Educating children for life
Ajith Perera
As we all know education is an investment for the future. Commercial
investments bring interest and rewards for better living. That is the
main reason why people invest their hard eared money in the banks and
other financial institutions as lucrative business. In this
money-spinning trade people sometimes become rich over night. There are
occasions when people lose their entire wealth and end up on to the road
for having made foolish shortsighted decisions. In the recent past we
learnt how people invested their hard earned money trusting certain
scamps and how they lost their wealth in a jiffy.
Education and knowledge
Lost wealth or money can be earned again if they work hard. They
should know money is not everything. If they are educated, qualified and
prudent enough they can recover as economy footing in a short time. It
is completely different from the investment in education. If the
investment in formal education is a failure, the entire life of the
person can be miserable.
One could argue that knowledge is power and treasure and that opens
the doors for future prospects. If the knowledge one possess does not
help one to find a better job pertaining to the subjects one has
mastered, what is the use of that education and knowledge? Finding a
smart job and leading a happy life should be a person’s goal. For
example, I studied certain subjects for Advanced Level and if I have
pursued my higher studies in that stream, I would not have been as
successful as I am today. Luckily, I possessed the knowledge of English
and widened my horizons in English but by now the other subjects I
learnt are not useful at all.
Some of my friends who followed certain degree courses and higher
study courses in the subjects I dropped unhappy at work today because
they are compelled to do a job in line with their qualifications. Their
investment in education is a failure. As a result they are frustrated.
When people are disheartened at work, we cannot expect efficiency. I was
weak in Mathematics but now I if credit pass for O-L Mathematics has
enhanced my progress. Since I learnt English for life and selected a
suitable profession and this has been my salvation. My investment in
education has brought me interest and rewards.
Is our system of education designed to educate the learner for life?
Subjects are taught at school and the teaching and learning process is
mainly exam-oriented. Students are trained to pass the examinations. If
they meet with failure at the O-L examination or A-L examination the
subjects they learnt will not help them find a job.
They will have to follow a professional course to be qualified for
the job market. Even if they are qualified at the A-L examination and
not qualified for the university, they should follow some professional
courses for jobs. What is the use of the education they receive at
school, if they are frustrated at work? Isn’t it a huge defect in our
system of education? If this is the reality, we ought to admit that our
system of education needs proper education and guidance.
When we think of our system of education, the learner the most
important person is unjustly neglected. Form the designing of the
syllabus to the rest of the entire system of education, there are
certain practical problems. For example computer education is introduced
to schools but there are no computers in certain rural schools. Even if
the computers are provided, there is no electricity in the village. On
top of all the scarcity of qualified teachers is a hitch.
Similarly, English is introduced under different names but there is
not sufficient number of qualified English teachers in schools
especially in the rural areas. Sometimes the text books do not reach the
schools neither at the end of previous year nor at the beginning of the
new school year but may be at the end of the first term! When such
practical problems exist in the system, how can education be successful
and prepare youngsters for life?
Spoon feeding
From the inception parents and teachers do not let the children
think. Parents and teachers think for the children instead. Our culture
of spoon feeding and unnecessary pampering our children is a crime.
Children are the losers whose personality development is hindered due to
these unwanted interferences and they suffer in the future. Children
need to be entrusted with responsibilities and be allowed to face
challenges in life even at a tender age.
Book knowledge alone is not sufficient to make a child a balanced
person. He needs education for life. In this broad aspect he needs
knowledge, vocational training, moral and spiritual guidance and
personality development through extra and co- curricular activities.
What is education in Sri Lanka is a debatable topic today. On the
part of the parents it could be sending their children to school and
tuition classes and providing them with the necessary facilities. On the
part of the teachers it could be teaching and making them to learn and
pass the exams. Is that education?
To educate a person is to bring out the best in a person. Even the
weakest child is capable of the greatest good even academically or
otherwise. We do not know who our children will become in the future.
Therefore, parents and teachers should work together with the children
in this regard.
Since education is a life long process, education cannot be limited
to school education and subject knowledge alone. Exposure to life and
new situations and experience help the children to be prepared to
different eventualities. Parents at home can play a vital role in their
children’s education. They can provide the children with opportunities
to accept challenges and responsibilities in life. These objectives of
education should be achieved.
Parents may take for granted that providing their children with the
facilities would be enough in life. Some parents give their children
pocket money lavishly in order to show their love for their children.
Too much of a thing is good for nothing. Do children need money if their
meals are made at home and they travel by school service or they have a
bus or train season-tickets? If the children are given money excessively
will they understand the value of money? Money is a good servant but a
bad master.
Children are not matured enough to understand this philosophy but the
parents know it full well. Then why do the parents let their children
keep bad company with that bad master and destroy their life?
If they handle money freely in their adolescence, will they learn the
difficulties of earning their living? Children should be made aware that
money does not grow on tress. Hardness of life and hardness of ‘honest
sweat’ should be topics for family discussions. When the parents talk of
their difficulties in earning and providing the family with the basic
facilities, the children will undoubtedly feel sympathy towards their
parents.
What is more important: to provide pocket money or give them values
for life? If the children are morally and spiritually strengthened at
home and at school, they will neither waste nor be corrupt. Children
should be taught when young that waste is a crime. Moral education and
moral values should be embedded in our system of education. Unless a
person is morally strong, his book knowledge will not make him humane.
They are the children who commit suicide even for a trivial matter
like exam results. If they take their own lives after thirteen years of
school education, what good has our system of education done to them?
Children should be trained to understand life and to understand the
pulse of his neighbour through moral and spiritual education.
Value culture
We Sri Lankans have a beautiful rich culture. Our cultural values
make us Sri Lankans. Culture makes us who we are. Education should help
understand the richness of our unique multi-ethnic and multi-religious
culture. Deviating from cultural values and embracing any other
nonsensical trend as culture is utter foolishness. Those empty headed
upstarts make every possible effort cut their figure with hair style and
ugly costume fashions. What the majority do not entertain is considered
to be fashions for such headless youngsters whom we see on the road
sides and especially on TV commercials.
Those who are intelligent, who think more of their head than of their
hair style know even if they lose their hair, their educational and
professional qualifications will help them be strong in life.
They have nothing to worry. If those soap opera dolls lose their hair
because of their age or the chemicals they have used to show off, what
will be their future?
It is high time to teach our children our unique cultural values at
home and at school. It is useless criticizing the media especially the
electronic media that should be held responsible for this cultural
decadence but we can light a candle instead of cursing the darkness.
Otherwise, we will have to repent for being too late. We should take
immediate steps to inculcate cultural values in our children as part of
education. We should condemn the above said ‘clown culture’ that is
embraced and imitated by our innocent children. |