Jayaprada Patel
completed MCA from KIIT University, Bhubaneswar in May,2011. Prior to
this she has done her B.A Major in History from IGNOU study centre at Gangadhar
Meher Autonomous College, Sambalpur. Currently she is working as a Data entry
operator. She is passionate about education in its real sense which involves
the ability to use one’s knowledge, skills and abilities to further the
development of society. She is also very keen to ensure that education should
focus on ecological balance and love for nature. In this article, she rightly
points out the flaws in our current academic system which lays emphasis on
gathering information rather than acquiring life skills. She opines that
economic development in totality is possible only when individuals apply their
education to serve the societal requirements
You might have heard of "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan"
– Education for All- Sab Padhen, Sab Badhen. But how much has this project been
successful? I’m working in one of the poor states of India, Orissa, in an
administration role. Here I see there are no required no. of teachers and
lecturers available in the schools & colleges. Not all of them are getting
sufficient salary to take interest in teaching the students. And also the
standard of the teachers and students are the same. The teachers don't have
that knowledge to teach the students. The children go to school, but what are
they learning? They can't even write their names correctly. In our village
college, where I am working, there is no regular classes been held. Some
students have just taken admission to pass the exam by copying and get a
degree. For the mid-day meal in schools the food that is cooked is not of good
quality nor are they cooked hygienically.
So what is the use of sending children to
schools, if they learn nothing and there is no improvement? They know nothing
but only mobile, TV, cinema, bike, cricket, and all sorts of unnecessary
things. When those children will grow they will remain unemployed and do crime.
Even now at this age they are engaged in theft and drinking alcohol.
One day a girl came with a small chain of silver to mortgage for money.
Her mother had sent her to borrow money. My mother used to lend money on
things and on that day she was not at home. She had been to my uncle's
house. I refused to give that girl money as I didn't knew who she was. I saw the getup of the girl. She
was wearing a dirty frock. I thought why not do something for them. Only by
sending them to school is not all. They don't have enough money for their
livelihood; they live so shabbily and in unhygienic conditions. Besides formal
education, why not engage them in some sort of occupation. No need to eradicate
child labour, but give them those works to do which will be like fun and play
to them and they would learn from it also. Nature can provide everything that
you want. There are farm lands but they are used only for rice cultivation.
Similarly we can plant trees like mango and earn from it.
Every child is not good in studies. Those who
are good students and are willing to study they can progress and can
get a job. But what for those who are dull in studies? The children’s home will
look more beautiful if there is a garden. Not like a garden to play but like a
farm house where those children will plant fruit trees like mango, papaya,
and those trees which don't require much care. By doing this the children will
be close to nature and can understand its importance. Let children make
friendship with nature. Our nation is primarily agro dependent; what will
happen if all children only become office workers? Who would tend the fields
and where would food come from? Even in Vedic age, children used to stay in
ashram and besides study they were doing all sorts of household work in the
ashram. It would be good to learn from some of these shortfalls of the Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyaan when we undertake the development of children.
I recall a story that my father used to tell me when
I was younger. There was a prince and he wanted to marry a girl. The girl was
not a princess. She was a poor girl but she knew some craft. The girl kept a
condition. She told the prince that, alright you are a prince and can get
whatever you want but tell me one skill that you have developed. What can
you make? Do you know any craft? If you want to marry me then you have to learn
some sort of craft. So the prince then decided to learn to make mats and then
he got married to the girl. One day the prince went to the city alone and
entered to a wine shop. The dacoits in the shop captured the prince. The prince
was alone and he couldn't do anything. Days passed and the prince thought of an
idea to get himself free from the dacoits. He told them that he knew to make
beautiful mats. If they could provide the materials, he would make one for
them. They could take it to the Raja and he would reward them handsomely. The
dacoits agreed and brought all those materials. The prince then made the mat
and in Arabic language which the dacoits did not understand, he wrote in the
mat the place where he was kept. The dacoits took the mats and showed the Raja.
The Raja read what was written in the mats by his son. The prince's wife also
recognized that those mats could have been made by the prince only. The Raja
sent his soldiers and killed all the dacoits and saved the prince. So the
prince was saved by virtue of his intelligence and the skill of making mats
that he learnt at the insistence of his
wife. So, each one of us
must know a skill to stand us in good stead in times of emergency. That skill
can also help the family by providing an alternative source of income.
In my opinion, even in BalVikas, emphasis should be
laid on children getting some form of skills training. If you teach children
any sort of craft which they can do or they like to do, then it will be helpful
for them. For girls it should be made compulsory because nowadays it is very
important that they should be financially independent.
As Swami mentions, that alone is true education which
enhances character and makes one self reliant.
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