The Challenge Of Our Time Is Challenge Of Education: A Virus Corrupting And Destructing Young Minds
By Dr. Fayaz Ahmad Bhat
25 March, 2015
Countercurrents.org
The present society in which we live in is experiencing many changes, alterations. The social relations and interaction are swinging like a pendulum kabi (sometimes) here and kabi there. With continuous changes and fluctuation in the society and social relation, hapless creatures (human beings) are subjected to many challenges and confrontations. Sociologically, speaking a change in a society or social relations is one of the most important factors, exposing hapless creatures to new challenges and confrontations. Arnold Toynbee, maintained that every society faces challenges posed by environment, internal and external elements. The nature of response to these challenges determines the fate of society. The changes and challenges in a society are not something new or modern. Societies from the antiquity have been experiencing these changes and challenges but the changes in the present society have brought in new challenges and confrontation. Poverty, gender inequality, terrorism, environment pollution, human trafficking, gender discrimination, are the main confrontations the modern society is facing. But the most dangerous of all challenges of present society especially of third world is “education” rather, would I prefer to call it schooling or literacy.
Bowles and Gintis, (1976) acknowledged the contribution of school education in reducing mass illiteracy and providing learning chances to people but argued that school education could not deliver what enlightened reformers hoped from it. The scholars like Ivan Illich, Paul Freire, Apple, Bowels, Reids, Bourdieu and many others highlighted the role and function of schooling in reproducing and reinforcing social inequalities. Although most of these studies were west and Europe centric but represented the scenario of other parts of the globe as well. The challenges and confrontations posed by schooling in west and Europe are not same in the societies having a different social, political and economical setup, but have introduced new challenges and confrontation there. The promotion of mass schools and schooling in these countries by national and International actors is producing a large chunk of mal-educated people. This endangers the future of these countries and poses threat to the whole world.
In my recent interaction, I met a few mal-educated chunks in Indian administered Kashmir during an interactive cum lecture arranged by Ignited Minds Circle, a circle claimed ‘to provide a way for students to develop a scientific temper’. During the interaction theory and hypothesis of mal-education got again affirmed. It was observed the group consisted many mal-educated children some of them having deficiency of educational nutrients like gender sensitivity, value neutrality, cultural relativity etc. The most affected of mal-educated lot, I found a few children are over nutritional. Over nutritional, in a sense that the quantity and the amount of educational nutrients they have been provided are over nutrition. This has radicalized them and developed self syndrome among them. The only version of truth before them is their version. The best of creatures under the sun are only and alone they. Had they been exposed to the world they would have never developed this disease? They would have got a chance to burn some calories. There software would have not been corrupted and destructed by a virus called radicalization, intolerance and ethnocentrism had there been installation of antivirus. The texts (books, audio, video etc) they are installed are full of viruses and without installation of any antivirus they are highly insecure and prone to mal-function. It is about this “education” system and group about which Bertrand Russell, way back read, “Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education”.
Dr. Fayaz Ahmad Bhat, is a student of Sociology, social activist and currently teaching Sociology at Government Degree College, Banihal, Jammu and Kashmir, India
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