WE’VE often heard human beings are creatures of habit and many of us have become habitual complainers. Each working day seems to be a burden, each conversation drags us into the alleyways of despair. Habits also tend to mushroom fast and furiously through society until they become traps. Few can resist the growing tide of habits. Studying can be inculcated as a healthy habit in children; yet, we often see students resisting it, perhaps because it is presented as a chore.
A departure from habits, which become a comfort zone for many, would need some conscious forays into planning, reading, implementation. This brings us back to the question: what is our education system really teaching our children? A school leader sighed helplessly during a conversation: “Let’s face it, our children don’t read and they won’t.” Why do we give up so quickly? And how exactly will our children develop a growth mindset, ideals, dreams and perspectives without reading? How will they sustain professional careers without consciously reading to develop skills, learn and implement goals?
We often talk about 21st-century skills but choose to fester in our last century mindsets. There isn’t much change in our classic brick-and-mortar schools in the........