Education, but at the cost of childhood?

Image source- The Fluent Life

Being a daily Mumbai local train commuter, I see small kids travelling long distances in the early hours of the morning (5-6am) to go to school. This makes me wonder- Education and academics are very much needed, but at the cost of their childhood?

Most of these kids board from central line stations like Kopar, Diva, Mumbra and Kalwa, areas that are not so developed in aspects of finance and infrastructure, and mostly lack quality and affordable schools. Government schools may not be as efficient either, which forces them to travel long distances from their homes to get their basic right fulfilled. Travelling to main Mumbai areas like Ghatkopar, Vidyavihar, Dadar, Masjid and even CSMT for schools, takes a lot of their daily time. 

Once I saw a group of small kids, boarding from Diva station, planning to de-board at Majid for their school (their school bag had a logo of a school situated in Masjid). It almost takes around an hour in the local itself. Also that they were accompanied by elders, which leads to a waste of their time too (almost 4-5hrs in travelling, or 2-3hrs if staying till the end of school hours). I have also seen many small kids unaccompanied (either group of small kids or a single child) by an elder, going to school daily, by the local trains. I know Mumbai is comparatively safer, but this isn't really appreciated to leave the child alone to commute daily from the locals at such a young age.

This also made me think: Many of us grew privileged enough to have a school bus to go to better schools in the same city we grew up in, but maybe these kids do not have that privilege. Even if good private schools may exist in their city/town, it may not be affordable.  

Those kids, even if went to schools in nearby areas like Thane or Dombivli, could have more time on their hands to take rest, play games and invest their time in co-curricular activities rather than having to spend hours on the commute. Childhood is a great time to build hobbies and knowledge, but it needs relaxation and lots of too. Cause once you enter late teenage and adult, that's all you have left to do (crying in a corner). Grinding is for the later part of life, i.e. late teenage and ahead, not childhood. 

This not only is applicable to Mumbai and suburban areas, but all the places where the commute (even if in the same city/town/village) takes up much of the child's time to get to their schools. The irony is that they have to travel far, to schools, where the whole Indian education system is undyingly criticized. Though not kids anymore, it even applies to college students who have to take admission in efficient colleges far from their homes (another discussion that half only show up at the start and end of semesters), leaving them with less time to upgrade their skills. 

As if the school wasn't enough, nowadays, most parents engage their kids in a plethora of tuitions and extra-curricular (which the child may not even enjoy). This drains their energy further (especially if classes are on weekdays) and leaves them with even less time to rest and enjoy.

What society, parents and government can do is make efficient schools in such areas, and parents can not burden kids with numerous classes after school. 

Well, to sum up the blog post, in one joke, it would be like- the feeling when (Maths) teachers would take up the P.T period to complete their portions. (No Maths teachers were harmed in the making of this joke).