Education for a better world

“Education” the word itself is abstract, so it is hard to define. Also, its definition varies among educated persons or scholars. Thus, is it not an important query to identify it in the view of commoners like us? Is the developed countries' education valued higher than the developing ones? Isn’t education for physical comfort, mental peace, or spiritual pleasure? Bunches of perplexing questions arise in this scientific world when biologists share their sharp ideas that in the eyes of science even an atom is equal to man. 

The word “education” in English etymology, as defined in the New World Dictionary, originated from the root word of old French ‘duc’ and Latin ‘dux’ which means leader; and in this root added the prefix ‘e’ means ‘out’ and during middle English period ‘duc or dux’ changed into ‘ducere’ which means ‘to lead, draw, bring’. 

After such a formation of the word, the meaning of education is ‘to train, develop the knowledge, skill, mind or character through formal schooling, teaching and training ’. In Sanskrit root, according to Apte, ‘Siksh’ means to wish to learn, to practice, and to gain knowledge. William also writes a similar meaning in his dictionary adding that it means to offer one’s service to others as well.

Education has been defined for ages by different educators in their own way of life. For Socrates, education is the idea of universal validity taken out from the talented minds, whereas for Plato it is the capacity to feel pleasure and pain at the right time in the body and soul of a student enabling one for beauty and perfection. For Aristotle, education is the creation of a sound mind in a sound body to enable enjoyment in perfect happiness, but for Nelson Mandela, education is the most powerful weapon to bring a change in the world. 

Further, for Sarvapalli Radhakrishna education is not merely a means of earning a living, nor a nursery of thought or school for citizenship, but to train souls in pursuit of truth and practice of virtue. For a reformer from India, Swami Vivekananda, education is “the manifestation of the divine perfection, already existent in man. Hence, it is described by one’s precise definition. As in the above words, if there is no proper or standard education, any society, country, or even the whole world might deteriorate and grief can fall on the people globally. Thus, I would like to express basic standards of education that can help achieve individual or public contentment of being altruistic persons in the world.

The first norm of education to maintain the basic standard might be happiness in personal and public life. Now, in modern education, one has to individually query whether we are living happily or not. Again, happiness is abstract and is difficult to define specifically. But since we can see the worldwide people and figure out how happy they are and how much happiness they can share in the family, society, and country globally. So, happiness here might be the means to quest in education to make a person free from physical and mental pain or agony that everyone is suffering in the present.

Someone might be affluent but may not have sound health. Or both, one may be healthy or wealthy and again have no internal peace at all. Consequently, so-called educated people may start an ammunition factory to kill brothers and satiate individuals as we can see such events in this world. If the revolts take place against one another for personal gains, education may be worthless or faulty!

Secondly, education may be for creativity. Creation, being free from old grievances and acts of revenge, can be innovative for individual and social welfare. It might pave a new way and can make a person to be free from all the creeds or dogmas practiced traditionally. Modern science may be a means of spreading new genes for prevailing peace and prosperity in societies. Such creation should be for the benevolence of humanity rather than the present malevolent construction of modern technology to intimidate or upset the global people. 

Thirdly, education may be the means of responsibility. Each and everyone in proper education should be made responsible in one’s living. Modern education has to prepare each individual accountable to carry one’s own duty aptly. Each one should carry on with one’s duty by oneself without pretending or blaming others. In the family, society, or country, each member must be liable to one’s duty and carry on happily whatever it comes to his/her part. This kind of comprehension has to be realized by education in this scientific world.

Next, education should provide everyone with a peaceful living. No individual should be deprived of internal and external peace in their existence. If there is no peace, there is no healthy development. Each child from the home and student from the beginning of schooling must learn to attain peace for a better humanity. Prevailing peace can enable everyone for innovative creations that can produce all-round development in family, society, country and the world.

The requirement of education is to have cosmological living. Man is social and one must know how to work together among various skilled people. For this, a person must be accountable for having an omniscient view that from the atom to the complete universe is correlated in its existence. Having individual or authentic existence, each thing follows a specific system of combination implicitly being conjoined with the holistic system. Consequently, all walks of people should have this sort of comprehension to have prosperity, peace, and pleasure in one’s existence.

These five elements of education can be sound means to everyone in this world to exist genuinely. In my opinion, this quality education is to be taught at home by parents to children. It is obvious that renowned schools, colleges, and universities are teaching for external affluence; thus, the intuitive growth of a person must be trained at home with the help of ethics and spirituality without being biased of any caste, creed, culture, and color individually.