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Thursday, July 21, 2016

Education package .....


It is fundamentally wrong to offer education and schooling as a homogenized package.

It causes further damage when it aspires to produce stereotyped human beings as if human beings were a product in factory line.

Therefore this allowing boy to be a boy is just not a malady which is gender specific because the trend varies from country to country.

There are many countries which do not allow a girl to be a girl, still worse, not even a human being.

Therefore I am often tempted to question as well as look into many fundamental aspects of socio-cultural, socio-political or socio-religious systems because all of these try to homogenize individual human beings as herds of sheep.

For certain areas of practical social utility such homogenization is inevitable to frame rules so that humans as social beings are able to function without being a hindrance to others as in following traffic rules.

However, applying too much of this homogenization while dealing with young minds leads to lot of bad feeling because each one of them have their own dreams, their own way of approaching life and  they are blossoming with curiosity, bundles of energy, bubbling with enthusiasm, boundless yearning to learn and boisterously exploring and creative attitudes etc.

In countries like India girls are subjected to many unwanted restrictions.

If we look at the root cause rather than the resultant symptom it has to do more with denial of freedom to children to explore, experience and enjoy life as individual souls/human beings, of course with certain basic physical safety measures and awareness of social obligations and humane values- not what elders or existing socio-culture or religious milieu defines or determines as values.

So, going back to what was mentioned earlier the whole society with all its institutions-religious, political, educational institutions- must evince serious interest with concern about the main stake holders i.e. children.

Then based on that premise form certain basic structures which may act as mere guidelines and children must be allowed to choose and carve out a life path depending on their own interests, instincts, impulses, involvement, intelligence and the inevitable circumstances they are in.

Of course, the collective wisdom of experience gained over longer periods of time by elders must be used in a very appealing manner taking into consideration the contextual relevance and inherent attributes of each and every individual child.

These may sound very idealistic and even as a vague utopia but then the fact is that there are no uniform emotions, reactions or psychological conditions.

Though all elders have, rightly so, genuine concerns about their children regarding the physical safety, future financial security, preferred social attitudes manifested as behavior patterns for a safe and harmonious social co-habitation as human species.

Unfortunately elders also adopt various methods to ensure this and in their hyper enthusiasm bordering on paranoiac presumptive prescriptions they become extremely vulnerable.

There are many issues involved in this which I have written about at different times.

Broadly indicated they are:-

1. Education?

2. Values?

3. Pampering and parenting?


4. Perspectives?

5. Over emphasized sense of perceived security?

The harsh reality at the same time is that mass literacy is a must and the society has not come up with any better or suitable or easily adoptable alternative system of education.



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