Formal education tends to restrain our minds and spirits rather than set them free.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and s

Albert Einstein once said that education is that which remains after we have forgotten what we learnt in school. Formal education is an indelible part of each of our childhoods. But when we take a closer look at where the learning really happened, we realize that not all of it came from the classroom. I strongly agree that formal education places constraints on human creativity, rather than bolster it. It teaches us to mold ourselves into a rigid system, prohibiting us from soaring at our own pace. I have two reasons to support my point of view.

Firstly, formal education pushes students into learning in accordance with strict schedules. A lot of rules and regulations restrict the method of learning and the content they learn. Children are like clay, ready to be moulded, and hence need to be handled with utmost care. Pushing such malleable minds through provincial methods does not cater to all their needs. These children, though plastic, might have inherent talent for a particular craft or a subject that needs to be tapped. For example, there is a child who is an excellent singer but is terrible at mathematics. If she is not allowed to take a career in music seriously and is instead forced to study and take the empirical route to graduation, she might never stop believing that she is good for nothing. The same can be expected if you make a fish climb a tree, for it will believe itself to be dumb. Formal education seizes up such a huge chunk of our time and resources that we do not allow ourselves to indulge in our talents and interests. The rigid nature of the education system demands so much of attention that we lose track of our other indulgences. Such talents are seldom given any respect by most educational institutions or parents, mostly because of fears about the child's career. However, if work efficiency and happiness are taken into account, interest and talent in the subject are what matter the most.

Secondly, formal education, in today's times, promotes an unhealthy competition between students. Taking into account the exponentially growing population of the world and the need to secure resources for all of them, competition is bound to become extremely rigorous. Such intense pressure on the students, from parents, institution and their own peers, to outshine one another can take a heavy toll on their physical and mental health. It can sever healthy friendships and bonds between the students. Studies show that children in many parts of the world exhibit suicidal behaviour when they fail in graduating examinations. Not only do such students resort to suicide, some of children also resort to immoral means such as copying, to graduate their exams. The competition abetted by formal education not only has an impact on the students' health, but also breaks apart their morals and values, as a need to succeed overshadows any other aspect of their lives. Such a loss in morals and values does not only bring forth a population that lacks ethics, it also paves way to the rise of technicians and officers who can only produce substandard work. Such subpar work is not going to benefit the country and its economy in any way, and is also going to pave way to unemployment.

On the other hand, formal education at the younger stage educates us to possess a basic level of knowledge that will help us navigate through the world. It lays a foundation for further education by helping us understand the ways of the world. However, as we grow up, its lack of flexibility leaves students with almost no platform to express their talents and interests. Formal education at the higher levels places all students within the same box, where one size does not fit all. Rather than give students liberty and uplift them to greater places, it cripples them into becoming someone they clearly are not and cannot be and thereby trapping them, mind and soul.