Mahatma Gandhi defines: ‘Education as the all round development of an individual personality; Physically, Spiritually and mentally’. Strive to the original interpretation of word education, deriving from the Latin word ‘Educare’ meaning the four wall teaching and learning, we understood randomly. In today’s modern period education relevantly is the need for emphasis on the ideal concept of ‘Mahatma Gandhi’s definition which has a vocational call to understand the true concept of education that can transform this modern era’. That recalls on for service education and not selfish money making by the educated individual’s. To be precise education is not the mere possession of writing and reading knowledge of a script or a language. Education in real term is the realising understanding of one’s understands comparatively with the public needs understanding. But today educated understanding is made almost on self. On the other hand, the public in common bears the suffering and loses of our society. Here not in particularly to any of the elected representatives, administrators, clerical employees nor the temporary in charges of various department and educators of our government and society. Let education be not business, make it a grooming men and women of tomorrow for opportunity change.
Today education can mean different for differently economically categorised individual in our society. The rich and wealth to do section defines education, is fishing in a fishery pond or lake. They are availed with countless alternatives. Their certificates are made worth more than those high ranking performers of the poor financially unstable section of our society. The rich son and daughter certificates with minimum passing percentage are given more weightage, measured with monetary weights, as though those notes gave birth and buried all human potentials and values. For the poor they are deprived off in spite of their potential abilities. Or others are valued marginally in private institutions at the exploitation rate. They felt present educational outcome to be fishing in the desert mirage. Education which was suppose to meant for the transformation of the society in a good positive manner now almost are becoming a night mere for the public who are not backed with influential leaders. What misleading has done to the system by our educated many?
Education has taught us many things in many different ways. We feel good for many transformations and feel not satisfied with some or many at the same. Through education competitions are compelled. We at time feel are minority and left out, thus we look on for mere reservation for the sectional group of the society. In reality it is not making the marginal section to grow but is it blocking the sectional group from competing with the advance group of the society, may it be in educational institutions or governmental offices, for one we may get through reservation, Intern the other many greater number are deprived of the same. We term reservation for some disabled individuals in the section and done away with many other potentials. Today reservations are demanded not only by the minorities and backward sections of the society but the advance sections of the society are demanding for the same. Thus the weaker sections are even weakening. Example is the Meitei’s in Manipur who are now demanding for the tribal status, who were never in the history of Manipur nor India. So is the Puthans of north India who are counted most advance section of the country. In the mean issue and challenges who gains, only the politician who can act to any extent to retain their position and party rule in the government. Heal the sickening system in what true education means to transform and not deteriorates what education can.
Education is means for intellectual growth and enlightenment of an individual, to make mentally alert in the growth and progress of the society, to be physically fit in the society and spiritually moulded that which enables in creating and envisioning a role model in the life of the society. Education should not dishearten and discourage the individual potentiality and confident. Education is not selfish, narrow minded, destruction, depriving, corruption, ignoring, blunder, etc. The educationalist love education but the outcome of that education is disliked in our present society. They are now running way from education. Let us not inherit this system to our younger generation. Let us not put ourselves to the future saying of our younger generation, “we love our elders and fore-fathers but hate the system they had led us down in our society. Education has to be an ice-berg tip signalling all possibilities and transformation in the conducive and brighter future of all who exist.
R. Hingba Paul, Asst. Professor, St. Joseph’s College Jakhama, Kohima, Nagaland.
