By Muhammad Omar Iftikhar

Some children of our society, unfortunately, are compelled to study at tuition centers after returning from school. This signals the incompetency of the schools to complete the course work or to make the students understand the syllabus. The growth of individuals results when he/she is given time to explore their world and experience it on their own. The daily routine of taking classes, rote learning, taking tuition, and passing examinations is a cycle that each student passes through.

Generations have gone through this cycle and more will do the same. Growth at the intellectual level comes when students are allowed to learn on their own, a concept that is known as experiential learning and is pursued in business schools. Schools and colleges should ask students to study textbooks but the teachers should use visual aids to explore more about the given subject.

Teachers can take children on field trips to parks to explore more about the anatomy of the plant, a subject included in science in primary classes. Students of class nine and matric can be taken to laboratories where they can explore more about the concepts of chemistry and physics. The textbooks do present content as a means of disseminating information. Real learning will come when students become a part of the process as observers. The educational system must be revamped to produce a generation of thinkers and curious youth who want to know more about the subject and are not compelled to rote learn. The objective of passing examinations has been shunning the concept of learning. Schools and colleges should be the hubs where knowledge is spread and children are inspired to learn beyond textbooks. Only then will we create the next generation of curious minds. Otherwise, rote learning will give them a degree but without any value.