The above lines quoted by the 'Father of The Nation', Mahatma Gandhi, emphasizes on the true essence of education in enlightening the minds and souls of thousands of people all over the world. Our country, India since time immemorial has fought back against various obstacles to attain the status of being a 'devoloped country'. After a long drawn struggle of seven decades, it has almost succeeded in fulfilling its wish by attaining a Gross Domestic Product(GDP) rate of 7.1 percent as in the fiscal year,2017,which is higher than most of its contemporaries. This mass development would not have been possible without the whole-hearted contribution of the educated citizens of the country. Thus, Education is that driving force which contributes to the growth of a nation. At present, with a literacy rate of 74.04 percent, the Indian Government is trying its level best to sow the seed of education in every nook and corner of the country, be it the rural area or the urban area.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word education has been defined as "the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university."However, the word education has a wider meaning than this. It is not a finite process just confined within the four walls of a school or a university. Attaining proper education is a lifelong process which comes to an end only with one's last breath.
The present education system in our country is all about achieving a goal, passing a test and obtaining good grades. However, on a serious note, education is much more than this, and therefore the system requires many improvements in order to prepare the youth for facing more serious challenges in this 'field of battle' ,called life.
The present education system should focus on better quality of education rather than the quantity of knowledge attained during ones lifetime. The youth should be given a scope to utilise their creative minds in analysing a problem rather than putting forward a memorised theory from the prescribed textbooks. Amongst all the creatures, human beings are the most intelligent of all. Famous writer, Dale Carnegie, in his self-help book, "How to Win Friends And Influence People" ,has written , "The average person develops only ten percent of his latent mental ability."Thus, if the youth is not allowed to utilise their intelligence and creative thinking, then they will fail to identify their actual potential. Hence, maximum stress should be given to practical training rather than theoretical knowledge. After learning about a particular subject, the teachers should make it a point to give students assignments on how to put the knowledge gained into actual practice. Practical method is one of the best methods of developing skills among the youngsters from a very tender age. These skills that they develop in the early years of their life is going to help them in the future when they pursue a career of their choice.
Digital Education should be made a must in the Indian classrooms. Taking initiative from the Digital India programme of the Government, every educational institution should embark on teaching the students on digital platforms so that the use of paper can be drastically reduced. As the saying goes, "One tree one life", it is our moral obligation to preserve trees by considerably reducing the usage of papers. Taking inspiration from the Digital India Initiative, the present generation should be taught about the cashless modes of payment, online banking , etc. With the minimum amount of cash flow in the economy, there will be a better distribution of wealth amongst all the sections of the society.
Health Education should be made an important part of the curriculum as a healthy body makes a healthy mind. Thus, every institution, all over the country should promote yoga classes . Sports should be encouraged, as this will not only help in making good sportspersons but will also help in maintaining physical fitness among the youth of the country. Mahatma Gandhi had once stated, "The future of India lies in its villages. If the villages perish, India will perish too."At present, the literacy rate in rural India is 68.9 percent while the urban area has reported 85 percent literacy. Thus, the education system should widen its horizon so that every villager in our country can receive education so that the literacy rate increases to cent percent in the near future. India has always maintained its status of being the pioneer of education in the world and with a little improvement in the present education system, we can be at par with the other superpowers of the world.
- Monalisa Poali
