Practical Lessons Are More Effective

By Murli Chari

The lessons we learn practically in life are far more effective than what we learn in schools and colleges.

In the formal education system, the main purpose of education is confined to passing the exams. The syllabi are so voluminous that the students are compelled to resort to cramming.

There is little scope for thoroughly learning life skills. On the other hand, life throws many challenges teaching us many important lessons which we remember for a lifetime.

No doubt, formal schools do teach all of us the 3 R's Reading, Rating, and Rithmatic which go into laying the foundation for self-learning.

Many people like Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Dhirubhai Ambani and legions of others have done remarkable feats though they did not shine in the formal education system.

The real-life lessons are like we give the exams and learn the lessons, unlike formal education where lessons are taught and we are expected to pass the exams.

Our education system is very much skewed as the emphasis is more on acquiring degrees rather than enhancing our knowledge, understanding and maturity.

We have so many educated derelicts that getting a degree does not necessarily mean that you are knowledgeable. Life gives us lessons the hard way and there are no rehearsals. The consequence of not learning through hard knocks is that we keep committing the same blunders.

There are many instances where despite no formal education people have excelled. Newton learnt about the law of gravity through observation. He had the experience of an apple falling from a tree. Then he probed why the apple fell and he postulated the law of gravity.

Greek mathematician Archimedes discovered specific gravity and relative density while bathing in a tub.

Wright brothers saw the birds flying and invented the first aeroplane. Even before formal education started people have invented and discovered many scientific truths benefitting millions of people.

There are so many wonders sprawling across the globe of people who have built magnificent

mansions, temples, churches, mosques, the Eiffel tower and a litany of other things without much assistance from formal education.

The animal kingdom is so replete with a repertoire of knowledge learnt through a great evolution. Siberian cranes migrate thousands of miles without GPS evincing that inherent and instinctive knowledge.

Life is a panorama of sources of knowledge. We can learn so many things beyond formal education. Learning from life is very romantic, exuberant, euphoric and enchanting.

We would do well to blend both forms of education to our advantage. We cannot despite limitations ignore formal education as it does give us some raison d’etre (basis) to explore learning lessons from real life.

What we learn from formal education is just the tip of the iceberg as the major part of the education comes from real-life lessons. In real life, so much is at stake that we have to be firmly grounded in the now as it may be a matter of life and death.

There is intense focus and emotion involved that the lessons permeate our being. Even small babies learn phenomenally even before attending a formal school.

The mother giraffe as soon as the baby is born kicks the young one to give first lessons for fending oneself in the hard life of the jungle where shrewd predators are lurking around to make them a meal.

No one teaches animals to swim but life teaches them either through instinct or survival strategy. Dogs, elephants, snakes and many myriads of species are known to have phenomenal memory learnt through life lessons.

In conclusion, we can aware that life lessons have a far more far-reaching impact than ignoring them would be hara-kiri.

There are a plethora of sources in real life for heuristic learning that formal education would look like minnows. There is a need to bridge the widening chasm between formal education and real-life needs.

No doubt, life lessons take an unusually long time and are frustrating. That is the reason we have to make formal education more vibrant and life effective.

We find so many graduates experiencing themselves as fish out of water in the employment sphere. Formal education has miserably failed to bring out the best in students.