Needed: A practical approach to theory

I am a person who loves to travel and trek. I did my first trek at the age of 14. I am the only child in my family and since both my parents work, I have had an independent childhood where failures and experiences have been my best teachers. From a young age, I was the naughtiest child in class. I was never really serious in academics, except for few subjects like Biology, Social Studies, and English.

In the 12th grade I decided to pursue Bachelors in Biotechnology. The transformation began in my first year of degree college when my teachers noticed my quest for reasoning and soon I was taking extra tutorials for Chemistry and Physics. During my first year itself, I began to work with an Ahmedabad-based company called Anala Outdoors where my job was to take students of classes 5,6,7,8 and 9 to different parts of India for Eco tours. I loved my work and the children loved me too as a teacher.

During the later years of my college, I was made the general secretary (Head of Student Council). I had 1,700 students under me and I overlooked 18 portfolios each having a team of eight other representatives and two teachers.

These portfolios ranged from dance, drama, social work, creative club, nature club, etc. My job was to overlook various activities for students and teachers during along with organising events like teacher’s day, annual day, etc.

Working with all these projects gave me exposure and experience. But somehow I began to think about our curriculum, and how it falls short to teach students life skills and other facets which go beyond books. The problem with books is that they don’t always give us the exposure to real-life job situations.

Real life experiences are actually resourceful and help us see the world differently. But sadly, once you reach the stage of post graduation, you’re expected to just study and leave all your other interests aside. This compulsive and ‘not so liberal’ attitude is still prevalent in our education system and eventually stunts the overall growth of an individual. 

As told to Ranjana Maria.

Partth Thakur is currently pursuing Masters in Biotechnology from St Xaviers College, Mumbai. He is the founder and chairperson of ‘The Wishing Factory,’ that works for the welfare of Thalassemia Major and Blood Cancer Patients.