This was particularly depressing when the teacher required that we learn by rote and regurgitate facts and data without any critical discussion. I should also state that I often felt that the students were not the only victims or " slaves" and that many of the teachers themselves were obviously felt confined and constrained by the education system and curriculum that they were forced to follow. On the surface the education system that I attended did promote equal learning opportunities for all with no obvious discrimination in terms of race, class or gender. There was in fact every attempt in the particular institution to stop any sign of prejudice and discrimination. However, while there was no overt or obvious discrimination, there was a more subtle form of prejudice which was most obvious in gender issues. This was not really a result of the education system as such but was an aspect that was more culturally based in the society and which tended to see females as being inferior in many ways to males. Teachers for example would treat the male students differently to the females. An example of this is that, while male students would be allowed to express themselves in class and be tolerated if they were be slightly rowdy, females were expected to remain demure attentive and not to express themselves too freely. I believe that this discrimination is part of larger...

This is an important aspect that should be discussed in classes at schools. However this type of discussion would mean that a more "critical" and open view of education would have to be generally accepted and adopted.
A am, like so many others, a victim of the education process and system which views students as passive subjects and victims. The view that banking education is a form of oppression is, I believe, applicable to the type of education I have experienced. This is mainly due to the system which enforces a master-slave approach to the relationship between student and teacher. Neither does it promote communication but, as Paulo Freire suggests, rather institutes and promotes a system of " silence" where the student is a trapped subject who is meant only to repeat what he or she is told. I must also state that this has not always been the case and many of my teacher's have gone beyond these prescriptions and encouraged us to interact and critically view and discuss what we have been taught.

However in general I feel that education should not be a form of entrapment of forced regurgitation of the views of others, but should rather be a form of liberation and freedom. This can only be achieved if the system of education allows for true interaction and communication and where the teacher is not just an authority figure but becomes an educator in the true sense of the word and promotes open interaction and discussion with the students. This type of education would ensure that student would naturally develop and expand their knowledge of themselves and the world in a fruitful and critical way.