Education: The Bigger Purpose Lost!?
Education means different things to
different people. To some it is equivalent to degrees, to significant others it
is economic security and to very few it is preparation for life and a happy
living. There is no common understanding
of what education must mean in context of a society or nation at large.
Therein lies the problem. Until we have a common understanding for parents,
teachers, students, schools, society and the government, we will be more often
than not a confused lot of people pursuing it.
Pandemic 2020 has exposed the flaws
of education system. It has brought to the focus the perceived meaning of the
education as to what it means for most of the parents, teachers, students and
schools.
To most of them, it majorly means the completion of syllabus of various
subjects by whichever means, online or offline, writing questions answers, few
exercises, writing a few tests and be ready for promotion to the next class.
This is just Learning to Know and Learning
to Do. The bigger objectives of education; Learning to Live Together, and Learning
to Be are yet not understood. What is education if it does not equip one
to live together with others and if it does not help one to be the most of what
one could be, to realize one’s potential as a human being?
To parent..it is learning to know.
To teachers..it is learning to do.
To student..it is learning to know
and do (to write exams).
To schools..it is learning to do.
To the government though it has
lately started meaning a little different as the National Policy on Education
(NPE), 2019 Draft; sure talks about the bigger objectives of the education: Learning to Live together and Learning to Be along with Learning to Know and Learning to Do. But until implemented on
ground level, it is just a proposition.
Let us just reflect on one of the
current scenarios during pandemic.. children as young as 4-5 years old are being
forced to sit in front of the screens in order to learn through online classes
which are just a series of audios and videos through WhatsApp, mail or Zoom App
or Google Class. Do we understand as parents, teachers and schools, at what stage of
development these young children are?
These children are by design supposed
to be moving around, exploring and experimenting with the things and the world
around. We as educators are expected to know this fact and design our teaching,
learning experiences through a lot of playing, singing, dancing, reciting,
touching, seeing, smelling, tasting activities (experiential learning) so that
these children have the liberty to make sense of the world around them through
their sensory organs before moving onto abstract concepts of numbers and
alphabets.
Anybody ever wondered such unhappy
experiences (forced sitting, watching
and listening to which the young child can not connect without sensory
experiences) in the name of education will never kindle a liking for learning
in the long run.
But who cares!!?
The bigger question is whose responsibility
is it to bring awareness on such bigger issues!?
Since knowing alphabets and numbers(for
that matter, knowledge and concepts across subjects and classes) are
measurable, it is taught and evaluated. Everybody is happy. The parents pay for
that only, the teachers get paid for the same, the students learn for the same
(write exams) and the schools earn out of the same.
Education as we see it, is partially
fulfilling the purpose – to know and to do.
The bigger and the more meaningful
purpose of education; to live together and to be, is yet not understood and
pursued for. This is where education is losing its purpose.. to change the world to a better place.
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