Education & The Curse of Conformity

I went to a military boarding school for High school. It was the 5 most memorable years of my life. However, any of the social sciences and history education that i received there did nothing but tried to conform us to certain types of ideologies and beliefs. We were taught to believe in whatever we learned in classes without questioning it. I remember, in class, a classmate of mine once expressed his grievances with the Pakistan Army (He was a Baloch and had several cousins and siblings that went ‘missing’) and as a result, was bashed not only by the students but by the teacher as well. He was socially isolated for a good few weeks because all the classmates, fallen prey to the curse of conformity, took it as a personal attack for some reason because they had always been taught the only narrative of how glorious the Pak Army was.

Conformity versus individuality of students has been a huge debate among educationists, parents and child psychologists. The conception of the modern education system, initially, came with the aim of equipping students with the necessary skills to fill the jobs in an economy to make a country more productive. This form of education is most effective when there is a fixed set of rules for those that comprise it – it guarantees an entire batch of workers able to work efficiently on the assembly line. But, as society develops, so has the system of education, which aims to meet society’s needs.

In a world where societies are becoming increasingly meritocratic, education has become less about knowledge and more about students’ achievements and grades, compelling people to avert from “the road less taken”. As a result, education restricts one’s choices, and ends up developing multiple individuals who are good at abiding by rules but lack personal voices, interests and critical thinking skills.

What are your views on our education system? Do you guys think it encourages conformity? If yes, what do you think of it? Is conformity in education a blessing or a curse? Let me know down below in the comments.