March 11, 2008

(Dr. Augustine Pinto, Ex-sheriff of Mumbai and Chairman of Ryan International Group of Institutions)

Time is money and cannot be wasted.  Though the latter can be earned, the number of hours allotted to each one of us cannot be increased  by any means.  The present article underscores the importance of time management.

Time does fly fast and ironically before we realize, it will be time yet  again to ring out the old and ring in the new.

This reminds me of an ancient proverb that states ‘Time and tide wait for none’.  It’s origin can be traced to a time when ships were the most preferred mode of transportation and  ‘tides’  determined the time of a ships’s departure.  To spend time today is like spending money, which is a very personal matter.   But unlike money, you can’t get a ‘time raise’ or ‘save some hours’ for a busy day.  We all have to live on the same number of 168 hours each week.  In order to be successful, students must budget time according to their priorities to ensure that they spend it effectively. 

In the present day, every individual is time-bound.  There are deadlines to be met.  In today’s fast-pacing world, ‘time’ is something that we always fall short of; however its significance cannot be ignored.  Success in any endeavour depends on the time taken to achieve it.  Hence, to succeed, it is necessary to consider ‘time’ as a priceless asset.  Some of the most successful individuals in the world today are those who believe in utillising their time effectively.  I strongly believe that every second is accounted for and should be considered  as an important investment.

Why do students discover the need to develop their time management skills only when they come close to appearing for their examinations?  The answer lies within our archaic educational system that utillses examinations as the sole yardstick to assess the students ability.  The only intelligences, which examinations in our educational system support are the verbal, linguistic and logical or mathematical. No other intelligences are assessed in depth.  For example, the student who is competent in writing skills along with the above mentioned  intelligences can easily score better over others in an examination.

As the time for examinations comes closer, students attempt to gulp down large volume of information within a short span of time, which they are required to ‘vomit-as-it-is’ during their examinations.  The outcome, more often than not, ends in a catastrophe wherein many students end up with severe depression or develop an irritable and hostile personality.  Examinations are the ‘chosen time’ when the students are kept away from all socialising opportunities, which just adds to their trauma.  In extreme cases students are known to take drastic actions or cause grievous injury to others.  Of late, several incidents of violence involving children have been reported from different parts of the nation. 

Role of parents and educators

As parents, educators and responsible citizens of this nation, it is our duty to ensure an environment that is vital for the over all growth and development of the future generations of this nation.  Failure to act now may escalate the issue to astronomical proportions with severe ramifications.  In such circumstances, the most feasible solution to tackle this problem is by learning to manage time effectively and inculcate ‘time management’.  Everyone wishes there were more hours in a day, so that they could do their job right.  But the secret isn’t in working more hours-in-stead, you need to learn to use the time you already have more effici