This research paper highlights the revolutionary and sweeping changes that are to be brought into our present educational system. It highlights the meaning and relevance of education the society. It dwells in length on the effects of education in our society and what are all the areas where there are critical gaps. What makes the difference between an educated and an uneducated person is focused clearly and crisply. The tools and techniques to overcome the defects in the present system, by filling the critical gaps are also laid stress upon. It summarizes the script with a mind-blowing message related to character education.
Introduction
“I rose from humble origins with toxic family background. When I was 18 years old, I dropped out of college to support my parents financially and joined the Indian Air Force. I had to struggle hard to earn my livelihood. I sacrificed my personal time, invested a portion of my monthly salary and resources, and acquired several qualifications including DME, BSc, MA, MBA, PGDCLL, and PGDBM. I earned my Ph.D. in 2011. I understand the pain of life. I am a self-made man. I have come to know that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” ―Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D., The Father of Soft Leadership
Education provides man with information, imagination, knowledge, ideas, values, ethics, and reasoning and makes man a complete man. Education brings refinement, adds to intelligence, and makes the independent and confident man. It is only human beings who can get armed and equipped with education, which is missing in animals. Education does not mean only reading and writing but also thinking, learning, reasoning, practical experiences, and so on. Education is a learning process from cradle to grave. It is education that has brought out many changes in this world and transformed the entire civilization since time immemorial.
The growth of society solely depends on the type of educational system adopted. Education has a tremendous impact on society. The quality of society depends on the quality of the educational system implemented. Someone correctly said, “Better institutions are essential if we are to lead better lives”. Right education makes people build character, values, and ethics and prepares the society and country as a whole to catch up with the rest of the world. Right education is the legacy or the gift, which we pass on to the next generations. George Peabody said, “Education: a debt due from present to future generations”.
Effects of Education on Society
“To teach is to learn thrice through facial, vocal, and body animation. Be passionate about education and learning and teach problem-solving to students.” ―Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D., The Father of Soft Leadership
No nation can develop without proper education. India has now vast human resources and it has the thirst highest technical humanpower in the world. Although the effects of education in society are tremendous, yet there are grey areas, which need to be addressed. India as a nation has developed politically, culturally, economically, and socially but yet much needs to be focused in the right direction.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”, said Nelson Mandela. No weapon is superior to education. Apart from education, the influence of technology has brought out significant changes in the society. If technology is used in the right direction and if it is coupled with education, we can expect miracles in society as a whole.
Education and Experience
“Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don’t”, said Pete Seeger. All human beings make many mistakes resulting in bitter and, of course, experience. If an individual is educated, he knows the things because he reads the fine print. He tends to make a few mistakes in his life. Whereas if an individual is not educated he tends to make more mistakes because he does not know the fine print. An uneducated individual believes in the trial or error method. If he succeeds in his trial, he pursues or else he drops. The uneducated man mostly believes in observation and practical knowledge. The success rate is far higher in educated men rather in an uneducated man. Education brings down the complexities in one’s life thereby making life easier, simpler, and comfortable. John Dewey rightly said, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself”.
Challenges in the Present Educational System
“Be creative and courageous. Think out of the box. Connect the dots creatively to transform students. Create a positive and healthy environment. Emphasize student centric-education, not teacher-centric education. Enhance employability and employment. Excel as entrepreneurs. Excel as ethical leaders globally. Jai Hind!” ―Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D., The Father of Soft Leadership
India is the largest populated country in the world and unfortunately, it is nowhere near in number qualitatively. It may be again due to the huge population and the type of administrative and political system we have. There is stress on cramming, memory, and mugging up. One who mugs up and puts in the examination paper is treated as a meritorious candidate. It does not encourage imagination, creativity, and originality. There is no effective emphasis on practical aspects of life. It is mostly beset with theoretical aspects and concepts, which anyone can read even without going to institutions.
School children are loaded with many books and they find it highly stressful. Education should be filled with entertainment and fun so that students can discover the joy of learning, which is missing now. Children find it horrible to go to school because of too much study. Even at home children engage themselves so much in school homework. Such things do not promote the relations between parent and child at home. Inadequate infrastructure and inexperienced teaching staff are another bane. Unfortunately, in India, both primary and secondary level education is still struggling to survive qualitatively. The views and opinions of the students are not being respected. Students are always imposed on whatever is there in the textbooks resulting in a lack of imagination and innovation. R W Emerson rightly said, “The secret in education lies in respecting the student”. Only when students are respected and valued, they will try to think creatively, innovatively, and out of the box. Students should be provided with more freedom of thought.
Unfortunately, the teachers are not paid handsomely. Best brains are pursuing other careers for monetary benefits and better prospectus. It is a pity that those who stick to the teaching profession either due to their aptitude taste and temperament towards teaching or because there is no other alternative (TINA factor) career.
How to Overcome?
