Is the educational system in India catering to the overall development of a student or only to the scholastic development?

How important is it to bring about this balance in education? Explain.

Education system in India has since a long time been concentrating only on academic achievements and academic efficiency, thus ignoring overall development of a student, namely growth of personality, confidence, co-curricular abilities, etc. A child during his growth period requires proper and balanced mental, physical and psychological growth. They deeply affect how a child thinks, behaves and acts. Apart from health, the teaching and education should be such, that they inculcate good habits in him and make him a responsible citizen and a good human being. Academics are important, yes. But its not the only thing that forms a person. Being a good human being should be the primary aim in life for every person. Being an academician, a scholar but lacking kindness and humanity is a great shame. Also important are qualities like leadership, high confidence, honesty, team spirit, etc. which can be developed only through co-curricular activities. Values define a man. Education today needs to include morals and values. These values used to be introduced to the child through the family. Parents have become busy these days, working hard to earn for their family in order to give them a good life. School becomes a childs main life. He gets most of his knowledge from his teachers and peers. In such a situation, he needs moral guidance through education. Sports and exercise are equally important for healthy development. The fact that only studies are given importance is a major fault in the Indian education system. This basic idea is promoted not only by the educational institutions but also by the parents! It is

often seen that a child who is excellent at music or sports is pulled back from that field because his studies are being affected by that activity. Basic education is important, no doubt. But the child should have the right to choose whatever he wants to do in life, whether it be something related to the academic line or be completely non-academic. Parental pressure causes the child to supress his natural talent. But ever wondered why the parents would be so adamant that their child only choose an academic line like becoming a doctor, engineer, teacher, etc.? Its basically because these are the occupations treated with respect in the Indian society. Because of this societal opinion, parents are forced to worry about their childs future. Only a few students dare to go the unconventional way, who choose to follow their dreams not caring about the society, about the conventions, about the criticism. They may not be as rich and respected as the people in the conventional field but they definitely have the inner satisfaction of being able to choose their desired career and of making a mark for themselves, which is much better than being stuck in a 9 to 5 job and lead an unsuccessful and regretful life. Whats even more saddening is that majority of the talent in the children country remains unexplored and untapped. Parents shoo it off as a hobby and so do the children. This kills the idea and the chances of the childs talent being recognised. As compared to foreign education systems, India lags far behind in having a balanced and efficient education system. The foreign societies are open about newer and off-beat career choices. As a student reaches higher levels of education, he is forced to think only about his career and examinations. Examinations-that can make or ruin his life. Pressure again. Long study hours, lack of sleep and constant mental pressure plays havoc on their health. Careers important. Agreed. But at the expense of health, is it? Students study their heads off for the sake of securing seat in an esteemed college of their choice. Some have dreams of being there; some are there for fulfilling their parents dreams. Some others are simply forced into it because their sports or art talent wont fetch them any money in the futureor so is the Indian mentality! This thinking needs to be changed. Its the Indian educational system at fault because only academic success is given importance.