What is Education ?

Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and many other super achievers never finished grade school. They succeeded because they knew how to research, collect information for a selected project and process knowledge. Classroom environment does not work that way, it focuses on the collection of knowledge without a clear purpose, other than high-class grades. If the purpose does not motivate, other than to please the teacher, then there is nothing to process outside of memorizing answers for test. The typical student is academic challenged while being motivation starved. Lack of motivation is lack of knowledge processing skills. The typical college graduate will have a professional skill that supplies life’s basic needs, that’s all.

What is education? The answer is, all elements in the opening paragraph and more, relate to education and all should be considered. This would be ideal and sounds good, but "all" is not possible where performance must be measured. Only what can be measured will be selected and the measuring tool is the written test. Anyone who does not have the ability to put clear thoughts on paper is labeled a failure. All natural skills, including knowledge processing, does not count. The fact is, what is exercised grows stronger, what is ignored stays dormant. The classroom exercises the collection of academics, leaving all other natural skills in the closet.

Test does not measure intelligence or ability, it does not measure how the mind processes information, how motivating experiences develop persistence, or how the mind sorts out instincts, opinions, evaluations, possibilities, alternatives. Knowledge by itself has no value, it is like a dictionary filled with words. Words by themselves have no value, it is the process of stringing them together that gives them value. How they are strung together determines the level of value. Now our education system is becoming a system that memorizes the dictionary. When students have memorized selected knowledge, then they will be given a one-day test, based on dictionary knowledge, which will influence employment opportunity for the rest of their life. Natural skills are not considered. Is this how America became the worlds' economic leader? NO! Knowledge only has value when used with a process and process in an artificial environment is not predictable or measurable.

Achievers in life use inspiration and motivation to overcome barriers. Teaching to the test does not inspire or motivate anyone, memorizing does not inspire a love to learn, in fact, it does just the opposite, it turns off the desire to learn. Education’s goal should be to develop a love to learn that stays with students throughout a lifetime. Education should be a lifetime experience, not limited to the youth years.

Educators are switching to test because there is a crisis in education of their own making and society wants measurable results. This pressure is passed on to political leaders who base political decisions on what is measurable, which is academic test and test are based on acceptance of the status quo. Ever student must now accept the status quo and be an academic intellectual or be labeled a failure. Natural talent and knowledge processing skills does not count. Students receiving the failure label are growing in numbers and percent, all because the system measures selected knowledge on a one day standardized paper test.

Consider the parent who is having a problem with a word processor. On their own, they can’t solve the problem. They have been collecting knowledge for years, but their knowledge processor is in hibernation. With any new gadget, someone has to teach them, they can’t figure it out for themselves. Their thirteen-year-old boy comes to the rescue. He has limited knowledge, but he knows how to processes available information. He explores the word process problem until he finds a solution. He is not unusually smart, this is a teenager’s natural approach to finding solutions.

All young children have a natural talent for creative process of information. It’s during the teen years that natural creative processing is replaced with the status quo. The status quo memorizes knowledge and forgets how to process it. In the classroom, memorizing is what counts. Standardized test reinforces the status quo. It kills creative processing ability. Status quo attitudes will follow them into adult life where they will have to ask their children for help.

Today, the education has a new tool on the market. Behavior control drugs. Any student who refuses to accept the status quo is labeled a troublemaker and will be drugged. The student now behaves in the classroom with glassy eyes and school officials receive high performance ratings. The student may get passing grades and land a job with a comfortable wage, but that will be all. Teenage dreams of great ambitions are gone.

Fact: Self-made millionaires are not "A" students in the classroom. The way they process knowledge is in conflict with classroom priorities. The self-made millionaire has a vision, then he researches specific knowledge, applies intuitive knowledge and process all the elements, searching for a workable solution. Finding alternative ways to do common tasks makes millionaires. The secret is vision, research and processing, not pre stored knowledge.

