We have an education system. Everyone knows it's pretty old and hasn't actually been changed much at all. Its goal was to educate the people. It was setup a long time ago with the resources the government had to achieve this goal. But by analysing it today we can see it doesn't really do much to achieve this goal. Here's what the system wants you to do though:
- Memorise concepts and then explain on a test.
- Learn methods and then use in an examination.
But the point it that this is not actual learning.
Learning is not something we are taught. We are born with it from birth. As infants we have an urge to understand people, specifically our parents. So we say what they say to try to communicate with them. It is a necessity for us to learn to speak so we can express ourselves. In the same way we as humans also have an urge to learn things. There is always a spark of interest in us. With enough care this spark can turn into a fire and can help us to become better people.
Schools don't play a good role in inculcating this feeling. In most circumstances they only make us more disinterested. It is our teachers who have control over our minds to mold us and alter the state of this feeling. A good teacher is someone who is not only proficient in the subject they teach but also who understand the psyche of the students and help them to reach their potential. A good teacher creates intrigue in the mind and also quenches the students curiosity.
But this is not a part of a teacher's job ofcourse. They really only have 2 tasks:
- Finish teaching the study material
- Get kids good grades.
In the same way someone can be a very good student and an apathetic learner. He/She may have no interest in learning the subjects he/she may have been alloted. The student will only care about how much marks he acquires and not give a damn about anything else. And he would do well in the system. The problem with this is people who dont care about learning turn out to be useless. Because the only thing they cared about is marks. And marks are useless.
How can marks be useless?
Simply put, the only reason you get marks is to get into another institution in which you'll get marks. It is a system which perpetuates itself.
The only practical exit is a Job you acquire or get a placement in. Both of which do not care about your marks, Only your degree.
They do a test of your actual utility before they take you in, which doesn't depend on your marks.
The main point is you can make many strategies to gain marks. Some of them may not even be ethical; Some of them maybe not even actually help you in the end. But these strategies will definitely not help you in the future. Because the system changes. it can be for the better or for the worse but it does change. Your strategies will become useless in the future because just as policy decisions create structural unemployment, policy decisions can also lead to study material and strategies becoming worthless.
This is applicable to both the student and the teacher. A teacher who teaches for marks faces a threat of becoming irrelevant when a systemic change occurs. A simple example experienced by all is when there is a portion change. New books have to bought and all the old study material becomes worthless. A more distressing example would be coaching classes for government jobs. They are currently facing a threat because government is either not issuing recruitment notifications or are recruiting very few people. Similarly in order to level the playing field for students there is going to be standardized testing to get into aided degree courses. (which ofcourse makes board marks much less useful)
Hence it is much better to rather fulfill your curiosity and learn things you actually like. Getting marks can be seen as a thing you do at the side or better, as a byproduct of your learning.