IT was a hot and sunny weekday morning and on my way to office I saw a mother escorting her two kids towards their school. The mother was visibly struggling with two heavy school bags and managing two naughty children. The kids were hardly 4 to 5 years old, but compared to their age their school bags appeared too heavy. In this way, today's children are burdened with heavy pressure which to an extent hampers their mental and physical growth. Education for them has become a burden instead of joy and pleasure. Ideally children should find their learning experience an enjoyable exercise. They should have fun in what they are learning so that they can treasure the knowledge they earn. Sadly though, our present education system has turned out to be too burdensome for the young shoulders to carry. There are no playgrounds in most of the schools and the children get to do nothing during their leisure time. Moreover, creative side of the children is totally ignored as every day they have too many home works to complete in addition to lessons to be learnt at home. The concerned authorities have been repeatedly requested by scholars and think tanks to pay attention to this aspect of overburdening the children, but with little success so far. A pragmatic curriculum should be introduced so that children learn while they enjoy.
Mohammad Sohel Hara
Bonosree, Dhaka
sohelhara@hotmail.com