New face for education

New millennium or not, what is increasingly becoming evident, is that education today is in need for change. Schools are increasing by the dozen, yet education continues to be mediocre or elusive to many.

Today's society is an evolved feature, resulting from a combination of factors, one of which is education.

From the Stone Age, it has been one long process of learning for man, and this has resulted in physical, physiological and psychological changes. Cultural evolution has gone hand in hand with and sometimes ahead of biological evolution resulting in an evolution of greater understanding of the ways of survival. This is the perception of learning and this is the reason for such bitter competition for it. But is that all there is to education?

It is time to change our thinking regarding education. An evolutionary approach is a multi-disciplinary way of examining the needs of a society that is looking to transform itself through education. This will encompass an understanding derived from different fields - religious studies, advances in science and technology, population structures, information explosion, changing attitudes of people, society, economic upliftment etc. It will help understand the woes that plague the system (and society).

The increase in the number of schools is not just an answer to an increasing population that has to be educated, but is also linked to the economic and social fabric of society. Schools are business centres, with a mistaken notion of being able to do good to society. The lack of accountability in most schools is known but the least discussed factor. A great setback for many youngsters and teachers is the lack of a role model.

The need is for a complete radical change in our thinking. It has to start in the field of education, as we plan for the future. An evolutionary perspective will be a different approach it is a learning process that resulted in the agricultural revolution, the industrial revolution and now the technology revolution. But the learning process itself is now in need of a revolution. The writing on the wall is there for anyone who cares to see it.

GEETHA IYER, Chennai

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