The ‘Taare Zameen Par’ teacher surfaced in Aamir Khan when he met the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently. The brand ambassador of the Teach India initiative, Aamir had shared the dais with the high lady in an interactive session at St. Xavier’s College. On the occasion, Aamir aired his views on Indian teaching methods and problems faced by the children here in terms of studies.
He was of the opinion that in the country the report cards matter more than the actual reasoning power. “We should encourage those minds who are thirsty and hungry for knowledge. Children who believe in questioning, searching, disagreeing and not just memorising and cramming should be appreciated,” he stated.
He next spoke about the importance of teaching. Aamir brought out the issue of negligence shown towards the teaching profession. By giving priority to medical and engineering, the profession is left with less or no scope when it comes to choosing a career. He suggested, “Teaching should be a high paying job so that youngsters should aim at becoming teachers. I would like to see that one day in India, teaching is the most highly paid job. We should give so much value to teaching as a profession that every kid that comes out of school and college should feel that he or she wants to be a teacher.”
Lack of proper guidance and poor assumptions towards this profession makes students to neglect such a reputable career. Today, our educational system emphasises more on memorising rather than rational thinking, Aamir went on to add further.
Hillary Clinton was extremely impressed with the high vision of the actor and had completely agreed with him.