A line which has inspired me from my childhood...
"... true purpose of education is to train the mind to think .." - Albert Einstein
I wanted this to be a formal essay. Organized points, structured with coherence and all that... which our teachers expect in lengthy question & answers ... but now I realised that I was also blinded by the rules which were taught to us... this is what we were trained to become. Followers of rules, established procedures, methods.
This what is the Indian perception of education. We are taught rules, procedures, methods about everything. Boundaries are drawn. "You can only do this", "this is how it must be done", "dont do like that", "this is not in the rules"...may be this made to be think a lot for all these days to write a structured post. Like prose, like a comprehension, like an essay.
But in this post I am coming out of it. The post is going to about few arguments, few thoughts which will not be sequential nor structured. So here we go
1. Education is only for getting a job. At home you are still a kid. No matter you are from IIT or IIM you have to get approval from the elders. You might have comprehended the quantum physics or black scholes model but still you need to ask permissions for simple things.
2. Status of women and men : You might read in social science , moral science and others texts , that men and women are equal. At home still there is a difference, partial treatment, girl child is a burden. This is still prevalent among educated parents.
3. Parents want their children to get educated... but themselves???
4. Take any civics or social sciences book - "India is a secular state". But do we really follow it? Why dont we encourage inter-caste marriage? Kids learn this, give exams and get good marks - Parents are happy. Kids learn this, get married - Parents and unhappy. As long it is theory we are happy. Put into practice we complain...
Education is perceived as a ladder to financial freedom. Study more, get good job, earn a lot, live comfortably. But does it free ourselves from the constraints imposed by age old traditions, false belief, caste and gender inequality?
Let us educate ourselves and our children not only to become qualified but civilized too...
"... true purpose of education is to train the mind to think .." - Albert Einstein
I wanted this to be a formal essay. Organized points, structured with coherence and all that... which our teachers expect in lengthy question & answers ... but now I realised that I was also blinded by the rules which were taught to us... this is what we were trained to become. Followers of rules, established procedures, methods.
This what is the Indian perception of education. We are taught rules, procedures, methods about everything. Boundaries are drawn. "You can only do this", "this is how it must be done", "dont do like that", "this is not in the rules"...may be this made to be think a lot for all these days to write a structured post. Like prose, like a comprehension, like an essay.
But in this post I am coming out of it. The post is going to about few arguments, few thoughts which will not be sequential nor structured. So here we go
1. Education is only for getting a job. At home you are still a kid. No matter you are from IIT or IIM you have to get approval from the elders. You might have comprehended the quantum physics or black scholes model but still you need to ask permissions for simple things.
2. Status of women and men : You might read in social science , moral science and others texts , that men and women are equal. At home still there is a difference, partial treatment, girl child is a burden. This is still prevalent among educated parents.
3. Parents want their children to get educated... but themselves???
4. Take any civics or social sciences book - "India is a secular state". But do we really follow it? Why dont we encourage inter-caste marriage? Kids learn this, give exams and get good marks - Parents are happy. Kids learn this, get married - Parents and unhappy. As long it is theory we are happy. Put into practice we complain...
Education is perceived as a ladder to financial freedom. Study more, get good job, earn a lot, live comfortably. But does it free ourselves from the constraints imposed by age old traditions, false belief, caste and gender inequality?
Let us educate ourselves and our children not only to become qualified but civilized too...
