6 Subjects That We Wish Were Taught At School But Weren't

Earlier this month, the NCERT made some major changes to the syllabus. Topics such as the Mughal Court, the Industrial Revolution, the partition of the country, the reproduction of organisms, the solid state, surface chemistry, human development, human settlements, environmental issues, etc. have been removed. This has become a topic of debate among the teachers of secondary education because it impacts students preparing for competitive exams like NEET.

While the concern is always among the five main academic subjects, why aren’t we debating the need to include actual life-skill topics in the curriculum to prepare students for the real world?

The curriculum in our country has stuck to a traditional style with five major subjects. But how much of what we learn in those five academic subjects do we practically implementing in real life? Shouldn’t education empower us to survive in the real world instead of just bombarding us with information that we don't always apply in real-life scenarios?

While we did learn a lot of stuff in school, did it actually prepare us to face real-world challenges? We definitely can’t deny the fact that we have wished that we were taught certain basic and important life skills in school so that we didn’t have to navigate our way around them as adults. For instance, didn’t most of us fumble around to pay our taxes the first time? So, along with academics, shouldn't we equip the next generation for real-life situations as well?

Topics Schools Should Teach

Feminism 

The core of rebuilding the society and clearing its toxicity- feminism is not a subject in the current school curriculum. Children are taught about b for ball but not about b for biases (ref: Dolly Singh's talk on "Intelligent women". They are told to dress up in a certain way but not about the reason lurking behind the different dressing rules for boys and girls. If feminism is taught in schools, children will grow up with the base of equality. We won't have to worry about how future generations will turn out when they are living in an era where gender inequality and crimes are are biggest concerns. 

Finance

We study economics, but we aren’t prepared to manage our own finances or have basic knowledge of investment plans. We graduate, land our first job, and bam, our first salary gets credited into our account. We don’t exactly know how to handle the money wisely. Shouldn’t we be taught about that in school? Students need to be taught about handling personal finance, bank accounts, saving schemes, insurance, managing debts, taxes, investing plans, budgeting, etc. If you think about it, this knowledge is going to come in handy more than trigonometry ever does!

Family Structure

Given that the centre, even today, believes that a family structure consists of a father, mother, and children, it is no wonder that we grew up without acknowledging the various other types of families around us. Family dynamics are a vital concept that children need to be taught about to build a progressive and inclusive society for the next generation. A family consists of one or more adults who provide a safe and happy environment for a child to grow up in. Family structure just doesn’t end with nuclear and extended families. Homosexual families, single-parent families, blended families, adoptive families, foster families, etc. are also families. When are we going to see them in textbooks, though?

Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation

How many of us knew there were more categories for the LGBT community in school? I, for one, discovered that the queer community consisted of LGBTQIA+ only during my undergrad. Only when children are taught about the various gender identities and sexual orientations will they grow up into open-minded and accepting people. Otherwise, the internalised patriarchy is only going to raise yet another generation of regressive people. Teenagers need to be educated on this so that they don’t have to seek information from random sources that could mislead them.

Sex Education

This is a topic that’s been up for debate for a long time but hasn’t really been implemented in the curriculum. Sex education doesn’t stop with learning the names of reproductive organs and their functions. Safe and unsafe touch, gender and sexual inclusivity, safe sex, usage of contraceptives, sexually transmitted diseases, consent and boundaries, relationships, periods, pregnancy, postpartum, etc.—it’s a vast and vital topic that every child needs to know about! The sooner children are imparted sex education, the better.

Mental Health

Yes, the taboo topic! Why is it so hard for society to accept that our hearts can get sick and need treatment, but our brains cannot? A brain tumour is accepted as a health issue, but why is depression not? The more we don’t talk about it, the more people are going to suffer silently from mental health issues. We are barely four months into 2023, and there have already been four cases of student suicide at IIT Madras alone. Isn't it time people stopped losing their lives due to unattended mental health issues? Seeing a psychologist needs to be as normal as seeing a dermatologist or orthopedist. How long are we going to keep our therapy visits a hush-hush topic?