KARACHI:
Educational institutions play a crucial role in the mental growth and development of students by imparting the skills to think critically, rationally and logically. Educational institutions need to inculcate critical thinking and self-evaluation abilities in students from a young age so that they can perform better in society later.
To develop these abilities, schools should tailor curriculum and teachers should come up with supportive and counterarguments about any topic and let the students decide their stance on the subject matter themselves. If a teacher is explaining feminism to their students, they should not tell them whether our society needs it or not. Instead, the teacher should explain its merits and demerits and let the students ponder upon it.
Without critical thinking activities and debate, institutions produce nothing but robots that rely only upon the judgement of others and can be easily fed misinformation. It is at this stage from which the brain drain in a society kicks off. According to Bertrand Russel, “Men are to a larger extent the product of their institutions.” Our educational institutes produce individuals with little critical thinking abilities, which is why they fail to perform well in their professional lives and achieve little progress. This also harms the overall growth and development of society. Educational institutes should encourage critical and rational thinking abilities to promote a diversity of opinions as well as skills that can support the growth of a society.
Muhammad Saqib
Malakand
Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2022.
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