured as well. Nowadays, there is wide use of online education platforms. As India has Byju's, we also have numerous ed-tech platforms. The students can learn many things staying at home using the online sources, and can be benefitted.

The writer is a student at Barishal Cadet College.
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