“Identify what excites you and leverage your people skills. Everyone must deal with failures. Embrace failures. Failure is a seed for new ideas and opportunities. Be creative and decisive. Research untraveled areas and connect the dots. Be focused narrowly and work wisely in your research. Dissect. Develop your critical and analytical thinking. Identify the different parts of the problem and fill the gap with advanced tools and techniques innovatively to add value to make a difference in the lives of others.” ―Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D., The Father of Soft Leadership
Teaching faculty must undergo regular training to update and upgrade their skills and abilities. Encouraging regular workshops seminars or courses related to teaching methodologies can enhance and sharpen their skills. Such seminars will encourage the teaching faculty to exchange and gather more information.
“He who opens a school door, closes a prison”, Victor Hugo. Children from the age of 6 to 14 are to be admitted to schools to provide education, as this is the best age to tune them for creating interest in education. Child labor has been abolished but unfortunately, it is not enforced effectively. Children should be encouraged by various innovative ways and means to get into educational institutions.
Content and curriculum in the educational system need to be addressed. Streamlining the educational system on a national basis from Kashmir to Kanyakumari will raise the educational standards. There are disparities in the educational system in various states and efforts must be made to fill those gaps.
Focusing more on vocational education is the need of the hour. Presently there is a vast gap between industry and academics. The corporate leaders have a vital role in funding the educational system. They make money for themselves, pay handsome salaries to their employees, and pay dividends to their shareholders and all the people who are involved in the business are earning one way or the other. But what are they contributing to education and society? It is a well-admitted fact that helping hands are far better than praying lips. Corporations, whether big or small, can wholeheartedly come forward to contribute their best to bring the Indian educational system on par with global standards.
It is essential to bring reforms in education from time to time as the tools and techniques involved in teaching are changing rapidly due to the influence of technology.
For professional qualifications like engineering, management, medicine, computers, etc., the students should be engaged in practical education and project work from the first year itself. Such activities will build more confidence in the minds of the students as they grasp the needs of the industry and thereby fine-tune them as per the industry expectations. The fee structure needs to be rationalized and the deserving students should be provided with scholarships.
Providing interest-free educational loans will help deserving and poor students. Also, it is desirable to encourage non-professional degree holders to get vocationalized. “Education is not filling a pail, but the lighting of a fire”, said William Butler Yeats. Education must ignite the minds of the students and it must move the students from their comfort zone to an effective zone. The students in the comfort zone will not achieve as much as those in the effective zone.
Conclusion
“It requires a lot of courage to become an educator as it is not for everybody. If a parent is unworthy, children are spoiled; if a doctor neglects his duty, the patient dies; if an engineer performs poorly, the infrastructure collapses; and if an educator makes a mistake, an entire generation is ruined.” ―Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D., The Father of Soft Leadership
There is a strong need to streamline the present educational system. The problems in the educational system need to be addressed immediately. Education should focus on ethical, social, vocational, and academic aspects. Education builds man and man in turn builds nation. A strong nation can be built only when there is a strong character education. Abraham Lincoln aptly said, “Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing”. Hence the essence of any education is the strong character. The evolutionary approaches and revolutionary changes in the present educational system are the need of the hour. We must build a nation where youngsters have a vision to think beyond their geographical boundaries. There should be scope for the students to expand their intellect, reinforce their minds, and make them stand on their own feet.
Education and character are two sides of the same coin and one without the other is meaningless. Money may come and go but it is the character that counts from the beginning to the end of life. Any individual when equipped with character education can excel in any part of the world.
About the Author
Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D. is the Father of “Soft Leadership” and the Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants, India. He is an International Leadership Guru with forty-three years of experience and the author of fifty-two books including the award-winning ‘See the Light in You’ URL: https://www.amazon.com/See-Light-You-Spiritual-Mindfulness/dp/1949003132. He has published over 300 papers and articles in prestigious international publications including Leader to Leader, Thunderbird International Business Review, Strategic HR Review, Development and Learning in Organizations, Industrial and Commercial Training, On the Horizon, and Entrepreneur magazine. He is a soldier, entrepreneur, editor, educator, author, enlightener, and philosopher. He is a C-Suite advisor and global keynote speaker. He brings a strategic eye and long-range vision given his multifaceted professional experience including military, teaching, training, research, consultancy, and philosophy. He is passionate about serving and making a difference in the lives of others. He trains a new generation of leaders through leadership education and publications. His vision is to build one million students as global leaders by 2030 URL: http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com/2014/12/professor-m-s-raos-vision-2030-one_31.html. He advocates gender equality globally (#HeForShe). He invests his time in authoring books and blogging on executive education, learning, and leadership. Most of his work is available free of charge on his four blogs including http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com. He is a prolific author and a dynamic, energetic, and inspirational leadership speaker. He can be reached at msrlctrg@gmail.com.
