Education for good citizenship

First in the series of articles picked up from the web for the readers of this blog.

“ A hundred years hence,” prophesied Bertrand Russel, “ Education will teach people to do rather than to think or feel.”

We may ask, what is meant by good citizenship? Who is a good citizen? The answer can be given as, the one who contributes his best for the well being of the family, society and the country of which he is an integral part. He has responsibilities towards his family and the nation. He is not concerned about his well being only, but also about the larger good of the society and the country. The inevitable question arises: Does the present education help us to become good citizens? The answer could be ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

True education can best be gained by studying the lives of great men and following their footsteps. Take the case of Gandhiji. He was no remarkable child. He grew up as a shy boy. He did not join others boys much either in games or in childhood pranks. Nor was he extraordinary at studies. Still, the ordinary shy boy attained great heights in life. Gandhiji’s greatness lay in the fact that even though he was an ordinary boy, he was truthful, hard working and honest to his work. He became rich in his virtues through respect for all, constant search for goodness where it might be found, seeing the good in others and ignoring their faults and weaknesses. He tried to weed out his weaknesses all through life. He was great not because he was born great. His greatness came as a culmination of a life full of courage and industry. He reaped the fruits of self-education. Through love, truthfulness, self-service and hard work, he hammered out a rich, beautiful and glowing personality, the like of which can be found only in centuries. Service to humanity was the motto in Gandhiji’s life. His life and martyrdom demonstrate that here was a man who sacrificed his life for the betterment of humanity.

None of us in this present generation can emulate one hundredth of Gandhian ideas. The best we can do is not to abuse and misinterpret his legacy. We have made a mockery of Gandhiji’s ideas of satyagraha, strike and hartals. We often cry hoarse about our rights, but are little bothered about duties. And this kind of deviation is manifest in almost every field. Politics has become a cesspool of corruption and criminality; it has become a thriving business to become rich; bureaucracy has become lethargic, corrupt and unaccountable. And all of them claim they are educated. We are in a bloody mess just because we have nurtured an education that feeds the intellect, but dos not enrich the mind and the heart. We don’t blame any of those who have been able to raise their standard of living through higher education. The crux of the matter is that in the hot pursuit of money, they should not lose their moorings.

Only a good human being can become a good citizen. Does today’s education help in character building? The answer is a big ‘NO’. “Knowledge has outstripped character development, and the young today are given an education rather than an upbringing”. We seem to have lost ourselves in today’s labyrinthine mad race. Well-educated parents are dreadfully too busy to spare half an hour for their children. Lavishing money on them is a poor substitute for all the love and care a child needs and craves for. And when the relations between the spouses are strained, then things go haywire. The basic principle of give and take is lost in the daily bickering at home. Such people pass the bitterness in the family to their neighborhood and society. This is the price we pay when we impart an education that feeds the intellect only.

Those who live in towns and localities find the daily grind a tough nut to crack, more so in our big towns and villages. Most of the people follow the rules of the book. But there are many who try to flout the civic order; try to jump the queue, spit on the road, or in aisles in running vehicles, leave unwanted skins on the road and make nuisance of themselves. Many school textbooks teach us the elements of civic sense, but how many of us follow the rules in both letter and spirit. Some believe the best way to keep our surroundings clean is to dump the waste into our neighbor’s outer wall or on the common lane between two blocks of flats.

But there are redeeming features too in an otherwise bleak scenario. There are welfare associations in most of the towns and villages now. They take care of the common problems of the residents in a particular area on such problems like overflowing drainage, cleaning of the road and local drainage, the need for a community hall etc. These demonstrate that union is strength. We can see now how young volunteers to help and care the needy or whenever there was an outbreak of any diseases in our state.

We need such responses from educated people. And such people do emerge only when they have imbibed value-based education. There is nothing wrong to aver that education must guarantee employment. It may be required for just survival or to lead a life dignity. But what we mean here is that such an education must also inculcate eternal values that seek to enrich a society or lead to better governance or brotherhood of man. And such people have a mission in life; for them education means service to society and there is no compromising with the ideals they hold dear. We heard about Vinobaj rendered to distribute land to the landless. Dr. Vargese Kurien made India a power to reckon with In the white revolution. Mother Teresa identified herself with a total dedication to the cause of the poor and the forlorn community. Chandiprasad Bhatt and Sunderlal Bahuguna fought for environmental protection. Mr. T.N Seshan sought to trace the roots of corruption by fighting for probity in politics. Gandhiji remained an apostle of non-violence to his last breadth. Martin Luther King became a martyr to the cause of civil rights. Abraham Lincoln lent a new meaning to democracy and fought for the unity of the country while bringing the ‘coloured’ to the national mainstream. Ms. Arundhati Roy used her mighty pen to espouse the cause of the displaced, joining the movement led by Ms. Medha Patkar. All these great people converted what they learnt in life to a cause larger than life. Their real education began after they left the portals of their educational institutions. Theirs has a lifelong education aimed at rooting out injustice everywhere and bringing about the welfare for all.

It is this aspect of education that planners and policy makers must focus on. We don’t want an education that puts criminals in the State legislatures and corrupt officials in the corridors of power. Where there is no code of conduct or basic honesty, that institution is certain to crumble to ruin. Only the honest citizen will be dedicated, persevering and successful in life. Such great souls will not succumb to the pulls of circumstances, swim against the tide and even change the course of history.

“ A hundred years hence,” prophesied Bertrand Russel, “ Education will teach people to do rather than to think or feel.” We have already come to that stage. Education, even imparts professional skills, does not provide the vital dimension to evaluate. The National Policy of Education of 1986 promises to inculcate the ideals of social justice, environmental protection, gender equality, scientific temper and work culture, among others. It must be said that present educational system have failed to provide a curriculum that promotes a value-based education that turns good citizens who will rise above the self and have a sense of devotion and dedication, sincerity and honesty, working hard to make an enlightened society and nation.

By Joel Mangboi Haokip