The word Education has been coined from the latin word ēdūcere, which means to draw out or bring out a child’s unique potential. Furthermore, it involves teaching them how to approach the hurdles short comings & setbacks of life while empowering them to be the vehicles of love and hope for the world.
A few years back, the major concerns of any school were – students sticking chewing gum under the table, missing deadlines, or talking in school, but today schools face serious problems like bullying, drugs abuse, and depression, among many others. To effectively address serious challenges that our children face, we need to consider problems not only with the individual but also with the very system of education that they are subjected to. Schooling and education can make a child successful in the world, but when values are given along with academics, they will be more happy, useful and successful, and develop into great leaders who can change the future of world. These values can’t be taught, they need to be picked up from the surroundings. Hence, it is very important to provide the children with such an environment.
When work is given to children, appropriate to their age, where they can be active just as adults, it prepares the child for life. Work like gardening, farming, handling, cooking, cleaning can increase the child’s willpower, and instill the ‘can do’ attitude among them, so that they can become independent and happy beings in the future.
Education has the capability to develop an individual from a human being to being human. This can be achieved by developing the child’s physical, mental, intellectual, and spiritual domains.
The physical domain can be developed by Suryanamaskarams or proper exercise. Mental well being can be developed by instilling a strong character by employing moral stories and history as tools.
Intellectual or cognitive development by academics and meta-cognitive development by spiritual scriptures can be achieved by responsible and conscious teachers and parents.
Imagine a system of education where children are taught to judge a person by beauty around and within the heart, and not just by physical appearance, a system of education which is given as much importance as competence, a system of education where children are taught that helping a billion people is more valuable than being billionaire.
Imagine a system of education where developing intelligence goes hand in hand with developing character, a system of education where they can learn to navigate with their own minds. All this is not just imagination, but it is possible if we genuinely begin to value our ethics.
And to achieve all this, we need to revive our curriculum and accept the change. As per my own experience, this can result in a positive transformation among students. Sharing our vision and past experiences in this regard is also important, and needs to be taken to each and every individual in the country.
The views expressed above are the personal opinions of Ameer Khan, Principal, CMR International school, Suraram, Hyderabad, Telangana.
