Enjoying Education for Joy and Harmony
TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 10 Apr 2017
Ravi P Bhatia – TRANSCEND Media Service
10 Apr 2017 – Gone are the days when formal education was meant only for the prosperous and elite sections of our society. Today its importance and relevance is realized by most people even if they themselves may not have studied beyond the school level. This is so because some of the objectives of higher education as listed below are understood and appreciated and is the principal motivation to study.
- All round development of the child;
- overcoming ignorance and prejudice;
- providing better employment opportunities;
- improving people’s well being;
- enjoyment and joy.
There are other objectives such as:
- Empowerment of people and society;
- development of the society – including production, creating wealth and reducing social, economic, educational, and other inequities;
- answering philosophical questions such as the place of man in the world, the future of mankind, the role of religion and peace.
Keeping in view these objectives, especially those relating to better employment facilities and improving one’s economic conditions, many families are encouraging their children to study as far as they can. They realize that the society has become highly competitive, the role of agriculture has diminished and so higher education has become indispensable in learning new skills and technology and for getting suitable employment and enjoying prosperity.
With this rationale, one can see thousands of students trying to get admission to good Colleges and Universities. Unfortunately for many students who may be first generations students, getting admission to first rate institutions is an uphill task because of their modest grades and so they flock to institutes that provide distance education.
One such institution in Delhi University is the so called School of Open Learning (SOL). Sundays are usually off days for most schools and colleges. Sometimes these institutions enjoy a five day week which makes another day as off day.
But for SOL, Sundays are the most active days of the week since all students whether undergraduates or post graduate students have classes on this day. The reason is that those students who work and cannot attend classes on week days can avail of teaching on Sundays. Another reason as stated above is the difficulty of getting admission to many of the prestigious Colleges.
I live near SOL and usually walk around it to go to a Library on Sunday mornings. The vibrancy of students as they walk for their classes is astonishing. What a beautiful sight as hundreds of students all dressed up in their finery and talking animatedly as they walk towards the SOL. Many a time I can overhear what these students are talking about but usually it is not about the studies but what they have been doing or what new clothes they have acquired in the previous week. An overwhelming percentage of students are female and they are really fond of clothes and jewelry. To cater to their demand many temporary roadside shops selling small trinkets like bangles, necklaces or ear-pins have come up and one can see the girls crowding round these shops trying out some of these items, haggling over the prices which are already fairly low and buying some of this inexpensive jewelry. There are also some roadside shops selling college notes which facilitate understanding of the syllabi of various subjects.
I should also mention that most of these students — male or female belong to relatively economically poor families. Many of their parents are either farmers or have small businesses and have usually not studied beyond the school stage. For a child of this family going to College is an exciting event and so they wear the best clothes they may possess. To the more fashionably conscious students, the clothes of these poor female students may appear gaudy but for the girls themselves they try to dress as best as they can.
One day as I was passing by a female student, who was walking alone, I tentatively started a conversation with her, not knowing how she would react to an elderly man speaking to her. However she was a sprightly, confident person. She said that she came from a nearby village and was studying Economics, languages and Commerce. I asked why Economics and Commerce? Unhesitatingly she replied that she was looking after goats in her village and knowledge of these subjects would help her and her family. Then she asked me if I would be interested in hearing the story of one of her male goats named Raja? I said “Of course”.
“Raja has a longish beard” she continued. “My Chacha (Uncle) also has a similar goatee beard. So I asked my Chacha ‘Whose beard is better, yours or Raja’s?’ You know what he said, ‘Raja’s of course’ ” and she giggled musically.
“If he had said, his beard was better…” I persisted teasingly. “He would not have dared to say that – he is afraid of me”, and she laughed loudly.
I had known why students go to College but this reason that the young woman mentioned that it helped her look after her goats was unique and beautiful. Scholars and Professors may perhaps like to take note of this objective also.
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This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 10 Apr 2017.
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