Purpose of Schooling to our children

(Dr. M. Faiyazuddin )

Guiding formally the youngsters in a certain direction through
teachers with a view to helping them learn is the sole objective of
any school. Hence school, teachers and learning are in a way
synonymous. The objective behind school is, therefore, to promote
learning abilities among students instead of educating them only.
Education is the higher form of learning; it’s an enlightening
experience; it is to give intellectual, moral and social instruction;
it is to train the brain and makes it aloft for certain purpose.
Learning on the other hand, is entirely an active effort; it is to
prepare the mind for acceptance and application. It is to yield to
grab without protest. When learning temperament is set in, education
begins. Learning is the ground work for education. Hence school/
college system of education should be as such that the objectives are
respectively marked. If it is mixed or not clearly marked, objectives
remain unachievable. This is a great problem with many schools where
the objective is not defined. Every school should therefore have its
mission statement. If we begin to educate our 5th standard child
instead of enabling him to learn, he will hardly be a successful
individual of our social fabric; and if we make a university student
learn, instead of educating him, we will be failing to produce
scholars. Until the objective is set in, effort is in vain. And here
lies our problems.

What I mean is that our schools should above all create an environment
where learning ability of the students is cultivated. This is the
bedrock to all teaching. If students see but don’t react; they listen
but don’t respond; they read but don’t understand; they understand but
don’t absorb, it is deplorable. If the scenario is this, and it is
indeed this at many institutions, this is a matter of concern. We
hardly bother to tackle this issue. Teachers will have to be road
models; Management will have to lend hands of support and
administration will have to ease the way. The senior students will
have to behave keeping in view their juniors.

One another defect of our school education system is that we have
delinked learning or education from commercial concern. Once a student
comes out in practical life, he finds his learning having no match
with the world around. The outside world consists solely of money
value while our school education system has no correspondence with
commercial concern. What heralds for the passed -out is either
disappointment or reaction. One of the reasons behind extremism may be
lack of correspondence between the learning and application.

There are many schools which concern much about learning abilities of
the students to develop and hence they chalk out their teaching plan
in which application aspect is not overlooked. They have indeed
contributed positively to the growth of India today. Yet there are
many schools which don’t lay any importance to it. They resort to
excuse in quotes like, ‘unity of India lies in its diversity.’
Intelligent excuse! But should we teach our youngsters more about
diversity than unity? This type of thinking is most passive. This is
unassertiveness. This smacks of disinterestedness in progress and
development. This is bathos.

India is shining, undoubtedly. Yet there are many drawbacks with us
which let our necks sag and don’t allow them straightened in case of
pride: poverty of millions, ethnic bias, caste factor, and above all
maneuverings for pushing back the weak- those who are weak in any
form- in the form strength, in the form of education, in vision to
life. The biggest crime among all crimes, I think, is to keep a person
deliberately ignorant and not to provide him the correct vision to
life. Here the role of educational institution is paramount but those
who stand for provision but practically subject to spreading ignorance
are no less guilty. .
—
Dr. M. Faiyazuddin, Aligarh.