August 21, 2019 Wednesday
Bedtime Story
Education Must Benefit Society
You can see from the writings of Eliot that
he prized and valued education not from the perspective of the students but
from that of the state, which indirectly though benefited the students since
this type of outlook necessitated useful education to them.
Such type of education would also enhance
the value of universities imparting them higher gravity and most crucially
uplifting the stature of education itself in the society.
Today most poor and so-called middle class
Hindus see education as their only way out to either prosperity or dignity or
perhaps both together.
Today I personally am able to earn a modest
income solely because of my professional education and surgical training acquired
from various institutions around the world.
Education now is a prized commodity globally
with top universities and colleges one of the most sought after objects in life
as one reaches his late teens.
In fact it is one my life’s greatest
regrets that I did not make it to the top medical colleges of my country after
my high school and a source of inferiority, anxiety and deficiency to come
across an individual who had made it.
Eliot strongly believed that if a society
wants to reap the rewards of its populace – which our esteemed and Honorable
Hindu Prime Minister once upon a time used to exhort as “population or
demographic dividend” – then it must mould its citizens useful through targeted
and precise education and training.
On this he wrote:
“As a people, we do not apply to mental
activities the principle of division of labor; and we have but a halting faith
in special training for high professional employments.
The vulgar conceit that a Yankee can turn
his hand to anything we insensibly carry into high places, where it is
preposterous and criminal.
We are accustomed to seeing men leap from
farm or shop to court-room or pulpit, and we half believe that common men can
safely use the seven-league boots of genius.
What amount of knowledge and experience do
we habitually demand of our lawgivers?
What special training do we ordinarily
think necessary for our diplomats?
Although in great emergencies nation has
known where to turn.
Only after years of the bitterest
experience did we come to believe the professional training of a soldier to be
of value in war.
The lack of faith in the prophecy of
natural bent, and in the value of a discipline concentrated upon a single
subject, amounts to a national danger.”
Did you notice that Eliot stressed in the
above passage that even the elected members of the Legislature/Senate and the
Parliament/Congress need to be educated and trained in their respective
field?
Many would agree to his view and yet there
is a problem that we often encounter.
Stay tuned to the voice of an
average story storytelling chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night Mon Ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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