Nilacharal

Education and Self Development.
Gandhi exhorted the students to make the best use of education for self-development and for the progress of the nation. He insisted that students should shoulder the responsibil ity to set right the maladies in the education system and make it more meaningful and appropriate. The author is aware of experiments carried out by few groups in trying to truly educate the school children within the present set up. The results are encouraging and it is possible to give a meaningful education if only we re-orient our priorities and objectives. The age group that must get immediate attention is between 13 and20. The like minded organisations and right thinking individuals must come together and impress upon the State to set right the things. The eductaion must be made good to develop ones thinking to be rational and unbiased, impart a good value system,manage oneself properly and effectively, and make an individual responsible to the society.

Non-Reductionist Education
V S Naipaul remarks that a living country looks at itself, analyses itself at all times. He also adds that education has to be extended. By ensuring a higher level of extended, holistic, and non-reductionist approach towards education,we can refine the socio-political culture and enhance the economic status ofthe nation. The value and success of any education system must be judged by the'Total Quality Index'.

Salute to Voluenteerism
The attack on illiteracy is effective due to the involvement of about half a crore volunteers in the literacy mission who make five crore people to read and write. Even to properly educate the society, the immediate hope is this sense of volunteerism and a mass movement is the need of the hour. At this juncture,even a revolution can not elevate our social status. Although education is not advocated as the panacea for all our problems, we can be hopeful to resolve them to a great extent if only we attempt to strengthen our education system as a whole and widen the primary education to a larger section. Would the right thinking individuals, non-government organisations, and educationists collectively evolve a system which would not only ensure literacy but also educate the posterity in the real sense and spirit? The minimum that we can do to the nation is to participate in this movement.

Comment from the Author for reader's response

(a) I agree with Mr Venkataraghavan's methodologies (using spacecommunication) to make the education more meanigful. Also, relating the knowledge on local surrounding to the country or world at large is the underlying aim behind the arguments put forth in favour of knowledge on ones'own surrounding.

(b) When I stressed the need for attitude and personality development through a better education, I expressed my strong belief that atttude makes a person to think and that thinking transforms into action. So if actions (bad and good)are the macroscopic symptom, the microscopic fundamental issue for bad actions and reason for good actions lies with the attitude of the person, that makeththe attitude of society at large.

(c) When I elaborated on that, I tried to convey Mr Venkataraghavan's pointthat I strongly believe that education ( a proper education) can become th epanacea for all the ills of the society/country.

(d) Regarding the need for good teachers and good training for teachers, I havementioned about this in my concluding part.