Education – What it really means to be educated
Education probably is one of the most valued thing in the society. May it be kids’ admission in nursery or admission for college or professional studies – a huge momentum is seen during those times of the year. And not to forget – it also serves as a great topic for gossip all around.
Amidst all these, still lies an important question – What does it means to be educated? Is it only a medium which is helpful in making provisions for ones’ bread and butter in life along with meeting standards of living set by society or it goes much beyond that. This question has huge implication since what education does to a person is reflected in the society.
And even a shallow look at the society we live in would tell us that it is not worth living. All it has is comparison, competition, jealousy, greed and their obvious results – corruption, stress, violence and poor health and so on. If such is the fruit, does it require us a great deal to understand that the very system of learning needs uprooting? And that it cannot be ignored for the bearing on life it has is really huge?
Hence the question –‘What does it really means to be educated?’
A careful examination of current method of education tells that it has a huge emphasis on accumulation of knowledge, exploitation of nature for making life more and more comfortable (destructive knowledge), aspiring for the first rank and winning inculcating competition and ambition thus destroying collaborative behavior and teaching how to stand against another which is violence and gives subtle hints to non-achievers about their being less capable and that they must try even harder which only leaves them in self-doubt and fear.
So, where to begin! Let’s see what is taught in the schools and what is not that must be.
Every subject has a purpose. Students till secondary are taught all the subjects so that they get familiar to them, can understand which one they feel being in tandem with and hence can pursue that as a way to livelihood. It’s not really about a career on which the so called modern society bets its life upon, but only a matter of livelihood that can support living beautifully. This means that every teacher must be honest enough not only in teaching about the glory of the subject but also its limitations.
For example – History is about facts and heritage and all that happened in past. But no history teacher tells that the texts are biased. The subject will have plethora in context to country and would neglect the world. Similarly Language is important for it has immense use in communication. But no Language teacher would tell about the limitations of word (Words have limitation in not having same meaning for everyone.
For example – For someone, word ‘Pen’ would just be referring to what we call as pen while for someone who is too fond of stationary, it will have a different connotation associated.) Similarly, a science teacher teaches theories but fails to encourage students to be experimenting, to observe and to treat facts as facts.
Interestingly, in addition, every school has a subject called Moral Science meant for inculcating moral values but they have miserably failed to understand that if values could be frozen and taught, we wouldn’t be having such a society.
And hence the question – What is education? Why education?
Perhaps all that education has done till date is produced some competitive minds who have only known that if one has to win, other must lose. So they are always standing opposite others, never together. They cannot relate with nature. They cannot be grateful to existence for the grace they receive every moment. All they know is a fighter in them. And when the fighter loses- they have nervous breakdown, all neurotic problems and even suicide.
Education has failed to teach students how to think. It has failed to tell students why understanding is important and that they be observant and not influenced and manipulated. It had failed in helping students build a foundation for them. All it has taught is fragmentation and compartmentalization. And hence, there are many people but no individual. The most essential subject to be dedicated to fundamentals of life has been totally neglected.
Education has indeed tried to deliver its duty but has miserably failed to be responsible. Responsibility is the ability to respond. And one doesn’t need any proof – our lives are proofs enough. Greed, ambition, jealousy, conflict, stress, violence, anger, frustration, depression, a life devoid of beauty, joy, freedom and love is what it has produced.
The day education understands its real purpose, the relationship of man with another would change and hence will the society too.
