The story unfolded when India was under the
British regime. Colonial masters reshaped the education system of India. The objective
was to create more clerks for the smooth functioning of British Empire and
hence significant twists were done such as replacing Sanskrit & Persian
with English and disallowing study of epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana
which taught great leadership lessons and righteousness of character. The concept
of mindless competition was borne out of this system which almost buried the spirit
of cooperation; there was a blind pursuit amongst Indians to become submissive clerks
and lead a relaxed life without having to suffer British exploitation. The most unfortunate
aspect was that this education inculcated self-derogatory thinking patterns in many
Indians who considered themselves a breed apart, took pride in being
subservient to their masters while natives faced hardships under colonial rule.
The ancient system of learning had communication as its integral part. The goal
was to be very good at communicating with society while today; the focus is
only to become clever at dealings with the employee/boss/client. The downfall
is evident – in former days, one aimed to reach out to society and was
concerned with its welfare while today one speaks to market oneself, to garner
more dough and to do his/her own good.
Let us pause - Twenty years of academic exercise
which fails to equip students with courage and humility to face the vicissitudes
of life, which does not bring out strength of character and a spirit of
philanthropy – is it worth the name?
I have been a victim of this half-baked learning system
like billions of other people. However, I tried not to let my sour academic experiences
interfere with true education. The focus has always been to read and understand
the lives and works of people who changed the world, who believed in their
dreams, who held a purpose larger than life
and lived by that.Not limiting themselves to find solace
in the jugglery to pay EMIs of a roof over 3 bedrooms for 20 most prime years of life! A human life is more valuable than just contented
to fulfill mundane needs.
If I were a Principal and had the autonomy to
change the system even a bit, I would like to make the following changes:
1.
Concentration: ‘To me the very
essence of education is concentration of mind and not collecting of facts’,
said Swami Vivekananda. He further emphasized that if he had to do his
education all over again he would not collect mere facts and would rather focus
on developing powers of concentration and detachment. Truly, concentration is
one of the greatest differences between humans and animals; it is also the difference
between a focused and wavering mind. Today, television and mobile phones are affecting
attention span but neither parents nor schools
are bracing up to develop the power of
concentration. I would have built meditation rooms and organized special
workshops on teaching techniques to enhance concentration.
2.
Art & Sports: I agree that
every child can’t become Sachin Tendulkar or MF Hussain but he can’t become Dr Kalam as well. Then, why this unfair bias
against sports and other creative works? Sports inculcate greatness traits like discipline, goals
setting, leadership, perseverance & team work. It is on the playground that
the feelings of brotherhood and mutual concern are created. These traits are
more important than the theoretical knowledge of history or Sanskrit.
Unfortunately most of the schools today don’t ponder over these issues and are in
the mad race of amassing more money. The sports grounds have disappeared from
schools. Let us not convert the land for sports grounds into concrete
structures to garner money by offering admissions to more students!
3.
Gita, Bible & Kuran: Swami Vivekananda
mentioned in the World Religion Parliament in 1893,”I am a Hindu. I am sitting
in my own little well and thinking that the whole world is my little well. The
Christian sits in his little well and thinks the whole world is his well. The
Mohammedan sits in his little well and thinks that is the whole world. We must
not only tolerate other religions but positively embrace each other and know
that the truth is basis of all the religions.” All the three major religious
scripture must be a part of curriculum from class VI to X. Let the future minds
of the nation know that all the religions are one and the same; these are just
different paths to reach the same destination of human glory which is reached
only by brotherhood and neither by riots nor
by belittling others’ belief. Let India be truly secular and socialist
democratic country.
4.
