We had a story by Rabindranath Tagore in our 9th standard Hindi textbook -The Pa

rrot's Training.
There's a parrot, who sings but who can't recite the scriptures. Meaning to
say, he's uneducated. The king is very concerned about the parrot's learning and
does everything in his power to educate him. His training commences. Goldsmiths
are paid a fortune to build a golden cage for him, pundits are paid to teach hi
m, scribes are paid to produce copies after copies of textbooks for him to be ta
ught. As the training goes on, almost everyone in the kingdom benefits from it i
n some way or the other. That is, everyone except the parrot.
He is fed leaves from the books until its throat is choked. His life is limi
ted to the confines of the cage. Golden it may be, but a prison nonetheless. The
parrot which used to sing songs can now barely whisper. Being true to his bird
nature, he is desperate for freedom and keeps trying, feebly as he can, to get o
ut of the cage. This doesn't go well with the authorities, who decide to clip hi
s wings. He suffers, but the training goes on. In the end, the parrot dies. They
announce that the parrot's education is complete.
There is something ironic about the lessons you learn in school, or in some case
s, are made to learn by the threat of a cane. For you never fully understand the
m until another teacher teaches you again. Life. A teacher who, as opposed to th
e ones at school, tests you first and then gives you the lesson. But unlike the
lessons you learn in school and forget the moment you give the exam, the lessons
life teaches, they stay with you. For better or for worse.
Read on further to find out how our Education System Killing Creativity
In most countries, we don't have any educational system. We just have an examina
tion system. Students are not taught to study or understand the concepts, but th
ey are taught only one thing-'How to get maximum marks'. It is all about memory
power. The one who can remember and recollect the exact wordings of the textbook
gets the most marks. Thus, students starts to memorize things rather than under
standing the concepts. I have seen some of my friends, who just memorize the ans
wers of the questions which are more likely to come in the exam. The awkward par
t is when I see students memorize computer programs(I study computer engineering
.). This memorizing process usually start 24hours before the exam and once the e
xam is finished, all that is studied is forgotten.
This not only kills creativity, but also depletes many other qualities such as
'thinking out of the box',
'ability to do things other than what is told by superiors'
'skill to do the work'(Our education system only teaches useless outdated th
eories instead of practical knowledge)
Education comes from the Greek word "EDUCARE", which means "bringing out, not du
mping in". Bringing out the genius in the child and not dumping information to b
e stored.
The thing is that:
- Parents want to see is good marks.
- Teachers want to get is good salaries.
- Institutions want to make is good money.
- Companies want to make is maximum profit.
- Society wants to do is to restrict you(and then judge you).
- Politicians want to do is to get maximum votes.
- All of us do is accept the 'Let it be' attitude.
Who cares to give you total freedom to experiment and learn?Who cares about mora

l values? Who is passionate about teaching? Who cares to update the syllabus? Wh
o cares to provide facilities for research? Who cares to create optimized teachi
ng methodologies? Who cares to let you become independent in your thought? Who c
ares to use his brain to change the system...Nobody!
I believe that our educational system should evolve according to the time and sh
ould teach useful skills. Some skills such as cooking, basic farming, safety pre
cautions , banking , survival skills, first aid, basic repairing skills etc shou
ld be taught in schools. Also creativity and art should be encouraged.
Teachers teach for exams and students study for exams. That's why there is a hue
n cry when there is even a slight change in the pattern. Many students have a t
ough time with open ended questions, open book assessments etc.
The education system is driving conformity, which is against creativity.