(Javier Matheu, Unsplash)
This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Nayab Zahib, a third year student of Sialkot Medical College, Sialkot Pakistan. She is affiliated to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.
The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.
T.H. White.
Learning and teaching are two of the human behaviors exhibited by different people under different conditions that have a deep history together, yet are far apart in the modern era. The gap dangerously keeps on increasing, to which the pandemic situation has added fuel to fire. Teaching has been the profession of the Prophets and goes way back into the pages of history. The revolution in teaching methodologies since then, has led to changes in ratio of students,wishing to imbibe knowledge solely based on affordability. Teaching, on the other hand has dropped its standard as the field of education turns more into a business and colleges into graduates producing factories.The desire to learn more and the increasing number of students to decreasing number of teachers has revolutionized the whole educational system.
According to the World Report, the ideal ratio is 16 students per faculty member which is nothing close to the educational setup of today’s world. There are several ways to cope with this situation in an objective manner to reach the minimal threshold if not the exact number.
One way to approach the problem logically is to increase the teaching faculty in educational sectors. This shall not only make treasures of knowledge within reach but also provide different views on a single subject. The gap shall limit down and bring the learner and the learnt closer, make chances to know each other and work on their weaknesses collectively.
Another approach revolves around ‘co-teaching’ i.e. more than one teacher involved in teaching the same group of children. This covers all aspects of reducing STR, educators collaborating, focusing on teaching only and not on other forms of collaboration.Lastly, the importance of other fields of education other than mainstream fields should be laid emphasis on so the students are motivated enough to get into different fields of education thus, reaching the optimal level of the STR.
As quoted by someone, “Teaching is the profession that creates all other professions”, let’s play our individual roles in the improvement of the whole infrastructure because little drops of water make an ocean when they come together.
About the author
The writer is a third year student of Sialkot Medical College, Sialkot Pakistan. She is
currently the VpA of IFMSA SMC LC.
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