Some people say that in all levels of education, from primary schools to universities, too much time is spent on learning facts and not enough on learning practical skills.
Do you agree or disagree?
Undeniably, practical know-how is the need of the hour in this technological era. Some argue that right from the early days of schooling till graduation, maximum efforts are being made in grasping theoretical knowledge. However, others believe that the education system is paying more attention to honing practical skills. I completely agree with the latter opinion. My viewpoint will be further reinforced by some concrete explanations coupled with relevant examples.
To commence with, nowadays, the hiring companies are looking for tailor-made students who already have some hands-on experience with recent technology or related tools. In this way, their expense for training the freshers is reduced many-fold. Therefore, teachers in schools as well as the professors in different universities have shifted their focus from inculcating facts to actually performing the experiments in their laboratories. For instance, almost all food technology institutes have incorporated practical classes related to their courses such as Bakery science.
Furthermore, until and unless, one does not put his/her theoretical knowledge into practice, he/she will never get that confidence in professional life. It is due to this fact, medical colleges invariably include the actual operation of the patients as a part of their curriculum. Nevertheless, it is not a new practice. Since ancient times, the students of Ayurveda were taught how to prepare herbal solutions and apply these in real-life situations.
On the contrary, few people think that most of the time and efforts are being devoted to filling the minds of students with a lot of information and the practical aspects of learning is given the least importance. The principal reason they attribute is the lack of sufficient infrastructure facilities.
To summarise, I would like to state that, right from the ancient period till today, there is a right balance between teaching theory as well as practical subjects, from the tender age of any student till he/she becomes mature.
