Imagine that, a horse can run very fast, that’s why you think, that the horse is only for racing, for riding, because you don’t expect other work from it. But if I say that you are expecting the same work from your children too, that they also keep running in the race of education and job, while a human can do many works. Neither education is wrong, nor job but you have made a beautiful garden, but grown only one type of flowers, you can trade those flowers in the market, but you can’t make the garden beautiful. That’s why degree certificates are sold, while skills have to be learned.
What do you think? Why do you take education? Just for a job? Or for a degree, or really to develop the ability to think and understand? Education convinces you, that not opposing anyone is being civilized. A good and obedient child is the one who obeys everyone, because an educated person becomes a good employee, but perhaps not free human being, that’s why even big decisions like marriage are still taken by your parents.
School gives us information, but doesn’t teach the art of thinking. The structure of education is designed in such a way, that you become a good follower, become obedient, not a “free thinker”. That’s why studies make you memorize answers, while real education raises questions.
In Athens 2500 years ago, the first historical event happened, where a teacher was killed for asking questions on people’s beliefs. What was Socrates’ crime? Teaching people that—’asking questions is greater than fear.’ Today you go through so many schools and colleges, but are you really learning that? For which Socrates had to drink the cup of poison? Have you really learned studying, or just passing exams?
The purpose of education is not just to fill information, but to light the lamp of knowledge inside you. But our classrooms and society don’t light the lamp of knowledge inside us, they set a mental fire. ‘Competition’, among such children, where one knows only studying, while the other knows art. Competition of what? Just to get a good marks, where the competition is neither fair nor reasonable. Society appreciates the one who gets good marks, and calls the one with low marks weak. Where for a disappointed and troubled child, education is a burden, that’s why the education sector is a multi-billion-dollar business.
Every year thousands of degree certificates are sold and bought, in every state of India, in every country of the world, there are many such universities, everyone knows, no one wants to speak and why wouldn’t they buy? You have given more importance to paper degree, instead of competence and skill. The biggest irony- the middle class which calls the education system the worst and corrupt, is the biggest buyer. So are you really getting educated today? Or just collecting certificates?
If I talk about old times then in the 19th century in Europe, the purpose of education was to prepare laborers for factories. In colonized countries like India, Africa before independence, the purpose of education was to prepare a class of low-grade employees, who work on low salary. In simple words, the colonial ruler wanted to make you a good clerk, whose handwriting is good, so that records are noted properly. You can do accounts like adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing and from time to time write necessary applications and letters to the government. This impact is somehow seen in today’s education. While bad handwriting doesn’t mean you don’t have information, or you are not intelligent and maths is much beyond adding-subtracting. Honestly, in the 19th century the situation was very bad.
But today? In your child’s school bag doesn’t contain books, but the burden of exams. Not freedom in the mind, but fear of future, a fear that shakes the child’s mental balance. Fear of not getting job, fear of getting low marks, fear of lagging behind others, while real education creates freedom in your mind, reduces burden, removes fear. But current education increases stress and you think, your child is studying, getting good grades without knowledge. But it doesn’t matter to you, that the system is preparing children for life or just molding them into a process?
If I tell my own story, I am not an expert, once I was thrown out of class, I still remember, that day of 8th class, because I didn’t know the answers to teacher’s questions and teacher didn’t know mine. My question was not important for teacher, nor in syllabus? But for me the answer to my question was necessary and for teacher theirs and as I told, that I didn’t know answer, because I had no purpose for studying, that’s why at that time I had no interest in studies either. Punishment was acceptable to me, but what did the teacher really do? Silenced me by saying, that my silly questions and my useless thinking have no future. They buried my curiosity of asking questions, in the syllabus itself. Today years later my curiosity has pulled me back here, from where I started asking questions.
So what is education? Education is a machine for job, exam is the measure of intelligence, and rote learning is more important than understanding. While exam-based education doesn’t teach real life skills. Because of this opposite notion of society, it becomes difficult for independent thinking to take birth. History also made the same mistake, many religious empires kept control on education, because their empire would shake from people who think and ask questions. Whether it is Galileo, Mansur Al-Hallaj or Raja Rammohan Roy- eventually, society considers them a threat.
But today to improve education, the only solution is to give your children the freedom to think and the freedom to question. Children must be kept away from superstition and misinformation. If you fear the sunlight and keep hiding then one day, you will even forget what light is. Let children spread light, let it become bright, don’t fear the truth, face it. One day with the end of darkness everything will look clear, clean and beautiful. Like after morning, beauty of nature becomes clearly visible. Education is not only bookish or external knowledge, education is the internal experience of human being, a broad and continuous process that lasts a lifelong, the process of moving from incompleteness to completeness. You have to understand, the purpose of education is not degree, but vision. And vision is born, when we have the courage to ask— “Whatever I know, why is it worth knowing?”