Education

Why should we be educated?

What is the purpose of education?

Pose this question to any school goin kid, answer would be to become an engineer, doctor or any other profession, according to the environment from which he comes. We may not be surprised to hear that its to earn money.

Is this answer correct ? What's the reality ?

I feel, education should be a training ground to prepare oneself to lead a honest life. We used to have Moral Science as a compulsory subject, in which human values such as Honesty, Faith, Surrender, Truth, Obedience,Discipline,Trust,Sanctity,Morality, Ethics, CommonSense were taught beautifully in the form of short stories. Teachers used to imbibe these values into the young minds in a smooth manner. I say, this is value-based education. This is very imporatant in addition to technology and science. Science and Technology without values is very dangerous and harmful to society.

Childrens should be inspired to Master in the subject he takes up. He should not be forced to achieve first rank in class. This is a false impression of Competition. This imbibes jealousy among young minds. Instead of concentrating on the subject, they concentrate on how to defeat his co-friend. This attitude, i feel is not an healthy sign.

I love to hear from a child that the purpose of education is to Master myself. This is the exact meaning when Swami Vivekananda say - 'Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man'.