On Education

 Francis Bacon was one of the great Renaissance thinkers. Bacon's "Essays" provide the pithiest, most succinct and yet in depth analysis of any and every theme he explored. His titles used to be "Of Love", "Of Learning", "Of Friendship", and so on. Closer to our times, it is Khaleel Gibran who attempted similar feats.

Following in the footprints of these giants, let us today try and explore education. Our title, however, would be "On education" as we cannot pretend to be definitive like Bacon, and others.  The occasion, incidentally, is the birth anniversary  of Abdul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of independent India. 

Yes, education is the greatest gift. Why so? Well, education opens up a student's mind. Basically, it is a values-oriented process that inculcates in the learner the way(s), the mode(a), the method(a) of grasping, understanding, processing any fact, every idea. It is the road which leads the learner towards fulfilment, of which the monetary satisfaction is a mere, though impotant, part. 

Now in the wake of the NEP, hands on education as well as the use of the mother tongue as the medium of education till the primary stage, are emphasised.  Yet another idea floating around is the concept of teacher as facilitator. All such refractions are good, great, most acceptable.

Yet it is necessary to point out a few canards, too, as they block the flow of learning. Let us list them. To begin with, it IS very much necessary to assert that unless the core subject, the hard skills, are learnt, no use of the very many soft skills, half-heartedly 'finished' off for a credit or two! 

Credits cannot control  learning. Period! At the college level, for example, a one credit course on the 'Vedas' or 'Arthashastra' or 'Fundamentals of Research', or 'Intellectual Property Rights,'  et al, serve the purpose of 'finishing off' the syllabus, of passing the subject as per the question paper loosely leaked! Freaking out in various direct or subtle ways cannot be studies, right?

First comes the knowledge as defined by the syllabi and curricula, which sure should be reality oriented as well. But industry needs, which change constantly, MUST not dictate the terms and conditions. 

Education, it must be remembered, IS the process of learning how to learn which is needed lifelong. As the Chinese proverb goes, students must learn how to fish; they should not be served the fish ready made. Education cannot be corporate career preparedness.

Practical relevance sure matters. Yet the base of theory gives the mind a rigour, an ability to think critically, an openness to welcome different perspectives. No use hence dismissing paradigmatic awareness in the pursuit of practical usefulness, as is currently fashionable.

No amount of practical experience can provide the ability to negotiate newer, different concepts or ideas. Otherwise, "jugad" becomes the rule, and half baked information from all sorts of (even wrong) sources is confused with knowledge.

If students are to be wise, they must attend lectures, a practice which also inculcates very many study 'skills', extremely necessary for a productive life, as well as values such as togetherness, discipline, empathy, et al. 

Sure, teachers must make learning enjoyable. Yet, under the guise of facilitation, learning cannot be reduced to "entertainment, entertainment, entertainment". A good academic 'job' cannot be mere fat pay cheques for doing everything else except actually  conducting lectures which help students learn! 

There is always a huge hue and cry that India does not produce Nobel prize winners for which dedication beyond immediate gains, sincere genuine (not necessarily merely 'smart') work, disciplined thinking, commitment are necessary. Invention IS ninety nine percent hard work, is the Edison assertion, often forgotten in the pursuit of glitzy, vacant, shallow show-off!

Education etymologically originates from "educare" which means to lead from the known to the unknown. Hence, silly simplification, empty anti-intellectualism, time pass "jugad" as success cannot replace education that is truly creative, right? After all, in the final analysis, learning is learning IS learning.

Pratima@Let us learn how to learn!

Quote of the day:                                                      "The most beautiful thing about education is that nobody can take it away from you"!

Word of the day:                                                      "erudite" which means the person has great knowledge and learning. All the Nobel Prize winners are erudite, for instance.