The Right to Education

This may not be as glaring as ‘Raakhi Ka Syamwaar’ thing in media, but a few years later, this 'Right to Education Bill' might be considered the watershed moment of Indian emancipation. My experience of Indianness has been crying for this since long.

My single belief is that of all the sectors, if any sector can be the panacea, it is the Education sector. Education, even literacy, brings us the power to think right, cultivate and build virtues, differentiate between good and bad. It has got nothing to do with the monetizing power it gives to the individual. It gives a soul to our lives. The above is not didactical in its efficacy, as once my friend remarked that despite having good education, people like Hitler, Osama, Madoff etc were/are not necessarily good persons.

Quite right, as we can’t fight fanaticism and extremity. But if ever there is any way to counter these idiosyncrasies, then again it is through good education only. We have a higher probability to achieve goodness in society by providing everyone compulsory education. This brings us to point what constitutes a good education.

People are very much against rote learning. I am not totally averse to it, as sometimes by-hearting things helps us later. But what I consider a fruitful learning is the ability to liken a subject or idea to take it to extremity. If I like Physics, I should be so engrossed with it as to have a belief of finding undiscovered realities of nature. This is the specifics of a subject, but it will also generate a healthy attitude towards life in general, and other subjects, in particular. Such are all the aspects of our life interrelated.

Anyway this is the apotheosis of an education system. Right now if India can just impart even the famous 3 R’s (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic) to all its citizens, it will create a sea-change down the years. India’s spending in Education Sector is way too low, but somehow tough decisions, if warranted on other sectors, need to be made. As an anonymous quote goes, “Give me a fish, and I will eat for a day. Teach me fishing, and I will eat for a lifetime.”