Should Co-Curricular activities have the same emphasis as academics?

“The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action” – Herbert Spencer

Rishi is a stupendous artist who wants to sketch out every small creation of the world in his doodler. Tanya loves to dance off her worries and channelize her energy into steps of creativity. Shravya finds bliss in the pages that have the yellow tint of stories and whose ink smells of nostalgia. And then there are hundreds of other souls who are driven by a passion to achieve purpose in their lives. But the question that walks beside them and seeks an answer continues- Is that enough?

Sports, dance, music, reading, poetry, baking, writing, theatre and many other extra co-curricular activities have assumed greater importance with time and have tried to acquire a significant position in the curriculum along with academics. But there is still a scope to balance the two domains to ensure a holistic learning of any individual. On one hand, academic forms a foundation of rationality and logical learning, extracurricular help in developing the skills and attitude. It is a blend of these qualities that shape an overall personality of every human and continues to evolve with situations and time. The only critical thing to be considered is- which out of the two deserves a higher place in terms of importance.

If extracurricular and academics were to be weighed, they would have balanced perfectly and that’s exactly how it should be. Some people believe that emphasis on extracurricular is taking away the chance for students to gain education. Little do they realise that education is not merely reading accounts of history or being mathematical geniuses, but it also involves learning teamwork, leadership, design thinking, critical evaluations, life lessons and creative problem solving, which can be achieved only through extra-curricular activities. These activities, in addition to giving a break from the academic routine, provide the students with a platform to learn skills by application. They give a pragmatic approach to the theoretical learning in classes, which would otherwise be rendered useless if the students have no idea as to where all knowledge must be applied.

Such activities aren’t only meant to compliment academics, but also provide alternate career choices for students to pursue their passion and hobbies and make a successful career out of it. Starting at an early age gives ample time to polish the skills and improve them to perfection. Giving freedom to the students to find their best mix of academics and extracurriculars would be the best way to optimise their utilities and making the most out of it.

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