Saturday, March 11, 2006

"Enga area ulla varatha "

Friends ..

"Enga area ulla varatha
padicha naye kitta varatha"


Sure many of you would have heard this song ...from pudupettai ..

The essence of state of educational system in India is subtly,explicitly told .... in these few lines ... It hints at who needs a revamp.Is it the educational system or its beneficiaries.

What is an Educational system ? Leaving out any MBA grad's passion for complicating simple things, I put across as a framework in which there is a learner and a teacher.Only these two will comprise any educational system.

The Objective of the educational system is upliftment of the entire society which helped in its formation.It is made by the society for its own enhancement.Learner and the teacher share this common objective. It aims in continuosly improving the living standards of the people equally through out all available divisions of people.The divisions are arrived at after classifying people based on caste,economic strata, region they belong to.

But there are a few concerns ...
Firstly "Do all the divisions of the society get education ? ...
Secondly but importantly "Do they get the benefit of the educational system ?"

The former question is being dealt extensively by Our Politicians and their related governing bodies.Every effort to improve the status quo is being taken up.

The Latter pose?

Who has to answer ... The onus to answer this question lies with us.Us is we.
We is anyone who has completed his graduation.We are the cream layer benefited with exposure to numerous deficiencies,problems available in the present society and we have the capacity to provide solutions to those problems ........
But still we also have the mental capacity to ignore such basic duties ... and pursue "Our Own " path. Hope you know what I mean by "Our Own path"..

We the creamy layer are nourished with so much information ,backed by ability to provide clear cut solutions to current problems ,have the capacity to change present scenario and ..but.....we completely forget our share in fulfilling the objective of the educational system.Our role in giving back to the society which formed us is entirely forgotten and infact we dare to ignore the victims of our own negligence.

We have been taught to build bridges,roads,substations,oil refinieries,business ventures,relationships.Educational system which we are blaming at is not the real culprit.But the beneficiaries of the educational system are the one to take the blame.

We use the supply chain concept to sell a detergent cake and lose out in using the same in Ration supplies distribution.We use the branding concept in selling a shirt but fail to use it when it comes to rice,wheat,and endless crops that are exported out of this country.We use cost accounting principles to reduce operational costs of a client we have never seen but we are reluctant to apply the same to a small scale industry next to our place . We use balanced score card to benefit our department employees but fail to use it when it comes to our government organisations.

If the beneficiaries of system move away from the system who will change the system ?
This has been the case for some long time and this I believe rightly in their own perspective,led to the discontent of under privileged and they feel that "WE" are not part of the system and in some cases it is to the extent of underprivilged themselves throwing us out of the system which needs us.

The Jobs,the lifestyle,the money ,all that is offered and taken ,by potential graduates at present are not the intended destination.That is not the basket our educational system aimed at.Alas nobody including me has realised that.

We want one sacrifice.Infact sacrifice is a too big a term to use. Its a small compromise.A subtle monetary and status compromise about everything,Right from the cool drink we drink to shirts we wear to Job we do,to gadgets we use,we need a compromise.

Those compromises will not make us poor,but will make some poor a little rich ,will not make us beg in streets , but will move some children in streets to shelters, it will create the India we imagine,we dream in longterm.It will change the system we are pointing our fingers to..buddies We are the culprits ..

The compromise is that we must start working in government organisations.. and their related bodies.We must start entering politics.We can create more organisations and entities which will result in upliftment of entire system.We may not earn fat cheques but we will earn a worthy living.

We must try to lift our neigbours up.It is important that we grow and it is even more important that we help others grow.Way we can help others is not charity alone.Get into the fucntions and modify their SOP's.We are not here to fill the deficiencies created out of the system.We are here to find out the causes for the defects and eliminate them from the system.We must internalize the need for which the term education came into existence.

It all comes down to this.Those who have must give to those who do not have.Be it material wealth or mental skill. Sadly this is not happening in our motherland.

"Friends the educational system has given us the jobs, the lifestyle, the status and the pleasures we thoroughly undeserve"

Its high time we must start giving back !

luv,
mani

7 comments:

Avinash Sekar said...

Mani,

First things first. It can always be anyone but will be Mani and can be on any subject ( and again )will always be on one like this. hahaha.. Truly yours!

Avinash Sekar said...

I hate to object,but leaving out utopian dreams,I have to say something about your view- "improving the living standards of the people equally". Democracy inherently has its frailities, and the aim should be not to provide equal distribution of wealth, but the gradient of development across the society should be negated. Inequality is an indispensible element in the system, and aim should be not to nullify it, but mollifying it,by better distribution of gains. From the socialist ideology of Nehruvian doctrine to the post-globalisation era of the 90's, ( leaving out Indira's eccentricities like License Raj et.al.), the policies framed across the decades would indeed "make sense" considering the political - economic setting. It has been the utter mismanagement that have contributed to our country's GDP remain below 2.5% till 1992.

Avinash Sekar said...