Communication
& Leadership: If we truly commit to become
better communicators; half the inefficiencies in our systems, most of the
quarrels in our families and sorrows in our lives will disappear the way fog vanishes
when the Sun rises. Speaking without caring for the listener and writing
without caring for the reader are the banes of communication which are unfortunately
widespread in employment-seekers. We must understand that relationships are the
foundation of all business and communication is in turn, the foundation of all
relationships. We must accept that ‘anger
may change the immediate action of a person but communication changes the thinking
of the person.’ Study of leadership
which is the vital ingredient for building an economically developed and happy nation
is also untouched in the whole curriculum. Just imagine, if a kid is not able
to lead his own life to fulfillment; how can we expect him to lead the nation
towards prosperity and happiness? Maybe it is time to take the Toastmasters Clubs to schools as
curriculum and Mahabharata epic as a
multi-credit subject.
5.
Reading
beyond syllabus: Reading is to the brain what exercise is to the body; almost any
luxury should be sacrificed for books. As a Principal, I would have a first
rate library in my school and encourage students to read, analyze and
assimilate the works of great authors & thinkers. I will help them to not
only learn from the people they get in touch with, but also from the men and
women of wisdom and mettle, who graced the planet before. Let them know the
testimony to the belief, ‘whatever the
mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.’ Let them shatter the
limiting beliefs of centuries and develop empowering beliefs to tap the hidden potential
in them.
6.
Thinking
as a subject: Lord Buddha said, ‘we become what we think’. This poised, powerful and pregnant quote
was backed by umpteen testimonies in the history of human kind which includes
lives of Krishna, Jesus, Prophet Muhammad, Helen Keller, Lincoln, Gandhi,
Emerson, Picasso, Henry Ford, Teresa and many others. In today’s time, thinking
is the highest paid job. People who can think big enough and communicate their
ideas clearly are the ones who rule. However, not even a single lecture out of
few thousands is spent on learning or teaching this art from KG to PG. If good
thoughts convert into good actions, which culminate into good results, the fate
of bad thoughts can easily be predicted. Thinking should be treated as a
compulsory subject, for at least three years of schooling. Let us not
underestimate the fact that thinkers have the power to shape the future. Children
should be taught to think systematically.
7.
Value
of Values: If you do not
stand for something, you may fall for anything. In today’s times, when
human beings suppress their conscience, when people do not hesitate in gulping
money even at the cost of belittling the respect of their motherland, when
rape, robbery and ruthlessness are rampant as weeds in jungle – values are vital
to survival as the air to breath or water to drink. The way Gandhi is synonym
to truth and nonviolence, Teresa to
love, Mandela
to equality and Lincoln
to perseverance, Einstein
to imagination; we all must have guiding principles for our life to make it
great. Teachers have the responsibility to lead by example and teach the value
of values to their students.
8.
Help
realizing the power of dreams, words, habits and clarity of purpose:
For me, a life without dreams is like a balloon without air – though not
defective, yet useless! The tragedy of our education system is – as the logical
understanding goes to a new high and resources increase, dreams die down. Kids
should be taught the power of dreams, words, thought patterns and be helped in
becoming clearer on the purpose of their life. Only then they can hold the
dreams long enough and develop supporting habits to turn them into reality.
9.
Partnering
with parents: In 1987, my parents handed Rs 2 to one of our
neighbors to get me enrolled in a government school. That used to be our
village school fees for one year. 21 years passed by and my parents met with my
teachers in 2008 for the first time, on the day of convocation at Indian
Institute of Management Lucknow! That is not how education of a child should
take place in modern times. Parents have to be actively engaged in the
education of a child. Though public schools are starting to involve parents however,
the teachers talk to parents just for status update on kids’ classwork. If I
were the Principal, I would provide thorough training to parents every quarter
on how to be of great value in holistic development of their ward.
In nutshell, the schools should mould the minds
for better citizenship by equipping their students’ minds with winning
attitude, healthy habits, sense of purpose, sound values and mandatory skills
which cut across fields e.g. communication, leadership, concentration / focus, thought
process and team spirit.
These can help us reaching to a level where Gurudev
Rabindranath Tagore pointed, when he wrote,
‘Where the mind is without fear and the head is held
high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee to ever-widening thought and action -
Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.’
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee to ever-widening thought and action -
Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.’
