“Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man”.
Right to education is not mere the right to literacy. The welfare nation ensures that no child is deprived of elementary education. The right of a child to read, write and to do arithmetic (3R) is a human right in today’s world. If school is restricted to learning 3Rs alone, today, higher education is assumed to guarantee” Learn to Earn”. Education has taken up the role of way to living to an individual; in this complex world of survival today. The nation’s priority is also constrained today to equip its population with imbibing them with skill and activities so that they can actively participate in the production system in the society and a part of economic sustenance. Not only that, technology is changing the mode of human civilization on this planet in such a way that nation’s agony is to make man and machine compatible is obvious.
Here lies the contrast!
Childhood is the space where a man is physically developed, educationally skilled, but simultaneously be equipped with the qualities of honesty, sincerity, dedication, punctuality, discipline, perseverance, a sense of service to the society and working towards a national goal. If, however, the adult-taught is directed to career building alone, may end up to a corrupt machine of resource production only, aimed to self-aggrandizing process.
Swami Vivekananda never talked of “nation building”etc. He specified only at “character building” of man.He said,” Man making is my mission”. If ancient India has taught us to unfolding of divinity with development of human life, present civilization must not be content to contain education for bread and butter alone. It remains to be seen whether evolution of mankind takes up the challenges in right earnest and that’s too in an ancient civilization like ours.
Amitava Datta (Rector)
