Education Redux: Making Learning Productive in J&K

The relevance of education had been lost long ago. Corruption, proxy candidates, question paper leakages, faulty recruitment, etc., have made our educational system a commodity

By: Syed Mustafa Ahmad

The main aim of education is enlightenment. Enlightenment means the clouds of ignorance must go away. Ignorance in superstitions, gender bias, immorality, communalism, unfair means, etc. If these things persist in the presence of education, then there is something wrong with the education system. It is not the malaise of some days but the handiwork of many factors that have constantly been going on for many years. The criteria to know about the compatibility of education in society is to see etiquette or manners. In another sense, if there are mannered people, then this society is learned. If not, then we can easily say that this society has to overhaul every domain of life to grow.

     When this is the case, how can a society afford to ignore education? In Kashmir, the relevance of education had been lost long ago. Corruption, proxy candidates, question paper leakages, faulty recruitment, etc., have made our educational system a commodity to be bargained after getting into the educational sector through illegal ways, how these people can do anything for society. When their motives are to earn back the money they have spent on getting jobs, we cannot expect from them to do anything positive. This situation has many causes. Let us try to know some of them.

Materialism.

When the main motive of life is to earn money, education follows the path of money. Every moral or immoral class runs around money and nothing else. In this way, education loses its primary value, and society doesn’t produce enlightenment personalities that are assets for a nation.

Faulty syllabi.

With changing times, everything must undergo a reasonable change. However, in the case of education, the change is relatively slow. In the 21st Century, when AI and Machine Learning occupy our minds, we cannot go on admonishing machines, nor can we follow them blindly. A man is planning to colonize Mars, Venus, etc., to live a happy life, but in some parts of the world, students are taught to learn about the things that have no relevance in the present. In this way, students get fed up and think that it is futile to learn and consume our marvellous brains with things that are of no use but money and fake fame.

A man is planning to colonize Mars, Venus, etc., to live a happy life, but in some parts of the world, students are taught to learn about the things that have no relevance in the present.

Religion.

Religiosity in the garb of religions has made lives hellish. Religions are for the sake of comfort, but due to orthodoxy and superstitions, they have hijacked the whole society. Students are taught that science is atheism. It makes a person atheist. It is better to prepare ourselves for the Hereafter. In this situation, students fall prey to them. They abhor scientific things like medicine, smartphones, electricity, televisions, etc. And the result is that science and technology and other disciplines that have come to our rescue become the soft targets.

Attitude.

We never ponder over things and become fascinated by some charming words or slogans. If we had pondered everything, we would not have reached the present situation. We work in haste and regret at the end of the day.

       So, the need of the hour is to make education relevant. Without education, it is pretty unthinkable to grow and develop. We have live examples of America, the USA, Britain, Singapore, etc., doing quite well in this regard. They have made it possible not to let education become the soft target of any kind of disturbance. They have set a goal before them and are living for that goal. Their mornings and evenings revolve around that goal. Last but not least, they are corruption free. They don’t allow corruption to seep into their countries and decompose the tall pillars of society. They are vehemently opposed to it. So, it is an opportunity to show our mettle in the competitive world. If not, history will remember us losers. Are we ready for this tag?

The author can be reached at [email protected]