Perhaps Education is the only term which has been
defined by everybody according to his own way. India, which has remained a hub of knowledge and education in the past, has not been able to draw a clear line between education and literacy so far. A few examples from real life situations perhaps help make the meaning of the word Education clear. Once Swami Viveka nand remarked that we in India have many graduated but not educated. Sh. K Kamraj CM of Tamil Nadu was illiterate but he knew so much that the experts were astounded by his knowledge. Sh. Sita Ram KEsari headed the oldest political party INC of India. The school going girls, scared of eve teasing, often prefer the road which remains crowded either with laborers or farmers instead of university and college boys.
The involvement of our politicians, police personals and bureaucrats, in the scandals, scams, rackets, kickbacks occupy front pages and become headlines of the both print and electronic media these days. The tax evasion, possession of assets disproportionate to the sources of income by the bureaucrats and the politicians, criminal nexus of police and the politicians with the national and international mafia, custodial deaths in police captivity, collapsing of newly or under construction structures, involvement of doctors in the human organ trade rackets selling of the degrees by the fake universities, conversion of the prestigious universities of the country into dens of antinational and seditious elements and involvement of ministers and the politicians in the sex rackets has become a common feature of social and political life of the nation. Theses pseudo educated high profile criminals have showcased morality, ethics, loyalties, conscience for sale. Let us, as a nation, explore about these persons. Are they literate, qualified or educated? During the pre and the post-independence period education up to degree level was considered as the prerogative of the elite class. With the passage of time the mushrooming of the universities and that of the degree colleges started taking place both in the private and public sectors which produced only the literates and qualified and not the educated. There are around 300 state levels, 55 central and 180 Deemed universities in the country which include teaching, technical, central and agriculture universities. There are 22,000 degree colleges both in the private and public sectors in the country which is more than the number of high and higher secondary school ever existed in the country.
The swarms of the youth, emerging every year from these colleges and universities add to the already existing army of white collars in the country. The majority of them is unawakening, unenlightened, unregenerate, and irrational. They are undemocratic, dishonest, disrespectful, disloyal and disobedient in their behavior and are least interested in the welfare and development of the country as a result of which they indulge in such activities which in no way conform to the moral character expected of a true, loyal and dedicated citizen of the country.
Comparing literacy, qualification and education we come to the conclusion that they are poles apart from each other as regards their meaning and goals are concerned. There is a thin line between literacy and education. While literacy talks about imparting of 3 Rs. i.e reading writing and arithmetic or literacy, numeracy and technocacy (science) whereas education is a lifelong process and power of acting with body, power of thinking with mind and the power of feeling with heart. We confuse qualification with education.
A person who is highly qualified can be less educated and vice versa. We often come across persons called as highly qualified in different subjects but lacking in basic ingredients of life, like being honest, being helpful, respecting elders, spiritual attitude and working for some good cause. The values cannot be imbibed only by going to school, colleges and universities only but can be imbibed by inheritance, by inspiration and educative values. The qualification so obtained trains only our intellect but does not bring grace to our heart. The present system of education revolves round the subjects only
The education is right belief, right feeling and write action which is a right passage from quantitative accumulation to qualitative emergence. So far as the meaning of the education is concerned it is a lifelong process which starts from the womb of the mother and ends in the tomb. According to the University Education Commission report "Education is not merely a means of earning a living. It is a training of human souls in the pursuit of truth and practice of virtue. It is a second birth. According to Gandhi ji education stands for balanced and harmonious development of personality of man. Milton considers complete and generous education that which fits a man to perform justly, skillfully and magnanimously all the offices both private and public of peace and war. Education becomes purposeful if it inculcates moral, spiritual, aesthetic, cultural and social values among the students otherwise the literacy and acquiring of higher qualifications have no civic and disciplinary values. Kothari commission and National Policy Of Education speak in unison that "Education should be for fostering love for the country and the countrymen, pride in India's cultural heritage, maintain national integrity, honesty, dignity of labor, respect for national symbols and Indian constitution. Therefore the disciplinary education is that which educates the common student to respect their elders, do mental exercise, do meditation as it was used in the previous educational system like Guru Kula.
Even more than six decades after independence we as a nation couldn't provide the type of education to the youth which could make them honest, disciplined, dedicated, loyal,and democratic and patriot to the backbone. In the absence of these needed values the terrorists, divisive, disrupting and antinational forces are raising their heads and are striking at the targets fearlessly. The politicians and the bureaucrats spare no chance in minting money and becoming multimillionaire overnight. The high profile criminals are gradually eating into the vitals of society and the country. We have plenty of time left to correct our educational set up so that our educational institutions produce the citizens who are honest and sincere to the backbone and are accountable for their deeds before the countrymen. These high ranking bureaucrats and politicians should keep the interests of the nation above their never ending greed because 'there is sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed'. |
