Are Indians Obsessed with Mugging Up?

Did you use to mug up when you were in school? Why are Indians so obsessed with Rote learning anyway? Some of the oldest educational institutions in the world like Nalanda and Takshila will be located in the Indian subcontinent. There debate and discussion between teachers and pupils were at the core of learning but by the time British traders invaded India in the 17th century these institutions had all but disappeared and native education was limited to school in the elite at Gurukul and Madrasa. Though access and these institutions were Limited teaching methods focus on practical knowledge. 

For a long time, the British chose to support native learning and money orientalist Scholars even encouraged the growth of indigenous and local Institutions and text. But in the 9th century under the influence of Anglicist officers English education was introduced in India in order to school the native Indians and the morally superior text and culture of the west and this is where Rote learning enters the picture. The importance was given to improving learning English education especially when the policy shifted towards Mass education and tape and learning meant now memorizing and copying text right which hardly enables actual understanding.

 By the mid 19th century this kind of English education and the ability to memorize and take information became the main Criterion for getting jobs in the Colonial administration. This was the first time that jobs in the Colonial government were made available to Indians the quickly became the ultimate marker of success and respectability, especially for the Indian middle class. Unfortunately, this emphasis on road learning remained strong in Indian education even post-independence.

 A study comparing board exams across the globe found that rote learning was the highest in India and Pakistan. Another study shows that less than 5% of Engineers educated in India have the analytical skills necessary for software engineering jobs. But if Rote learning doesn’t enable students to learn the right skills then why do we continue to emphasize it? India has one of the lowest teacher-student ratios in the world. When the teacher is made to teach classrooms of an average of 30 to 50 students Rote learning becomes easy feedback because it ensures children can pass the standardized test even if they don’t understand how to problem solve.

 We care little about what children actually learn and more about whether they are scoring more than the neighbors’ kids and this mindset they follow into adulthood as well and impacts how we view our self-worth and major success. It is not just about changing educational policy, it is about questioning and moving past the thinking with liquid human beings so birth and potential to how this will go on a superficial result.

Written By- Pranali Mahindrakar