Hey Mani,

Egalitarianism,I believe,is the very essence of our constitution and there is not much to change in the existing system. Just think how many countries in the world can boast of having two of their best brains leading the country? we have! Everything that is given by the governement starting with a printed post card ( sold at a 15 paise loss per card )till petrol ( can you imagine government gave away Rs.10,000 crores of the last year's profits made by the petro chemical PSUs to compensate for the loss incurred be selling petrol and diesel far below the international market price!!!)has the "common man" element being taken care of. I accept the fact much would change if politics is infused with youth. But government companies?? I doubt ( or probably you meant we need to take up the civil services??). It has mobilisation of public opinion ( if not rage or fury, to be passive) that has changed the deigns world over. Priliminary education is one thing that needs to be given the utmost importance by the ruling minds. I am certain that some measures CANNOT be taken up by private "interest owners" but only by the government. Though you can you do your bit to impart awareness and enthusiasm in your locale, the ultimate RESPONSIBILITY would lie with the government to bring the child to the school. ( Is it not the case with the countries which have a higher literacy percentage that the preliminary education is taken care by the government and the graduation and research studies being funded by the private??. It is the exact reverse here, which should not be the case!!). Though this should have been done by the former governments in th late 60's to 70's ( which was irrevocably did not happen), it is not too late that this is done atleast now.Remember, as I said before India is not a tiger as being personified world over, but an elephant - slow to rise but sure to stand! Comments are welcome

Subramaniam Venkataraman said...

Mani,

You have been idealistic but that is not the problem. It cannot be!! What I Will do is, enter into your framework and critically examine it.

I will start with your premise,as, if there are glitches in it, the framework might fall apart…and I think there might be. I quote from your text-“The Objective of the educational system is upliftment of the entire society which helped in its formation. It is made by the society for its own enhancement”. This assumption is right only in the embryonic stages of a society as it is only then that it can be ‘absolutely’ said that a society builds an educational system. From then on, the objectives and the operations are bi-directional and have to come full-circle. Building an educational system is not just a one-time investment for a society. It is a process that needs continuous monitoring and regular revamping to ensure the serving of its purpose.

You have a taken a rather severe stand on students who can learn concepts and implement them in the private sector. But isn’t the system (supposed) to be designed in such a way that the success of the private sector or public sector percolates down to the last grain of sand??!! If that is achieved, the government will have done its work…and so will the diligent student. And if this made possible, wouldn’t WE be doing our duty by just following “OUR PATH”???
Why should OUR PATH be (seen as) an accumulating activity, isolated from the national good?? If questions are raised on people pursuing their OWN PATHS, where will one draw the line??? Mani might give US the luxury to study and then “give back”. But one kind lady might think it right to study only if you can pay for it yourself (as opposed to studying trough inherited wealth-Ex: father’s money). And the benevolent gentleman next door might extend it with “Why study at all???...We need people but only to work!!! Why should anyone follow his OWN PATH?? We should all work for a common goal—the good of all!!!”
Where does one stop???!!!

Beneficiaries of the system do not move away from the system for no reason…for if that were to be the case, most of the developed world would not be where it is today. The hard fact is that the private sector has succeeded INSPITE OF the government and not because of it!!!

The endeavour of any democracy is to provide distributive justice on all fronts. That this has not been done does not necessarily make the beneficiaries of the system undeserving. Applying your own logic, if the needy are provided education, wouldn’t they be undeserving too?? This is not to defend the existing policies or the apathy of the people, in general…, but why should it be wrong for US to study with inherited wealth, but be noble for others (thee needy) to study on someone else’s money??? If every man lives for the other, no man will live for himself. No man will live HIS LIFE!!! And what we would, in effect, create is a mass of hapless individuals with no right to even think, let alone dream.

Think mani…think carefully. If men were prohibited from leading their OWN LIVES, everyman surely would be thinking only what he SHOULD BE. But at the end of the day, there has to be someone who makes strategic decisions for the country. And assuming he does, however credible he is, isn’t it just HIS dream for the nation that will come forth??? The individual is an inescapable reality. And so is the collective. We need to accept this simple truth. When we celebrate the idea freedom, it is assumed that the clause “responsible and accountable” is accepted. If not, it is enforced. Just think…-If you empower the masses…and are successful in the exercise, you would in effect help them realise their dreams…follow THEIR OWN PATHS!!! Why would you go all the way to help someone do something which you have denounced right up at your premise??? (Which is, follow one’s own path)

At the risk of sounding contradictory, I’d like to let you know I’m as troubled as you are. But I cannot quite agree with your prescription to cure for the current scenario, which I believe, stems from your premise (many mini-premises). Or may be it is what MOTIVATES you, which you are trying to transfer to US that I cannot agree with. I have disagreed with you so vehemently only to prove that your philosophy may have wild ramifications- ore destructive than constructive.

Subramaniam Venkataraman said...

I have NOT writen to belittle the cause of upliftment of the needy. But justto bring out the point that is is not a sin to have money. We all have different ENDS. And it is money, to different degrees, that will help us reach there. Simply put, there cannot be any social-work done in the absence of money. It is a means to an end and there is no reasont to fear it (presuming one is confident of his integrity).

I havenot writen more because Avinash has said mostof what has to be.

Subramaniam Venkataraman said...

Avi,

I particularly liked your points on
-"the gradient of development".

and,

-"Primary education".

Keep it going guys.

Subramaniam Venkataraman said...

mani, u should either be replying or contemplating your nex post.
common. lets see some more from u