The term de-educate may appear a little bit odd,strange and new,but the concept is not.Having both positive and negative sides like all theories,it has been used,though not quite often,by almost all imaginative artists rather positively.For to enter into creative forays and set new standards all artists will have to unclean or de-educate themselves from the copy book scholastic styles.
Some examples will portray the concept’s negative abilities and aspects clearly like in Indian state of Punjab,the state capital city, Chandigarh is one of the most literate cities of the country and to some extent of the world. From the very beginning local schools teach their students, apart from hoard of other things, lessons on road safety and traffic rules. School children are also taken to the well laid out local Traffic Park. A number of exhibitions, seminars, painting competitions, debates and paper reading/writing contests are also held in this regard.
This is an added mode of educating people as well as children on road safety, yet we face chaos on all roads of Chandigarh. What fails all educating methods is not difficult to gauge. Since most of the taught traffic laws are not based on pracxtical paradigm, they leave a little or no impact on one’s mind. On the contrary,children get de-educated on the subject very quickly whenever their helmetless hurried parents carry them to school on their loaded two-wheelers and jump the traffic signals with intrepid impunity. Apart from getting de-educated what they have studied academiccally about road safety rules,they learn to disregard the law and an unforgettable lesson in general disobedience and indiscipline.
In some universities,particularly of the developing countries,some girl students fail to complete their mandatory attendance requirement.But the students went on strike and made authorities bow to their unprincipled demands for scrapping the prescribed attendance norm,which after some time becomes to look and feel as if an integral part of university curriculum.By yielding to such unjust demands,what the university has taught the students can well be termed de-education.
Unfortunately today’s progressive way of life,supported by frosty but progressive figures of growth rate,has given birth to a cofusingly complex society.Being full of contradictions,our ill-coorinated education system has caused this social chaos.
While at every new step we provide incongruous and self-defeating learning practices to our naturally bemused youngsters,the ever busy parents,particularly in nuleus families,expecting lofty resuls put the onus of providing every part of their children education.from academic to that of socio-moral behaviour,upon their teachers.
On the other hand,a laid back academic attitude crowned by lesser working days is provided to these students when they move onwards to join institutions of so called higher education.The obvious result end-result turns out to be that of totally confused,disorganised and often dis-obedient students and their equally disgruntled parents. Also ,formal schools generally are over crowded and have insufficient infrastructure.These shools load children with literally heavy academic lessons that generally are irrelevant and thus incomprehensible to them.
The formal system culminates at colleges and universities having equally impractical academic approach. A mushroom growth of Ph.D. scholars clearly demonstrates similar futile educational irrationalities that heve been projected above.Thus all our education efforts,both formal and informal,need to be placed in conformity with our practical social requirements.A ruggedly rational education system,having logical consistencies without contradictions,perhaps can save our society from the clutches of lethal mconsumerism.
The governments should allocate more funds for the improvement of education in their annual budgets.However,unless our existing pattern of education is de-educated to have the way for a well co-ordinated teaching system,based on practical paradigms,things would not change much.
-DR.NAVRAJ SINGH SANDHU
P.A.H.S.1
www.navraj@gmail.com
Leave Your Comments