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Monday, March 1, 2010

Education just for money ?



Anuj (an imaginary name) is a very well read man. His general knowledge is very good and the number of books in his home is unmatched with the average man. He has even earned a prestigious degree. You ask him one question and he is most of the time in the position to answer more than you expected :)

But if you watch him carefully, you will find him spitting on the road and throwing away anything waste anywhere in the public place. He could not manage having healthy relationship with his immediate family members. He lacks Assertiveness. In other words... his behavior is not the kind which one could exemplify to the younger generation and even fellowmen.

THE QUESTION/S :

Is Education a mere collection of data and information in this personal computer called brain?

Or is it meant to be showing up in people's very subtle behaviors? Is getting a high paid job the prime reason behind being/getting educated?

Is making a good family/society/life not a major reason?

Well, this is what Wikipedia has to say about the word education.


I think, when we call someone an educated person or for that matter when we call ourselves educated we rarely ever think of this word "education" beyond the collection of degrees and general knowledge. I think the meaning and implications of this word has frequently changed in this competitive society.

But why is it important to consider the appropriate meaning and of this word "education" ? Simply because it has a very very important and wide impact on the society and its ways. We want an educated society so that we have a healthy and a happy society with lesser problems. But if we happen to limit the meaning and implication of this word to mere collection of degrees then we shall have more people in the society who have never assimilated the good things that they learned in school and college. If the learning does not get assimilated then it will not show up in behavior, taking us to a society which is highly "paper educated" but lesser truly educated. And that is what is happening to us today slowly as we progress in numbers.

That is why we have so many educated people who still believe in (and practice very seriously) behaviors like sex selection of the offspring, wife battering, inequality of all kinds, violence,(both physical and psychological which is very common), mismanagement of public properties such as throwing away of religious waste in water bodies, creating noise pollution and graffiti on our historical walls, unhealthy relationships and so on...

Like, I would like to share a happening that I can relate to this post very well. It was Diwali 2009, and little children were playing firecrackers. Then I saw some nearby children (of people who live below poverty line) coming to our building and sitting in one corner of the compound - the reason of them coming there as I understand was that, their parents could not afford to buy those cracker toys for them and so they were attracted towards (at least)watching the other children play ! Since it was a party that we (as a community) arranged we had dinner too. One sweet lady from our community offered something to eat to one of those children. And the other said to this sweet woman -"aap log hi aise logon ko sar par chadhaate ho !! " ( (Approximate meaning it is people like you who encourage such people !!)

So the choice is ours !! What kind of a society do we want for us and our next generation?



Image Courtesy: photobucket.com

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16 comments:

  1. Yahan mein kehna chahta hu ki definition of education ka sandarbh ki tarah se hai. Ek education hoti hai jisase hum bread butter ka jugaad kar paate hai matlab skill to earn and fulfill necesities, iska samajik dayitwa itna important nahi hota, jab ki use hona chahiye (social responsibility is an another topic) Aur ek education jo hume milni hi chahiye lekin kabhi nahi di jaati woh hai Jeevan jine ki kala, How to lead and live this precious life. Most of us dont how to live one's life. Iski aur kabhi hamara dhyaan hi nahi jaata. Aur isliye hum andha anukaran karte chale jaate hai jo kuch aas-paas dekhte hai wohi sekhte jaate hai kyuki aski jine ki kala hume kabhi kisi ne sikhai hi nahi hoti aur isiliye ek navjaat shishu bhi jab masoomi se is duniya me aata hai bada hote hote makkar banta jata hai. Isiliye itne saare discriminations, differences aur wrong practices me hum ulajhte jaate hai.
    This is a very wonderful article, atleast it directs us to think what is more important, aaj sab padhe like ganwaar hai is samaaj me aur ye bahut dukh ki baat hai.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Rahul, Thank you you for giving your time - reading ,commenting and complimenting ! :)

    I would like to reply to your comment - no one is going to teach us to "live life" because it is ultimately the goal of education to teach a person the skills of living a healthy life. When education repeatedly fails to do that for not a few but a majority, then we need to ask this question.

