Is Our Modern Education System Destroying Creativity?
Written by: Kriti Anand
Modern education system is destroying creativity. Or is it? Creativity is as much raw talent as skill. It is a skill that can be honed, but without raw talent, it can be difficult to hone that skill. The truth we don’t like to face is that not everyone is creative. And for people who are, they will always be, regardless of the education system. We do not lose possible entrepreneurs to an education system that hinders creativity. We lose them to a lack of agency. The education system does not teach us rote learning, it teaches us to follow directions. Following directions is what helps us get through most fields in life. It is what maintains order and stability.
The majority of the workforce needs to be able to follow directions for the society to function. For a thousand people that study philosophy, there is one that becomes a philosopher and is remembered for ages. For a hundred thousand that work with science and technology, there’s one that becomes an inventor. Creativity is a resource that can be utilized, but it is it a resource that can be depended upon? Is it a value that can be measured? Would it not create chaos to encourage students to do what they will, and come up with their own answers? It is a hard fact, but not all of us can come up with the answers, right or wrong.
A systematized method of learning and evaluating helps as a screening tool: those who are that creative, rise above it and make a place for themselves. Our nation needs the rest. As a developing country, we need our workforce to build it, brick by brick. We as such cannot afford to indulge in arts and creative endeavours just yet. Let our modern education system integrate us into the society as workers for now, so our children can be free to produce literature which is not about half the population starving.
