Education: A Sad State of Affairs

In an idealistic world, (for me) education refers to an enriching of the mind and an increase in knowledge about ourselves and the world in general. It should help us to understand ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses, and provide us with the means to improve ourselves. The role of a teacher should not be as a guide, a mere spoon-feeder who shovels information and facts into students, rather, he or she should merely awaken a student's natural curiosity and act as a facilitator for the student. Let the student make his or her own way on the path of enlightenment. 

Unfortunately, the situation in schools today do not really mirror the ideals stated above. Amongst the observations I have made include:

1)  Students don't have much respect for the teacher. Ranging from not being attentive to sleeping to outright full-on gossip sessions, students today engage in a wide variety of activities, none of which involves listening to what the teacher has to say. 

2) Students are staying at home ( playing truant). To Study. Yup you read that correctly. It's certainly telling to see students forced to staying at home to do something they should be doing in school. And this isn't an isolated phenomena. At my school(which, in all modesty is one of the best schools in the state) almost all the top students do this at one time or another. 

3) Teachers don't care about their students. They don't really give two hoots about their students personal growth in general, of course there are a few good ones, who are genuinely concerned with their charges' welfare, but these individuals are few and far between. I sense that all they care for are student quota being filled and academic glory for the school.

Well just my two cents worth on this topic, what's YOUR view? Feel free to drop a comment sometime, it's much appreciated. :)