What if Newton was made to vow never to sit under an apple tree? What if Kishore Kumar was forced to be an engineer and Rahul Dev Burman, a doctor? What if Bill Gates was forced to attend school and do what he was asked to?

It’s not an uncommon sight to see children tug at teacher’s dupattas and sleeves to get their attention, to talk to them, to share their thoughts and ideas about things that matter to them. In response the teacher takes so long to reply that the child stops asking and gives up or they are quietly ignored, like to-do lists that are tucked away under the pillow and forgotten; the kids quietly screaming, “listen to me!”

It’s not an uncommon sight to see teachers give answers to children rather than solicit answers, telling children rather than seeking questions, encouraging their inquisitive minds to think, to speak their minds and form an opinion. Teachers are so busy “telling things” to the kids that they have forgotten how to “listen enough”. Like Lorris Malaguzzi aptly puts it in her poem, “The Hundred Languages of Children”. Here’s an excerpt:

“…The child has

a hundred languages

(and a hundred hundred hundred more)

but they steal ninety-nine.

The school and the culture

separate the head from the body.

They tell the child:

to think without hands

to do without head

to listen and not to speak

to understand without joy

…to discover the world already there…”

For instance, a teacher held out a farm animal book to a two year old. On one page was a picture of a big yellow chicken (a coloured sketch). However, it was so big that the child said that it’s a ‘Rooster.’ But the teacher insisted that the child must call it a ‘Chicken’ just because it was labeled so in the book. During the same session, one page had a hedgehog and a porcupine. But the teacher passed them saying that they were very “difficult animals” to learn. The same teacher was shocked when the child could tell a Beluga Whale from a Killer whale in a water animals book.

Yes, it is not uncommon for schools to underestimate a child’s ability to think, have an opinion, and be counted. We have all been through an education system that thinks for us, is far from creative, and stinks of bureaucracy. Almost like adhering to a religion and only doing what it prescribes. Most abide by the system and try to stay afloat. Others play the rebel and try to fight the system. More like banging one’s head against a wall. Very few manage to strike a balance between the system and a world where they can be themselves, focus on their strengths and live up to their potential – make a career and a life out of something they love to do.

These children are, perhaps, those who find immense encouragement and support from their parents. Whose families believe in their potential; who, from a very early age have put in effort to understand them and help them overcome the many shortcomings of the system that largely focuses on examinations – on marks and grades and ranks and percentile. Whose parents teach them that it’s OK to fail or worse, not stand first in class. That it’s OK to be different provided you are grounded and rooted to your values.

And parents are indeed becoming more and more involved with the running of schools – teaching methods, grading systems, school hygiene, teacher-child ratio, and so on. There are many online parenting forums where parents discuss schools, teachers, issues such as school buses, car-pooling, school meals, parent-teacher meetings, sports, extra-curricular activities.

We live in a world that’s extremely competitive so who can blame schools for being the way they are? Are they justified in spelling things out to the kids without wondering whether it’s right or wrong, whether it’s relevant or obsolete, or whether it makes any difference to the child? It’s entirely up to the parent to help children to believe in themselves, to help them question what’s right and what’s wrong. To lend an ear, to let them think.