Education - few thoughts on how, what and why.. :)

Whenever we debate regarding our society’s problem, we end up with education. We think that education is the key for solving all kinds of problem. But we fail when we come to the procedure of educating all. Our government is trying very hard for many years, but after spending huge amount of money and time, the result is not satisfactory, though they are still working hard. Education is very funny, if we think little deeper on it and its association with the solutions of the problems we are facing now. The irony is the kind of education we are getting also actually takes equal responsibility in causing the problem.

I mean the solution doesn't lie in mare description of saying providing education to mass. Equal importance should be given to what is being educated also. Education system is the biggest weapon we can use to shape the society – some people call it “weapon of mass instruction”. But the biggest mistaken perception our society has towards education is – it is available only inside the class room of schools, colleges and university campuses. Another wrong perception is thinking getting education is only for getting a job. It is not the mistake of the people; I would say it is the byproduct of the system that is being developed to make the procedure simpler. When I was kid, many of my friends dropped school and didn't give interest to their study, because they think their parent is not rich enough, they cannot become doctor, engineer and IAS, and therefore what is the use of education. I have friends who said, ‘after completion of master if we do not get job, what is the use of doing that’. At that time, there were many university students who were jobless. In my state still more than 90% (may be more or less) of the population think getting education is only for getting job – mostly in government organization. I don’t mean that is wrong, getting job is one important reason but there are few more things that we are not realizing, may be because of the kind of education we are getting from our schools and universities. It doesn't mean we have to blame the schools alone; it is time to see education from holistic point of view. Every damn small thing we encountered in our life taught us, and that is also an education. The kind of parents and the family culture we have, the words they used, the moral and value they follow, the kind of locality where we brought up, the kind of friends we have, and the movies and other entertainment mediums and also the festivals and rituals we follow is also an education. But it depends, some people see following wrong thing is the education and some people think avoiding the wrong things after seeing those is education. 

I feel our education system should give more importance on the morality and self esteem. And also teaching the students to be themselves and be what they want to be. It is big sin to criticize the student who doesn't want to become doctor or engineer. And also should punish those teachers who compare one student with others. We born with different face, the same way we born with different interest and that make us different – different skill sets. The actual purpose of education should be like facilitator and moral guide for guiding the student to reach his destination. It is not deciding a fix destination for all and pushing them to walk there, and eliminating those who cannot travel to that path. When morality comes, here comes the responsibility – towards self and society. Our societal value is getting down, the rape and molestation case is rising up, the crime rate is increasing, and people do not trust to each other. This is because of complete failure of the education system. The failure is because we consider only schools and universities are responsible for providing education. The things that should be constant to all are moral and ethics, not the career they choose. When paying above ten lakhs for getting a small post in governmental organization/department becomes culture, the problem is not with the people who are taking money, but the kind of education that taught to the educated youths who think giving bribe is not wrong and it is acceptable.