Education?

‘One would assume that education will solve all issues in the world, but does it? It seems to work both ways, depends upon who is using it.

Knowledge is power and, therefore, must be imparted and used judiciously, with extreme caution, by the educators and the students. On one hand, thankfully, it empowers the female gender, which has been openly discriminated against for centuries – socially culturally and religiously – as well as the poor and the socially disadvantaged people. It illuminates one’s mind and removes ignorance, thereby empowering it. However, on the other hand, it also empowers the dangerous and destructive minds – the villains – in this world.

In this day and age, most strife, war mongering, and propagation of social hate and violence is generally the brain-child of the so-called educated people. It would be wrong to say that most educated people are corrupt, but it would not be far from the fact that most corrupt people are educated, some very well educated. In fact, there could be an alarmingly direct correlation between the level of education and the level of corruption. Corruption at high levels requires only the educated people, with full know-how of internal working, loopholes and the escape routes.  So, from that point of view, it does not really matter if the person has the ‘educated’ label or not; what matters is what kind of education the person has received. Has the education made the person peace-loving, benevolent and happy or if it is the other way round?

In our life, many things have a dual use – one for the benefit of the humanity and one against. Every technology has been, and is being, used both ways – to construct / help and to destruct. If and when used properly and judiciously, knowledge and technology prove to be beneficial for the mankind. However, when misused, they have disastrous consequences. For example:

• Food is important for survival, but excess of it makes one a glutton, and potentially obese and morbidly sick.
• Water is a life saver but it can also drown a person.
• Sugar, when consumed in a limited quantity, makes deserts delicious; but, in a large quantity, it is nothing short of a white poison that potentially kills through diabetes, cancer and a range of deadly diseases.
• Medicines cure us when used as per the doctor’s recommended use and dosage. But, when misused, they have the opposite consequences.
• Many insomniac people need sleeping tablets to fall into slumber, but many people also commit suicide by overdosing themselves.
• Radioactive materials can be used for curing sick people, as well as for making nuclear bombs.
• A knife that helps in the kitchen can also be used to kill.
• Motor vehicles and aeroplanes, until recently, considered to be such great facilities for commuting, are now also being used as weapons of mass destruction.
• Fire is used for cooking but, when uncontrolled, it can reduce everything to ashes.

Like the above, education also works both ways.

One type of education does not fit all minds. It does not make any sense to empower a person with a certain skill set or a technology or a certain domain of knowledge if that person has the intent to cause harm to others. Such a person needs holistic education (moral, civil, ethical, environmental) that transforms him / her completely at his/ her core, for the benefit of the world at large.

Many people mask their negative thoughts and evil plans easily. Such people can’t be identified till they commit violent acts; for example, the mass shootings that happen in the US on a regular basis are committed by seemingly quiet people. Therefore, education must be holistic for all, without taking any chances, as there are no labels on the foreheads of people that can identify them. The assumption must be that all students can potentially develop negative and destructive tendencies; therefore, before that happens, their minds must be holistically developed.

When an education system is seen to be a mechanism mainly for gaining material wealth and winning competitions and forging ahead of others, it can be considered to have lost its primary objective. It makes selfish, unhappy and mean individuals. Such a rotten education system must be scrapped altogether, sooner than later, otherwise it will further exacerbate a growing strife and unhappiness in the world. A new holistic system, that helps to make a coherent, peaceful and a happier world, must then be earnestly introduced.

The world urgently requires holistic education for one and all, for complete human development, where humans enjoy the logical end-product of life – i.e. a good health (mental, spiritual, physical), peace and happiness. Our world does not need education for (hollow) materialistic progress of unhappy and potentially violent individuals.

Unless the total mindset, concept, mechanism and infrastructure of education changes URGENTLY in India, the country will NEVER attain pure happiness and the real human progress. Corruption, fragmentation and human exploitation will grow unabated. Education must be seen as SERVICE and NOT as a cash-cow industry.

The performance of engineers can be judged by the end-users of the products / structures they design and construct. The performance of  doctors can be judged by the pace and degree of recovery of their patients. The performance of leaders can be gauged based on the health and happiness of the nation and all its citizens, especially the women. Similarly, the performance of teachers and educators can be judged based on the degree of benevolence of the young citizens they produce in the schooling system.

Just the way the strength and integrity of the foundation of a building is essential for its desired performance, holistic education in primary schools is essential for laying the foundations of character building of young citizens. Therefore, primary schooling lays the foundation of a nation; it must be of the highest standard – free, compulsory and holistic. Primary school teachers must be amongst the brightest minds, dedicated to SERVE the nation and, in return, remunerated at the highest salary levels.

Educators and policy makers, are you listening?’ Bill K Koul