“TRUE EDUCATION IS THAT WHICH PROVES USEFUL IN LIFE AND MAKES YOU INDUSTRIOUS”

“True education does not consist merely in acquiring of a few facts of science, history, literature or art, but in the development of character” - DAVID O. McKay

The state of education in India at present, unfortunately, cannot be called either ”useful” or “industrious”. India may have made many strides in increasing its literacy rates from 11% pre-independence to 76% at present, however, it has been unable to shake itself moving from literacy to education.

There is a need to revisit the whole idea of what constitutes education in India. No Indian universities ranks among the top 100% universities in the world and India ranks among the bottom set in all creativity and innovation indexes. According to a 2014 ASER survey, a student of class fifth cannot read a textbook of a class second. Surely, all these statistics from different sphere of education should be enough to joint the country out of its slumber to make education in India meaningful and address the various challenges in the education sector.

India has celebrated 68 years of independence, however, in terms of education it retains the colonial mindset. Indian schools and universities continue to emphasize on rote learning which kills all creativity and originality. True education is one which propels an individual to innovate to improve society and help the nation progress. Innovation, creativity, and originality can never come from rote learning and writing. Such a methodology suppresses the cognitive facilities of the mind.

While Indian education tends to be fact and knowledge oriented, even this aspect of education is found wanting. Books and study material of NCERT have not been updated since 2000. How can knowledge which lacks an understanding of the present context be useful? Even the teaching pedagogic methods remain unchanged, which are purely focused on teaching what is there in textbooks without an attempt to go beyond it.

In the Indian education system, a basic weakness is also is its inability to incorporate vocational training. This has often rendered Indian students being unemployable. There is a mismatch between skills of Indian students and skills required by the industries. This aspect again undermines education's usefulness.

One big failing of Indian education which makes it fall short of becoming true education is ignoring the different types of education. While India focuses only on facts-based education, it neglects value-based education, such as SOCIAL EDUCATION, MORAL EDUCATION, AND POLITICAL EDUCATION.

Social education requires a student to develop sensitivity toward the various communities that comprise a society. It requires a person to develop tolerance and respect for different casts, classes, races, and religions. It aims at developing a culture respecting women and other vulnerable sections of society. With increasing integration due to globalization, encounters of cultures and peoples of different countries has emerged. For better social cohesion and social harmony, individuals must be socially educated to acquire the required social skill set.

Moral education is again a big question mark in the scheme of Indian education. Inculcating values of honesty, truthfulness, kindness, etc. can go a long way in curbing various ills of society. Not only will it prevent social violence, and crimes, but even eliminate the culture of corruption from its routes.

Political education is also required to strengthen the very foundation of democracy.

If people are educated from the very start about the benefits of political engagement and participation and the role of active citizenry, the many malaises which plague our political system such as nepotism, criminalization of politics, etc. will be removed.

Some state the importance of even physical education in the overall scheme of education. Many believe that health is often the key to a healthy mind.

Thus, there is much left to be desired in Indian scheme of education. It is not ‘useful’ nor ‘industrious’ as it is not wholesome. It neglects social, moral, and political education. It is not skill oriented as it does not focus on vocational training. Unemployment among students is then a consequence that generates widespread disillusionment. Even the knowledge is not updated in textbooks and teaching skills are wanting.

All of this has crushed creativity and thereby any chance at innovation. India has not produced an original thinker since many years now. It has fallen short of developing the character of individuals conducive to a multicultural society.

All of this can only go if we change our approach of focusing on quantity and moving towards focusing on the quality of education. The government has succeeded in increasing enrollment rates at the primary education level which has boosted literacy, but literacy of mere reading and writing is not equal to education, or rather true education.

True education is one which builds social cohesion, establishes trust, peace & harmony in society, strengthens democracy and transforms individuals into moral agents. It is one which builds the capacities of people in such a way that they achieve their full potential and develop their facilities. It is also one which provides the student with market-ready skills.

To conclude, India can follow Gandhi's “NAI TALIM”(new education) model, which incorporates social, moral, and political dimensions of education and follows the principle of ‘LEARN AS YOU WORK’ (vocational training). This can truly transform India's scheme of education and make it a true education, one which is wholesome and beneficial. There is an urgent need to debate the whole idea of education in Indian and turn the whole idea on its head. We need to go back to producing great thinkers like Kautilya, scientists like Aryabhatta and C.V. Raman, and social scientists like Amritya Sen, to take the country to higher and higher levels of excellence.