System & Education?! What?!
INSIGHT #3
Though Prachana was happy that she is being homeschooled, she was oblivious to other possibilities. She thought “Can there be one as good as mine?”
Though she planned to keep awake and wait for Sarvaa, she didn’t realise that she was asleep till she was woken up by a long bell. She thought it was an alarm bell from her parents’ room; weirdly it sounded different. She never remembers herself using any alarm clock ever. Normally she automatically wakes up or her mother used to wake her up if she overslept.
She rubbed her eyes seeing Sarvaa holding a big brass disc hanging in a thread and on the other hand, he had a short iron rod. He was all smiling. As soon as she was awake she stretched herself to get water from the table nearby. Suddenly Sarvaa moved swiftly and gave her a glass of water. Then he sat on the bed till she finished drinking the water.
Sarvaa asked “My child, you have never heard such kind of a bell before, right?”.
She nodded in affirmative. Now she is sitting cross-legged and all ears.
Sarvaa said, “That was the sound of a School Bell that rings when a class starts.”
Prachana knew where he is heading to. She said “Tell me, Sarvaa! Other than the Sociological use for the term Education you told me there are two more. I am eager.”
Sarvaa lovingly looked at Prachanaa and continued “My child, as you will be called a home-schooled child most of the children out there are called schooled and they learn things in a very different way.”
Prachana got curious “What is the difference? Is that better?”
Sarvaa caught off-hand with that question but he thought for a moment and said “Both are education. But the method is different. You explore and learn at your pace. There, a bunch of kids like you, are taught and guided systematically as decided by a group of people. An educational system is created. It is all timed in months and years and as subjects. And that is called 'The Institutional Use of Education'. There is no right and wrong in any method for getting educated. Likewise, there is no good and bad in the method of acquiring knowledge as well. It is all the question of what and how you do it. And of course how you use that acquired knowledge.”
Prachanaa is amazed at the thought of how a whole bunch of kids studies together in the same way at the same pace. She got a little confused, how was that possible. Sarvaa sensed this.
Sarvaa said “Child, don’t get confused. As I told you, there is no….” Prachana interrupted and continued “right or wrong in the method and all that matters is what the result is. I understood.”
A happy Sarvaa stood up to leave. Suddenly Prachana also jumped up and asked “What about the third use? I have not forgotten, you see?”
Sarvaa said “I have not forgotten. Now you go to sleep. The time is already 4 AM. Remember. I will not come and ring the School Bell to wake you up. Because next use is all about the unconventional method.”
As usual, Sarvaa left. The room went dark and Prachana tugged herself under the blanket.
The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes the next morning was the second card partly visible from under her pillow. It read “The Institutional Use of Education”. On the other side, it had a picture of Sarvaa holding a large brass disc and the short Iron Rod exactly as she saw last night.
End of Insight #3
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ReplyDeleteThank you, Vijay!
DeleteHome schooling and practical learning is a good concept provided you have the resources for that.
ReplyDeleteAnd that is true in every field! Both have positives and negatives. It is up to us how to manage it wisely so that the Child gets the benefit for their future.
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