The pointlessness of degrees (3)

I would, in this land, expect a detail of each elected representative, of how many years he has spent in a village, learning and understanding the realities and hardships and strengths there. Common sense and literacy (yes, an 8th pass) would do over and above that.
I wish the over-educated would stop posting such lists, implying that they are superior because they have passed more exams.

Comments

Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula Why don't they look at this as the failure of the education system where Non Hindi speakers are taught in Hindi
 

Aparna Krishnan What is the connection ? I see this as the mindless celebration of modern education over all other wisdoms and learnings that exist.

 

Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula That and what I said too. Medical students at BHU couldn't understand the Hindi books and they were given Bhojpuri ones!

So much for Hindi heartland!

 

Aparna Krishnan Yes.

 

Rajiv Ramnath BTW, this entire thread is reactionary nonsense, and completely useless. Instead, please think concretely about WHAT education is appropriate and HOW it should be delivered, instead of simply bashing "modern" education simply because it is currently being delivered in English and Hindi. Let's not get carried away by local lore and superstition either. Before "modern" science came into play, people were dying left and right of cholera, TB, plague, malaria, typhoid and smallpox, to name just a few diseases.

 

Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula Now they die of diabetes, cardiac arrests, stress!

 
Let's not digress into a debate on modern medicine.

Both the education and the medium are misplaced in India. With the system heavily skewed toward English in the Pvt sector and Hindi in the govt sector, most people just about manage to get by.

Except India the top ten economies of the world teach in mother tongue.

Can you refute the specific example of BHU I gave?

 

Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula And I'm talking about Bihar

 

Abby FromKodur Let's get this educated bias out of our mind. Some of the greatest ppl in the world were school dropouts. Not liars who think they are educated, but are uncultured to look down on those who are less literate or illiterate

 

Rajiv Ramnath Well, one could argue that our educational system is often not educating about the right things, but please do not claim that the LACK of education is somehow good! As for "Some of the greatest ppl in the world were school dropouts", there are exceptions (Einstein, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs), but for each such outlier, there are are a 1000 others (such as myself, and I say this only as an example) who contributed thanks to their education. Have SOME sense, in other words. :-)

 

Aparna Krishnan I would like a deeper reflection my what we contributed due to our education. In terms of the larger sustainable good of the world. I would not say that lack of education is good, if you are prepared to include in education all the tribals learning sustainable and gentle ways of life and living thro' growing years, all weavers and potters also. If we linit education of schools and IITs - I am sorry, I would be ready to dispense with them ! And allow a fair place for other wisdoms and skills to claim their space. 

Abby FromKodur I don't intend to say that at all. Please listen to Vemana the saint of 700 -800 yrs ago, n he cites that a nurtured mind is better than an educated one. Very interesting. Where is the warmth, kindness, niceties, help, community work, collective action? Where is forgiveness, empathy, where is love for humanity?

Vague to the educated mind! It evaporates perhaps with science, fails to accommodate because it's full of wealth, cleanliness, godliness, selfishness, etc
 

Rajiv Ramnath An education provides a scientific, substantiable rationale to the nurture. Without a rationale, we will be lost in vagueness.

 

Abby FromKodur The rationale also exists in nature. It's a long way before we came here.

 

Mekhala Gee Hmmm...so one cannot be educated and selfless....?

 

Abby FromKodur Perhaps difficult

 

Rajiv Ramnath Education provides the rationale for selflessness, no? And yes, a rationale is needed, else one cannot stand up to the selfish.

 

Aparna Krishnan Rajiv, what do you mean by education ? Eashwaramma teaching her children the tenets of generosity by giving to each mendicant at her hut door from a small quarter sack of rice ? The weaver's son learning a gentle and sustainable skill over growing years ? Yes that education gives a rationale, by living and not by theories.

 

Aparna Krishnan Modern education, as embedded in schooling, teaches individualism, selfishness, and much else. Yes, @Mekhala, it is harder for the schooled to be generous.

 

Abby FromKodur I think we assume superiority with education. We all do.