Formal education can make you a living; self-education can make you a fortune.
I will kill myself if you’ll say that you haven’t heard of this quote (unless you are from Mars, that is). But tell me seriously, how many of you really stick to this? None, I know.
People are aware of this very well, it doesn’t even need any explanation, but still it is ignored. We still choose the career based on our studies. You would say “So? Everyone does that, that’s how it has been.” What? “It has been”? Please, at least a valid explanation?
Yes, each and every one does that – If I am good at science, I will be an engineer or a doctor. But why not a graphic designer? If I am good at accounting and business I will take commerce and be an accountant or something like that. But why not a programmer? And if I am good at arts, well everyone knows what parents say.
Here, people don’t want to take “risk”. Risk? Why? Afraid of failures that can make you strong? And yes, I would like to talk about this failure shit more. Right from when we go to our school, we are taught that we should get good grades, and not get failed in any subject. Fair enough. But this teaching goes far more beyond those teachers and parents think. Slowly and slowly, children become afraid of getting failed in whatever they do and those teachers too (that’s why they are teaching, duh!).
Schools are jails that have been glorified in the name of education. Seriously, you are taught to never break discipline, never ever do anything that is “in-disciplined”, never ever getting out of the math and science (read: junk) to think something more creative like dance or music. I agree dance and music have been included in many schools, but is it taught everyday like science or math? Think about it.
Those people who are making a fortune (read: billionaires) are not doing what they learnt in school. Seriously, do you know a scientist who is a billionaire and enjoys holidays at Bahamas? Or take an ordinary man, who goes at work in the morning and comes at night without anything to be proud of? Isn’t a bad lifestyle you would say, but you all will still do that!
Change is what is needed. Change in education as well as a drastic change in this crappy mindset of people.
Here as an awesome way of telling the same from my friend King Sidharth on his new blog – Education Killed 956 Entrepreneurs.
Please, and I mean PLEASE share your views via comments, I would love to read them!
Photo credits: For the Love of Money by Pacdog, on Flickr.
I agree to a part. Formal education alone does not make you a good entrepreneur. I guess you have got to get formal education and yet dare to do more and learn more. If you are aware that there is more to learning than just school; then you should be fine(I hope). Nice post though. Its true.
Thanks Kinshuk!
But I think you got me wrong. I am not saying that formal education should be closed. And yea, it is needed indeed. But the thing is it locks everyone in a small jail. Those nerds you have in your class right? They are the most dangerous creatures of that jail. They’re never gonna learn something from experience.
Anyways, thanks again!
I completely agree with you, Manav. Our education system is in utter shambles and needs immediate reformation.
Anyway, at the same time, let us not get too pessimistic and critical that we lose faith on our formal education. Education gives us direction and judgement. What would you be if you were never sent to school?
Now, that you know what to do and how to do, it’s because of your learning in school. We may hate the system, the kind of grading tests and stuff, though at the end, the most important thing is being learned and not educated!
No dude, you got me completely wrong. Yes, our education system is crap. But here, I am not only talking about India, but the rest of the world.
Education is good enough, but the thing is, we should not get into that jail. That jail, where there is no freedom of thought, creativity, out-of-the-box thinking. We need to make people aware of this.
Thanks for commenting dude!
pardon me for a long reply
…
I though would basically like to put my view upon education and its role.
well i wish you to put a little of your notice on my stake.
Firstly manav,i think by saying that “Change in education as well as a drastic change in this crappy mindset of people.” you are arguing about the validness the way education is delievered in india. I dont think that their is so much need for a change in education system though it lacks at some places i admit,but not as a whole.The thing that is supposed to be changed and is quite implied is Mindset of people.Let me elaborate it for you before you say what the heck!
For me education is a way to provide a person a way to rise through for what he wants to be,to help him guide thro what he pursues…to train him to devlop his skill and by far my knowledge indian education system is doing quite well in that prospect….and it is the role upto what education can play….just as a mother bird can let a baby bird learn flying by making it see how to fly….and to flutter its wings to fly high or to fly low is just upon the little bird (sry i cant find any betr analogy).So with education you can just make someone acquired with tools and skills he/she needs to be acquainted with,the other things is upto the person how he/she masters it. Thats why i feel sorry for your acquistion for education system being crap.
Now change in persons mindset is required which is so much phished with the daily pills of being enginner or doctor….
Let me start it with this…Why do you think people want a risk free life….cause their parents and society always teach them to be someone with a decent salary and risk free life so called Khsuhhaal zindagi…so whom to blame for it? blaming wont help but to blame that would be the so far so concerned parents of india…how? cause how many times hav u heard a kid parents tell him that son/daughter i want you to be what you want to,whats ur calling….rather we hear i want you to be an enginner/doctor….this is something thats needs to be changed….You said it so precisely that people have dread of failure which particularly is the reason for all this “crap” mindset, yes true but a diplomatic side of me also says that failure cant be glorified either.
Having said that what is the pin point solution for that??… a solution for this sort of orthodox and conservative way of living and learning?…..the only that i see is making the younger generation,the student aware of what it is like to take risks…what it is like to be apple co founder rather than being an accountant writing on apple’s letterhead.
You cannot expect a solution for altering this mindset of people if the young and the root is not enlightened to seeing things far beyond the scope of being enginner/doctor.And this point is something which i count as a only loophole in indian education system for it being not be able to introduce kids with the fact that how big the world is.
i hope it makes sense…
You made it so simple, Abhishek! Well, I strong stand by the side of what I said. The mentality and the education system in India are both crap. That’s the reality. But as you said, we need a solution, and we are working on it (by “we” I don’t mean the government. I mean me and my friends).
You said it so easily. I can’t agree with this more.
Now, who can change it is the question you asked. Well WE can change it. That’s why our and every other constitution in the world says – WE the PEOPLE…
Thanks so much for the valuable comment, Abhishek! I really appreciate it! Hope to see you around more often!