    As far as skilled people are concerned, Rahul, I know of illiterate people whose behaviors you will notice are more "like educated" than many of us who claim to be educated. That is what this article exactly implies that, education does nit and cannot come on paper.There are many such wonderful examples in Indian history, think about them... :)

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  3. Great thought. However, education along cannot bring about this change. Education is a knowledge gathering system, and NOT designed to be a conscience building system.

    For instance, an MA in English may be running a grocery shop and his behaviour patter will mostly be guided by his business and the interactions that he has because of the business. he may not have read a single english book after his masters and may not be reading newspapers thoroughly as it is not a must.

    Anyways, you would recollect how much important we used to give to subjects like moral science and civil studies. Dont even know if these subjects exist anymore.

    Surely education helps and is a catalyst for social upgrade. But the real factors are upbringing, social neighbourhood, social norms, customs etc.

    A son from a Pandit (Brahmin family - normally well educated) will always be taught subliminally that he is a higher mortal. Similarly a son of a royal family will have an inherent social archetype.

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  4. HI life is better ,I am pleasantly surprised to know that you read my blog and commented here too !! Thank you very much :)

    I agree with what you said, that is what the blog implies... what should be happening for the good of the society is not happening well :(

    But I disagree with the last line of your comment. I have seen Brahmin who don't even know the meaning of being a Brahmin and the values systems are lost from the society ... no matter what the class (caste) may be of that person. I write another two posts on both these two topics later on :)

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  5. Yes, I totally agree and said it the same way ki Education ki paribhasha karna mushkil isliye hai ki is shabd ka prayog kis sandarbh me kiya jaa raha hai janana bahut jaruri hai. Shiksha jaruri hai, kaisi shiksha, kisliye kaam aayegi aur hume kya kya sikhna chahiye ye sach me ek vikat sawal hai. Aksar mein bhi is baare me jab sochta hu to apne aapko bahut chhota paata hoon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Rahul,

    Hope you had a nice day :)

    Thanks again for vising and commenting here :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I like what you write. So thank you is not relevant.

    Whatever we say is not 100% true. So today with reduce caste/creed consciousness esp in urban india you will have sons not aware of being a brahmin and its social implication. But I made a generalised statement taking rural india into concern.

    Will wait for your blogs...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ok I see, Life is better.

    Thank you is still relevant friend... I am happy that you commented because many people read but not everyone comments !! :)
    It is important to me.

    But do you think the average man anywhere in India today knows "The meaning of being a Brahmin ?"

    The origin of the caste system was lost long back... they have changed the meaning of it totally and therefore we have no benefits of it and more losses :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi...came here via indiblogger...nice post and more importantly its topic...actually was planning to post one myself...I have always felt that my school days had the greatest impact on me..i mean only school had formative effects on mind, character and knowledge together...the rest of my education was mostly knowledge and that too mugged up crap!

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  10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  11. Hi Jeevan Krishnakumar !!

    Very nice to see you here ! Thanks for vising and posting your thoughts on this blog :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Niharika..first of all sorry for the late visit. Now, I am back to as usual...no more net worries ;)
    btw..I cannot disagree with whatever you have put here. This is the harsh reality today. Education has become meaningless. Yes, nothing more than these useless degrees. The whole education system is to be blamed for all these. You know when we were in schools, we had one subject called Moral Science, which was taught to us. As you must have got, the subject emphasized on inculcating moral values in students. I think subjects as these must be made compulsory in schools so that people get educated in the right sense instead of just being fed with the age old bookish knowledge which I believe is the root cause of all these problems today.

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  13. Hi Aswani , welcome back dear !!!

    Thanks for the comment. I am not at all bothered by the late response.. your response (whenever) is important to me :)

    About Moral science, the problem is that Aswani, children learn good things at home and then come back home and see the opposite things being taught to them or being modeled to them. Then they do not know what is "right" and what behavior is to be practiced... so it all goes vain !

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  14. @Niharika - Yes..I know it goes in vain. I think the role of parents here becomes much more important as everything starts from the home. Parents should make notice of each and everything and do the needful to see their child child going in the right direction.

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  15. Did you read my latest on medical reservation? I am still working on the political thought... getting there slowly.

    http://bit.ly/bb6MtW

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for choosing to comment :)