The 3 idiots of the educational system

“I am beginning to be suspicious of all fancy and special education systems. It seems to me that they are built on the assumption that every child is some kind of idiot who has to be taught to think.” ~Anne Sullivan.

I was leading a Discover Your True Calling workshop at IIM, Indore last week. I had the afternoon off and decided to watch the highly acclaimed and blockbuster Bollywood film “3 Idiots”. I really enjoyed the movie, largely because it is a complete indictment of our education system. The message was surprisingly similar to the topic of my workshop.

The movie is about three students who don’t really fit in at the prestigious engineering college and are considered idiots by their professor. However, the movie clearly shows who the three real idiots are: the education system, the teachers, and the parents. Reflecting on the film on the flight back to Mumbai, I realized that any real change in education is only possible through the transformation of these three groups.

Idiot #1 – The Educational System:

Our current system is geared towards performance rather than mastery. The emphasis on exams forces students to learn by heart. They focus on getting high marks instead of investing the time and energy to understand the subject in depth. A system where true geniuses like Einstein and Ramanujan are considered bad students really needs to have its head examined. In the film, this is brilliantly highlighted by Aamir Khan as Rancho, the truly outstanding engineer who goes beyond the book to master it.

Idiot #2 – The Masters:

Our current system of pedagogy is led by teachers and follows a fixed curriculum. The average teacher assumes that there is a correct answer and that they know the answer. It is a rare teacher who has the ability to facilitate rather than teach, to nurture rather than preach, and to support students who stray from the beaten path in search of creative ways to learn. Boman Irani as Viru Sahastrabuddhe does an excellent job of portraying an opinionated, highly competitive, and overconfident college professor – the antithesis of an ideal teacher in every way.

Idiot #3 – Parents:

When India’s HRD Minister Kapil Sibal suggested eliminating grade 10 exams, parents were the first to oppose the proposal. Parents want their children to be at the top of their classes, get admitted to the best universities, and pursue traditional career options: engineering, medicine, management, and the like.

Parents rarely encourage their children to discover their true passions and seek mastery instead of mediocrity. The middle-class quereshi in the film, who want their son to be an engineer, and the poorer Rastogi, who see education as a way out of poverty, are typical of today’s Indian parents. They would probably be the toughest nut to crack.

The 21st century demands talented people who are masters in their chosen fields of work. It calls for collaboration between passionate people, from different disciplines, to address the truly challenging problems and opportunities that the world presents. The current assembly line approach to education falls far short. We are not equipping our children to succeed in their world. The film’s appeal is universal and obvious.

But what will it take for the three groups mentioned above, as well as the student community, to unite around a new educational order? Please share your perspectives. We need to work together to achieve transformation in this vital area of ​​our society.