The Art of Learning

The other day, we were going for an evening walk. Should be around 6.30 and there was a mild drizzle around.

There were five or six children in their school uniform walking along with the customary heavy school bags – regular backpacks, they were. The children were of the age group of 5 to 8.

In casual conversation, we found that they were coming back from tuitions. The youngest of them was in senior kindergarten, a sweet little girl.

I was wondering what important lessons they are learning especially that Senior KG girl in a tuition class other than what she is already learning in her school?

They are children from the villages in the hilly areas around and many of them walk 4-5 kilometers to the school. After coming back home, they will have to do their homework and then walk to the tuition teachers’ house and back. In all probability the tuition teacher would have given his/her bit of homework too.

It took me back to my schooling years. We were never encouraged to go for extra tuitions. Generally we learned things in school and that was that. In fact, you were considered an idiot if you had to take extra tuitions. When I was in 8^th, 9^th and 10^th, I had to walk about 5 kilometers to school (and 5 kilometers back). We did not have much homework and our basic routine was, go straight to the village library which was on the way. We would play volleyball, (some of us used to play carroms or chess too) and after that head straight to the temple pond to have about an hour’s swim. The pond during those days was really big (the perimeter was about half a kilometer). By the time we reached home we would be famished and all ready for dinner and then sleep. Our study time was basically in the mornings as the school time was from 10 in the morning to 4.30 in the evening with about an hour lunch break.

Sometimes in the school itself we had practice for the badminton team or rehearsals for the drama for the annual day. Those days, the library is skipped and we head straight for swimming.

I do not remember any student in our class attending extra tuition throughout my school days. 

I look at today’s children in awe – I wonder if I would ever be able to cope with the routines of these children. Even to carry those school bags around looks like 50% of carrying the burden of education.