REFORMING
EDUCATION SYSTEM
INDIA’S NO.1. PRIORITY
(Post.2 dt 25-Oct-2012)
We have already analyzed this All Important Topic once
at the URL :
We have seen in that article - what Great Persons think of Education and its
various facets.
It is an undeniable fact that - almost all of our social ills emanate from BAD EDUCATION. In this second article on the Topic, I would like to
emphasize only one IMPORTANT ASPECT of education.
Education must build
Character.
If it does not – then, it is not Education at all.
Unfortunately, today’s education is not building the character to the requisite levels
– in our children and Youth. The results of this weakness are there for all of
us to see.
When we read any News Paper, or listen to any media
comment – we feel disgusted about the state of affairs, in our Nation. Murder,
Rape, terrorism, vandalism, deep seated corruption, open defiance of all laws,
law working for different Individuals differently – just about everything that
is UNLAWFUL and UNETHICAL happens every day in our Great Country.
CHARACTER – implies ETHICAL
standards.
One must adhere to Truth. Truthful living must be the
Norm and must be encouraged at all levels – especially among students, in whom
the character must take roots. Can there be any two Opinions about this?
Buddha and Gandhi are the most recent National Heroes of
India who advocated Truth and Non-violence. These are not religious principles.
They are pure, social, living principles. If a Society must exist and prosper,
its members must adhere to Truth and non-violence.
Living on Honest Earning
is a corollary of the first principle.
All Corruption arises out of DISHONEST LIVING and out of
the temptation for DISHONEST EARNING. If the Highest to the lowest in the
society are tempted to earn money, power, position and even education – by DISHONEST
MEANS , clearly the Education system has sunk into a deep abyss.
Even, for earning a Ph.D., many vouch that in India, one
has to go through non-meritorious, dishonest, subservient approaches – and that
a Ph.D., by itself in India does not imply any Great Talent or focus on the
subject. At that level, one should approach the whole effort – both the student
and the Guide – in a very sacred, deeply dedicated manner. But, by all
accounts, that is not the experience of many who pursue the Ph.D.
Medical Education is
more Sacred than any other Branch of Education.
At least this was the opinion till a few decades ago.
But, today, even the most non-meritorious student can become a Doctor – either by
Money Power & Donations, or, through the caste based Reservation Route. In
either of these routes, a certain minimum qualifying marks is a MUST, say, something
like 70 percent , else, the existing system is putting the lives of many, many
innocent Patients into the hands of Doctors who do not know their job
adequately. And, that totally violates the RIGHT TO LIFE principle in respect of the Patients.
Who can inculcate
CHARACTER in to the students in a school? Who else- other than the Teacher?
Teachers must be selected for their Devotion to the task of Teaching, for their love
of the subject, for their unbiased love of their students – and more
importantly, their innate CHARACTER.
One BAD TEACHER will
churn out thousands of BAD STUDENTS and BAD CITIZENS into the country during his career – and this is happening in
many places.
Selection of Teachers must be done with Great Care – not
just by marks or Caste/Religion – but chiefly
by their INNATE CHARACTER, and their character-building skills.
And, Teachers must
be respected well – by the entire society.
Anybody and everybody should not be questioning the
Teachers. A Teacher must be guided by another BETTER TEACHER only – not by an Administrator – which is a foolish
precedence in India.
CHARACTER – implies UNITY
of people.
If today, we stand divided on religious, caste,
language, racial and so many other factors – the chief reason is CHARACTERLESS
EDUCATION. Education must teach UNITY, which means love for all Indians,
irrespective of all the above factors.
Teach the children UNITY; and in one generation of 20
years, India will emerge as the strongest, most cohesive, most peaceful LIVING
PLACE on earth. Otherwise, India will be sinking from scam into another more
stinking scam – and the stink will be all over the world. Are we at all
thinking, what the current level of corruption and scams is making the rest of
the world feel about us?
Many of them may be feeling that there are so many of
us, willing to sell India for a pittance! For our small selfish ends, many of
us may be willing to sell the country’s Interests. It is not a question of HOW
MANY OF US are like that – it is just that a foreign nation can find any number
of such people among our midst. This feeling can take deeper roots, if the
current level of corruption is not tackled headlong.
Therefore we need CHARACTER BASED, CHARACTER INCULCATING Education.
Character implies
strong Nationalism.
If people are not taught Nationalism, it is the Biggest
tragedy of our education system. We have the best of National Heroes in our
Freedom struggle. Utterly unselfish, completely Patriotic, completely Truthful,
and what more do we want? Are we promoting our National Heroes?
CASTE DIVISION is said to be our National shame.
OK. Even if this was originally good in some long, long
past, if it is BAD today, we can and we must get rid of it by teaching so in our
EDUCATION SYSTEM.
I know that Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Adi Sankaracharya,
Ramanujacharya, Gandhi – all preached love for all human beings. Adi Sankaracharya
has specifically said that he was himself
severely chided by Lord Siva himself for showing a bit of untouchability practice. All of Rama’s disciples
like Guha, Sabari, the Great monkeys, the bears, the Birds, the Rakshasas –
come from extraordinarily diverse backgrounds – and Rama loved them all
equally. Krishna loved, Vidura, Sanjaya, Kubja more than the Great Kourava
kings. He grew up as a Yadava and married in all possible castes. The whole of
Mahabharat is full of INTERCASTE MARRIAGES. Yes. CASTE was there.
But, for an example, a BRAHMANA was defined as one who
sees all people in himself and sees himself in all people. He must treat all
people equally – else he is not a Brahmana. This was the way, Caste remained in
ancient days.
But, like any other system, this system also
degenerated. Today, we can either change it or DUMP IT totally and replace it
with a healthier, equitable system – which is possible through our Education
System. We are not doing it. We are doing the opposite. We are perpetrating the
same caste system – in a different mould.
CHARACTER must teach
self confidence.
Everyone is born with some Unique abilities. No one is
inferior. No one must be told that he is INFERIOR. But, our people, especially
the Politicians, say so again and again –
merely to create distrust, enmity, different complexes and divisions in our society today.
We can remove many of our social ills through a strong
CHARACTER BASED EDUCATION. But, we are drifting. We are drifting into a
bottomless abyss – by not reforming our Education.
The longer we take to introduce an Education which
builds character, the greater is the peril for India from its own inside and
outside.
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* E N
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