Bill Gates in a recent interview to Times of India, said that he expects much more from the educational system in India. Point to ponder. Are we as a nation able to provide relevant education in schools? Are the children who step out of schools geared to face life’s challenges?
We can start by answering the question “what is education?”Is education about readying children to focus on methods and techniques to pass exams and get those scores? Is education about being able to get children to conform? Is education about being able to successfully make our children competitive? Is it enough if through our education, we educate these children to be able to lead competitive lives, succeed in the rat race, have a position in life, have enough money for the world to acknowledge? Where, where are we heading to ………?
Can we momentarily pause, in this mad race, to wonder whether we have taught our children to be happy, to be content, to be safe, to be healthy, to be connected?
We need to teach our children to be calm, happy and healthy. The basic education we can give our children is knowledge of themselves, which includes
- their external body – how to take care of it – the changes that occur during the process of growth and
- their inner body – understanding thoughts, actions, emotions – how to effectively handle them – their value system etc.
We need to help them to have all those life skills to manage relationships. We need to set just a simple goal before them – that of carving a life filled with right choices and happiness.
With this basic education administered, everything else will fall into place. We, as School Leaders and decision makers in educational institutions, are the “Change Agents” . We need to make the change happen NOW.
The destiny of this country will be determined by how well we have played the role of “Change Agents”