What is the purpose of education? To create well-conscience citizens. Well-conscience citizens means citizens who know difference between right and wrong. There is a beautiful word in Marathi –
Nirakshir Vivek. It is said that a swan has a special gift. A swan can separate milk and water from a mixture of milk and water with its beak. The real meaning of this is the ability to identify truth from falsehood. It is called Nirakshir Vivek (Water – Milk wisdom). Education is supposed to develop such a conscience in students. Can such a wise citizen be created mere by studying history, geography, science, mathematics alone? This process will start only when education includes life skill subjects. These subjects should make us aware of our duties as citizens and as human beings.
Education should instill the values of conscience, thought, morality, efficiency, civility, kindness, and humanity. Wisdom does not necessarily come from education. There is a story in Sandeep Vakchoure’s book ‘Aespais Shikshan’. In a village, a task was to be done to plant trees. Three groups of people were formed to work for this. One group was supposed to dig a pit. The second group was supposed to plant trees in it. The third group was supposed to fill the pit. In this way, trees were to be planted. One day, the group that planted trees was on leave. Thus, the people in the first group simply dug pits. Meanwhile, the people in the third group filled the pits dug by first group. So no trees were planted that day. Wisdom can’t be gained by doing such pointless work. This defeats the real purpose of education.
This question did not arise much in the past generation. The proportion of educated people in our grandfathers or in the past generation was low. Still, moral values were high. Educated people strongly felt that they should use their education for society’s gain. They joined RSS, Rashtra Seva Dal, or other organizations and did social work. The elders of this generation conducted themselves well. This conduct greatly influenced the minds of the children. As a result, they became thoughtful. There is rise in education and literacy today. Then why has the proportion of corruption, hooliganism, misbehavior, coercion, and violence increased today?
While saying this, we should also note that the challenges for this generation are different. The lives of this tech-savvy generation are very complex and dynamic. Families have become smaller. The joint family system provided advice or counseling from experienced people of different ages to youngsters within family. This guidance is no longer easily available. Increased competition and the pressure to succeed in it has put a lot of pressure on the minds of children. The definition of success has also become centered around money and power. The poor are exploited in many ways. In today’s world, any needs of education, health, law and order can’t be fulfilled without money. Thus, these youngsters believe that money is everything and strive to earn it by any means. This generation is not at fault in this. Our generation has failed to create a good social system for next generation.
Few years ago, ‘Value Education’ was included in school curriculum. As part of this, children used to clean the school premises. Children were taught cultural stories. Children use to sing religious and patriotic songs, bhajans, cultural songs etc. Biographies of great personalities were taught. I am unsure if ‘Value Education’ is still part of the school curriculum. Nevertheless, the following subjects must be included in the curriculum for changing times. This list can be amended and made more inclusive
Human Rights
Social justice
Patriotism
Citizens’ Rights and Responsibilities
Managing Self Emotions
Stress Management
Techniques for handling success or failure
Introduction to Information Technology
Financial fraud on the Internet
Virtual world – dos and don’t s
Organic Farming and use of chemical fertilizers
Environment and Pollution
Waste management,
Water Conservation,
Social Forestry
Nutritional values of food and cooking
Exercise and Yoga
First aid, CPR, how to use fire extinguishers, etc.
Education should not only focus on memorization but should give children the strength to face life. Education should give the physical and mental preparation needed to sustain and face future challenges effectively. Only then can it be called ‘Aid-u-cation’ in the true sense.