Babysitting has it's joys. I've been around my 5 and 7 year old niece and nephew lately. It's interesting to see how children learn how to socially interact and associate cultural inferences to what they learn in classrooms and from peers. The important topic of the 'kind of education' comes to mind when evaluating well-roundedness and social intelligence.
Being brought up in both India and the States has brought to my attention the significance of academic versus social intelligence. There is a thorough and distinct difference that exists in ways how children are exposed to new ideas and topics. Granted it is next to impossible to beat years of solid academic foundation, but it is also crucial to note that a well-rounded and multifaceted training technique has its perks and advantages than to just having a sound academic background.
Because the academic base in Western school systems is weak, there are plenty of third party services available to weaker students for help with basic schoolwork and comprehension (i.e. Kumon, Sylvan) . The American education system, however, does an excellent job in providing students the opportunity to excel at sports, music, school government, hobby and social clubs, etc. which in turn leads to creating more opportunities for pupils to grow socially and pursue passionate arenas for expertise.
The Indian school of thought is a little reverse in this aspect. No doubt that the Eastern culture focuses more on the mathematics and sciences, sometimes mixed with rote learning techniques, but in turn the overall populace is much more sound in solid academic principles. However, students lose out on social and passion driven activities that eventually lead to more rounded individuals overall.
With the reverse of the American case in play, third party institutions that provide such skills within the Indian education system are the pillars needed to fill this gap for young students. One such institution is Discover Life based in New Delhi. Working with private as well as public schools, they seek to provide the training and skill set that can be of great asset to youth in today's highly competitive and fast paced industries.
The answer to a perfect education is a complex one and requires restructuring and reprioritizing on several levels of the education sector, but perhaps the first step towards acheiving this ultimate goal is to address the weakest links of the system. A confident and goal-oriented group of young individuals have the power to focus their energy and interest given the right direction through an organized learning experience like Discover Life.
The extra effort that will be required to fulfill the program successfully will in turn be an asset to the participants involved and pave the path for a well prioritized and real world applicable education system in the future.
Having been lucky to experience both, I truly believe that these types of goal-driven and leadership programs are the answer to India's intelligent yet confused student base. Do you get it? A revolution is in motion.
About The Author:
Nidhi Sharma is an active part of team Discover Life.
She is an Electrical Engineer from Michigan, USA and has 3 years of combined corporate experience as Test Engineer for Underwriters Laboratories and a year as National Sales Director for a small company in Chicago. She has corporate experience with General Motors and she has been actively involved in community awareness and social programs within her community at schools and educational centers.
To know more about Discover Life visit : www.discoverlife.co.in
