Recently I read a interview of Sam Pitroda. In that he remarked
Who decided that it should take four years to get a degree? Somebody decided 200 years back and we are continuing it.
That kindled me to think about the relevance of education. Incidentally on the same day one of my colleague mentioned that
In a hunter-gatherer society, a kid learns to survive in 7-8 years. But in our society we impart ~25 years of education to our kids, still not all of them are able to survive without assistance. What do we achieve by that education?
Robert Winston, when discussing about human brain size, survival and evolution says
Within just 24 hours a new born chimp is able to crawl…after two days, it is strong enough to hang onto its mother… We humans are born prematurely. … Compared with our humble cousins at birth, we are practically embryonic! … Between infancy and adulthood, the human brain is going to increase in size around fourfold.
…Because our bigger brains needs time and experiences to develop in those first few years of life, one of evolution’s solutions is to mould our emotions and understanding of life through play, so that we are as well prepared as possible for survival in the complex adult world.
In this context, why do we have to go through the formal education? Does 14 years of school education mold us to survive better? Given the way we are born, we definitely need education. How do we effectively impart that education?
Reflections 