Education is coined from the word “educe” which means “to draw out”. Generally school curriculum involves study of basic subjects and they are in curriculum for some reasons. We learn mother tongue as it’s the primary means of communication. To get a broader scope of contacts, high emphasis is placed on learning English. We learn maths as computational skill is required for effective way of living.
The above definition of education is based on cognitive domain. Across the globe, there are parents who think education is complete when someone acquires knowledge over the above. Education is all about self-realization and there are infinite ways to acquire it. It is never advised to starve the psycho motor domain and fine arts domain just in search of cognitive domain. Hence there is necessity for a unified curriculum that offers diversity and help individuals to identify themselves better.
Education is all about identifying one’s aptitude and nursing it to make the best out of a human. The art of developing an aptitude is all about encouraging and channelizing the energy of a person towards the life where he has inclination. All these efforts can help the world deliver myriads of singers, writers, sportsmen, actors, directors etc. It is very unwise to expect a writer out of a singer by giving him pen. Even if he had excelled being a writer, imagine his capacity if he was given an opportunity to capitalize on his aptitude. Hence believing on an education that places stress on cognitive domain is like trying to push a square block onto a round hole!
Let’s take an instance of one such misplacement. Mr.X was an engineer working for some multinational company. He was in conference to present his talk on bug fixing. He kept the meeting spellbound by his diction and impeccable English. He had a facile flow of English. When the convener of the meeting appreciated the engineer for his communication skills he expressed his dissatisfaction towards his profession and he was more inclined towards English literature. He was forced into engineering by his parents just for the sake of bulging pay packets. Though he was reluctant he couldn’t be assertive due to the financial backlogs his family had. In the search of money, the world lost an eminent English scholar and gained a prestige accorded but a less satisfied professional.
Hence it is very important for parents to remember the words of Kahlil Gibran, the Persian poet, about parenthood. It is as follows “they come through you but not from you, and though they are with you yet they belong not to you, you may give them your love but not your thoughts. For, they have their own thoughts”. It is better too late than never.
Author: Suveetha Kamatchi (Bangalore)