Written by Ankita Ganguly and Srinwanti Sen
Edited by Advik Sunanda Mohan
Illustration by Ananya Prabhakar
The New Education Policy has been a point of contention over the last few years. This policy aims to transform the Indian Education System into a more flexible, holistic, multidisciplinary method of education. The NEP, which is designed to ease the burden of classroom teaching and examination on students, will play an important role in creating the future of the country. The NEP brings in various changes to the education policy of the nation. It enables children to be more creative, and learn concepts in a fun way and explore their potential.
Movies often tend to be a reflection of society, and take untold stories from around us to give them a voice. There have been various kinds of films talking about the Indian education system. These movies act as a commentary on the current educational system. Some Bollywood movies, over the years, have really stood out for showing a different outlook on our education system and have brought forward that side of our education system,which many tend to overlook and which was not brought up often before NEP was introduced. These Bollywood movies have really challenged the traditional education system that has existed in India for years and has brought to light the various flaws and loopholes that exist in our system.
We have the amazing award-winning film ‘Taare Zameen Par’ which spread the message that every child is unique and learns in their own individual ways, and that there is no reason for anyone to judge a child based on their educational achievement. The movie also spread awareness about dyslexia and how this learning disability can affect someone adversely and make children feel like a misfit in this society and education system.
Then we have the movie ‘3 Idiots’ which mainly focused on the profession of engineering, but yet managed to question one of the biggest stereotypes related to the education system that students face even today. It stressed upon the fact that many students are forced by their families to take up professions which don’t interest them and how it ends up ruining their lives. Children are not given the freedom to be creative, express their own opinions and make their own choices. They are instead conditioned since school days to follow whatever is written in the textbooks and never question anything. The message of this film is to strive, follow one's passion, and continue pursuing your dreams over success. It discusses how, at the end of the day, doing what you love will lead to success and how it is okay to question concepts taught in class instead of following them blindly.
Another remarkable movie is Nil Battey Sannata. We often tend to take our education for granted. We often tend to crib and complain about how we have assignments and exams. A lot of us have skipped/bunked classes just because we didn’t want to go to school. This movie makes us realize the importance of education in our lives and how lucky and privileged we are in real life. Education is not restricted to a certain age or class itself. The movie shows the main character, Chanda, a dropout and single mother, enrolling in the same class as her daughter. This film emphasizes the significance of dreams and how learning can change people's lives regardless of their social status. Furthermore, it depicts the Indian education system as it is, without sugar coating, and exemplifies how a parent's constraints should not prevent a child from attaining anything.
There are many more movies such as Hichki, Pathshala, Chal Chalein, etc. which show that education is a fun, holistic and creative process and does not always have to be the same mundane routine where students ‘memorize the syllabus like parrots and vomit it out on their exam answer sheets’. All these movies focus on individualism and help students to express themselves without any barriers or judgements.
These movies also emphasize on the importance of having inspiring role models who introduce the students to the interesting aspects of life, make them look at things from different, unique perspectives and help them to develop and nurture as a good human being. They do not make the children feel like a burden/misfit for having different opinions and ideas. Instead, teachers should guide them to make their own decisions, solve their own problems, recognize their potential and think ‘out of the box’ and execute their ideas. It is okay to be different, and all of us embrace that.
“Har bachche ki apni khoobi hoti hai, apni kaabiliyat hoti hai, apni chahat hoti hai.”
Taare Zameen Par
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