Kumaranalloor
is famous for its Temple. But not many people, barring locals, would know of
the Government Upper Primary school in Kumaranalloor. I went there first time
in 2018. I was there once again, invited to speak, on 02 Jun, 2025, as part of
the “praveshanolsavam.” “Praveshanam” in Malayalam means admission,
and “Ulsavam” means festival or celebration.
Praveshanolsavam
The
function was organised to give the children, starting their education journey
in government-run schools, a sense of festivity. It was done to initiate
children into the schooling system and coincided with the commencement of the
current academic year. The authorities could have used the event to take stock
of the infrastructural adequacy of government-run schools. “Sarkar karyam
mura pole”, is what Malayalees say. It only means that things that the
government does will take their course when it does. The strategic aim of the
event seemed to be optics and eyeballs. Public memory may be short-lived, but well-publicised
events can eventually be milked for political returns. The irony of having to
market free education against an alternative that robs parents of hefty sums as
fees through fancy names was not lost on me.
My
primary audience was a bunch of kids, full of life and refusing to be
geographically contained, whom the teachers worked hard to keep in place. I was
focused on their parents and teachers. The audience occupied most of the small
hall, a shed with no partitions that otherwise served as classrooms. I had no
political compulsions. I had agreed to be there because I wanted to contribute
my bit to the society that I live in. I had a stage and I had an audience. I
commenced with a few words about the importance of the function and then went
on to what I wanted to say. A few minutes into the speech, I realised the hall
had fallen silent. I had the full attention of the audience.
Later,
I realised what I spoke at the event applies to all communities in the world
irrespective of class, caste, colour, country, culture, cult, or creed. Let me
share that with you also.
Questioning
Literacy
All
Keralites are literate. We boast about 100% literacy.
Why
is the menace of drug abuse in Kerala growing?
Why
is road rage increasing in Kerala?
Why
do youngsters leave Kerala or even the country to find jobs when others from
across the country move into Kerala for the very jobs our youth vacated? Why
are our social standards falling?
Why
do ‘educated’ well-to-do people stoop down in their behaviour in public?
Why
is integrity as a virtue disappearing?
Why
is breaking the law becoming fashionable?
Why
do we fall easy prey to propaganda?
Are
we, as literate people, failing to make considered decisions on our own?
Are
we celebrating literacy under the mistaken notion that it is education?
If
one or more questions above have occurred to us, as individuals who can read
and write, there is something amiss in literacy. Literacy only means we can
read and write. It does not mean we are educated.
Education
Education
has three important aspects. It deals with acquisition, possession, and
application. Individuals first acquire information through prescribed or
self-devised media of instruction, process it and transform the acquisition
into knowledge and skills. Knowledge is a possession inseparable from the
individual. Knowledge acquisition can occur in formal settings, such as
educational or training institutions, or informal environments, like the home
or society. Conscientious application of acquired knowledge in a framework of
commonly accepted right or wrong depends on the individual’s character.
Education
must improve the scientific temper, challenge the status quo, and enhance
inquisitiveness. It should improve the power of reasoning, promote objective
understanding of the cause and effect of individual or collective decisions and
actions. Knowledge must eventually be applied for the good of mankind and
result in collective upliftment and progress of society. Unfortunately, a
system that promotes rote recall to decide on merit and success, with disregard
to the means adopted, discards internalisation and useful application,
eventually bringing little good to society.
When
deviant behaviour is a norm or when different yardsticks become the norm for
dispensing laws for different people, it is a clear sign not of poor standards but the absence of education. Literacy does not guarantee rationale-driven
decision-making; education does.
Do
we believe education comes from books?
Wisdom and Books
Books
are a source of summarised information or codified norms of practice. It is the
summary of someone’s experience, thoughts, etc. They merely provide a doorway
through which one can access collated information. It is barely the means to
give all that is required. Everything in a book is purely information. Only
when the information given by a book is understood, accepted after adequate
questioning, internalised enough to be adapted by an individual for application
when and where required, would it become knowledge. Knowledge fosters personal
development and sharpens the skill of rational, logical, and critical thinking.
Otherwise, it remains just information. Knowledge is the result of educated
experiences. Wisdom is unbiased knowledge.
Educating
Children
A
child is like a sponge. If we put a piece of white sponge in a bowl of
coloured liquid, two things happen. First, it absorbs the liquid. We may not be
able to see the liquid because it has been internalised. Second, it absorbs the
colour, and that is very visible. Similarly, education has two inputs. The
first is the intrinsic, invisible part. The second is the behavioural
manifestation. We can feel and experience a wet and heavy sponge. Squeeze it, and the liquid comes out. Likewise, education can be of use only if internalised.
Similarly, appearances may not divulge how well-educated a person is, but their
actions would speak aloud about the quality of their education. Adhering to the
law even when not supervised is a very simple example of being educated. When a
society accepts literacy as education, it is easy for the shallow to
discriminate and justify any act.
Teachers
and Parents
Children
learn by observing and copying. A child born to a Malayali settled in Germany
or a child of Chinese descent would speak German just like any other person of
German descent in the neighbourhood. Interestingly, such children can
effortlessly converse in both languages and switch from one to the other as if
the two languages are one. When it comes to behaviour and character, children
copy the most from their parents, siblings, elders, and teachers. Have
you noticed that children pick up bad things faster than good things? Our role,
therefore, is to become the best possible material to be copied by our children,
easy to copy due to prolonged association. Telling a child that something
is wrong while doing it ourselves not only sends confusing signals to the child
but also promotes accepting the difference between preaching and practice as
normal.
How
do we become the role models that we should be?
I
am a storyteller. I have authored three books. The characters in my works are
all inspired by life. They emerge from the script as individuals through their
actions and inactions in the given context, not from their physical
description. I realise that the longevity of characters in my books comes from
their behavioural traits.
The
first and foremost task before us is to draw the template that we want our
children to replicate. Then we must abide by the template in full view of our
children. If we obey traffic rules all the time, even when unsupervised, obeying
traffic rules will come naturally to our children. If we are generous, kind,
and considerate to people around our children will imbibe those qualities
naturally. We can expect them to be considerate and kind to us, also. If we are
crooks, hold double standards, speak with forked tongue, and demonstrate selfishness,
expect a fiercer version staring at us soon. What we should aim at passing on is the ability to see everything objectively, analyse and evaluate it independently
and then come to unbiased conclusions. Creativity can also be passed on.
That can be done by passing on the habit of reading fiction.
Why
fiction? Why not textbooks?
Textbooks
and manuals are prescriptions for a structured programme. That is a mandated
reading. Reading textbooks or manuals provides information about a subject or
an object. It rarely activates the imaginative part of our brains. Reading
fiction improves the art of visualisation.
But
don't movies and television series give you instant visual inputs? Yes, but
these inadvertently limit the recipient's scope of imagination. They coerce you
into converging with the director’s vision. When it comes to visualising a
text, in a work of fiction, the possibilities are enormous and endless.
Creating visuals within one’s brain based on a textual input helps condition
the brain to break pre-established moulds and promotes thinking beyond what is
seen, thereby ‘redefining horizons’ of the reader. When people get used
to the idea of pushing the envelope of their thoughts and continuously
redefining their horizons, then it becomes second nature for them to dream
limitlessly. Dreams lead to designing their future, developing the means to it,
dedicating their efforts, and then reaping rich dividends.
Read,
and let your children see you reading. Over time, they will copy you and
read on their own.