The typical employer wants employees with dictionary knowledge, not visionaries. They want employees who follow orders, are willing to do repetitive tasks, be happy with a limited role, and accept the status quo. Repetitive tasks' is efficiency and this is where profits are made. Also, the status quo prevents the exposure of blunders by leaders. Too many blunders and profits disappear. In a status quo environment visionaries become bored quickly and soon receive the troublemaker label by offering alternatives or exposing blunders, sometimes leading to dismissal, yet, their ideas increase efficiency and create new sources of profits for the company. In the long haul, visionaries are the one’s who make above average wages no matter what their formal education level. The education system now has the tools to kill off this type of person, behavior control drugs! As these students move into the workforce, status quo and blunders will kill off the typical business.

Present Education System in Nepal

In 1951, the Kingdom of Nepal opened its doors for the first time to the outside world after centuries of isolation. With the passing of time, especially after 1990, schools both government and private have mushroomed tremendously. Nepal took perhaps its single most important step-establishing a democracy by creating a multiparty, constitutional monarchy. Although a trend in numerical growth had already started before the reinstatement of democracy, the sudden change in the increment of private schools is a recent phenomenon. Different colorful uniforms are spotted, call it a banana milk shake or a lemonade or a cocktail itself. It all gives the same impression. However, it forces Kathmanduites to forget the limited range of colors like green or purple and Jogi color dressed school girls. Schools sprouted in all nooks and corners force you to forget a few government-run or some private schools of the past which remind you of a typed education system. The current physical facilities available in the valley range from one storey building with little support system to enormous ones with very luxurious facilities all contributing to the same destination: Education.

Dating back to olden days, only a few schools contributed for girl’s education not to think of quality education. There was a time when education itself was not accessible to the general public. Against this backdrop, providing space to educate common girls is a revolutionary step. Very few names would come to your mind. Two would be mainly St. Mary’s Girls High School, missionary run school and state run Madan Smarak Girls High School. Both schools have contributed tremendously with an emphasis on girl’s education.

St. Mary’s Girls High School: Then: After the opening of St. Xaviers Boys High School, emphasis was laid on the opening of the Girls High School. So, St. Mary’s Girls High School started functioning in the year 1955 in the white Rana Durbar. Late Princess Shanti Shah, Princess Shoba Shah, Vijaya Thapa, Gwalior prince Madhav Rao Shindai’s wife were among the students of the few first batches. There were more of the students from the elite family like the Ranas and Shahs.

Meera Shrestha, remembers the school as a "big family" with a handful of students taught by German and American teachers. Mrs Naidu, an English teacher of St. Mary’s School was among the students of first batch to appear SLC. "The relationship between students and teachers was very different. We had respect and gratitude towards the teachers which is lacking now," states she.

Books emphasized on the quality of education and more of Indian and foreign text books were included. The higher emphasis was placed on English.Now: As of now, a representation of students from the remote area and marginalized groups is part of the education system. There are almost 40 students in one section consisting of four sections in every batch. However, the change in the representation of the girls in school has been mind-boggling – from higher class to the mass. D.K. Rai, a Nepali Teacher states," Even the courses of the Masters level are included in the class 9 syllabus which are difficult for the students."

Anjana Magar, an English teacher states her grievances, " Though students have contributed in various sectors immensely, the majority of the most promising students have left the country. I feel terrible for it."With the changing trend, a whole new set of problems have arisen, be it the unavailability of books or course content. In the year 2001, new course of studies emerged with applicable method of studies in a more creative manner. Extra- curricular activities range from one act play and exhibitions to sports. Other facilities include the Euro guard water facility, security guards, counselor, good transport facilities, scouts and Leadership Training Service (LTS).

The education system in Nepal is the same in the present as that of the past. I mean in the kinder garden, teacher teach us A for Apple, B for Banana, C for Cat and so on. If you ask the child he/she repeat the same thing that the teacher teach him/her. If we say A for Axe, Ant or something else, the child doesn’t agree with us. He/She only accept with the fact that A stands for Apple.

From my view point, our education system should teach us the child about the different items that A is stand for. Similarly, if A stands for Apple, not only the pictures in the book is sufficient, the child should see the product out of his/her book. The child should see, taste and provides him/her the chance to analysis it and query him/her experience.

I thought only these things can produce the Brilliant Nepalese in the World otherwise we will be always following something and cannot create our something ORIGINAL.