had you never seen a mirror yet we’re
part of an education system which often
forgets to show us a mirror but expects
us to know what reflection is ladies and
gentlemen my name is Akshat Arora and
I’m someone who firmly believes in
making education better not only for
myself but for my fellow students as
well now let me ask you a question if I
were to ask you how many different ways
can you use an umbrella
what would you say maybe you’ll come up
with five ten maybe fifteen different
ways but someone who’s good at this can
come up with 200 and why can they do so
because they question the basic
fundamentals does an umbrella need to be
the way we know it or can it be
different can it be twenty metres tall
and be made out of steel or fried
chicken it’s about us questioning the
fundamentals in a longitudinal research
that was done with elementary school
children 1500 of such questions were
given to them and if they score above a
certain score they would be considered
divergent thinkers or someone who can
think and differently an approach a
solution through different ways rather
than just one these kids elementary
school children they did this test and
what percentage of them do you think
what divergent thinkers 50 60 98% of
them but because it was a longitudinal
research it continued and after five
years the same kids were tested again
with similar questions but this time
only a 50% and after five more years
when the test was happened again it was
a mere 30 percent what do you think
happened well according to Sir Ken
Robinson a famous education enthusiast
they got educated they were told that
there’s only one right answer which is
at the end of
the book when and where you can’t look
you see it’s like we’ve been put on an
assembly line we move from one
institution to another over the years we
as students are produced in batches I
will be batch of 2017 you might be batch
of 2018 or 19 every 60 minutes or 90
minutes a bell rings and we as a batch
are moved from one place to another and
it continues for eight times a day for
health sake we even have best before
date to ourselves best before sixty
years old and after that ah well we
don’t know but it’s this education
system really for the future is this us
thinking of the best or is this a cry
for us to think of the best you see we
have come to live in an era where a
degree is just a piece of paper biggest
organizations big corporations in the
world have stopped having a degree
requirement for you to in order to apply
for them people have started realizing
that your academic abilities don’t
really equal to your abilities and in
such an error there are people who still
wonder why a degree is important and why
someone’s true potential still goes
unnoticed now I do not say that a degree
is not important or education is not
important but all I’m trying to say is
that no longer in today’s era does it
guarantee success a practical approach
to learning is very important in today’s
world especially when half the theories
we learnt we memorized aren’t even valid
anymore we have come to live in an
economy that’s changing every five
minutes how can we rely on stuff that we
just read we need to get out in the real
world outside and experience things for
ourselves you’re a marketing student
great now go out and help a local
business help them get a bigger audience
and see how it feels to face these
real-life challenges see how it feels to
be in those shoes of a corporate leader
that you aspire to be and see what it is
that you still lack and what is it that
you need you
it’s very important to run after
excellence and success shall follow now
I talked about all of this but one more
thing that really plays an important
role in shaping us as an individual and
not just as a speck in the society is
the institution that we’re a part of it
is what we’re surrounded by that makes
us who we are that shapes our world and
this is where our institution plays a
very and monumental role
let me give you a personal example for
the last two years I’ve had the
opportunity to work with one of Japan’s
leading educational companies through
which I’ve been able to interact with
hundreds of Japanese kids from different
parts of Japan and when these kids come
to our camps they’re our friend they’re
shy and they don’t know how he will
react if they were to make a mistake and
it is at this crucial moment what it is
very important for us to tell them but
making a mistake is okay that is how
they will learn and that is how they
will open their wings and soar high in
the sky but you compare this to the
educational system here a part of where
a simple mistake a simple misquoting of
someone can lead you to ruining your
academic life is this really an academic
institution which is helping you grow as
a student or is it an institution which
is penalizing you and not letting you
understand from your mistakes learn from
your mistakes and go ahead with it you
see it’s a very basic concept of
organizational behavior if your
employees or your students feel safe
they will perform better they will do
better and they will get out of that
comfort zone to expand their boundaries
always remember a current education
system treats every student the same
irrespective of their condition just
imagine how big a disaster that would be
if a doctor did the same so ladies and
gentlemen if you were to ever feel
worthless because of our current
educational system
don’t chances are you just unappreciated
so go ahead outshine yourselves think
for the best and don’t be afraid of making mistakes on a test thank you