I did not want to write about this issue again. But having read many postings in facebook and news papers forced to jot down these lines. Please bear with me. Many of us were till the other day talking about the importance of education often quoting Jawaharlal Nehru that” India’s destiny if formed in the Class Rooms” etc. And many of us were demanding the universalisaton of not only general but also higher education. But now there is a turn around and at least some of us are arguing that illiteracy is not something to be looked down upon and not only that in fact it is virtue for leaders invoking such examples from the past as the great Kamaraj Nadar. And some went to the extend of pointing out that even in the modern era such college drop outs like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs made amazing contributions. What is required for a leader is not any formal education but innate wisdom and “public contact”. Interestingly even the progressive minded are confused since many in their rank and file are not that educated. Fortunately the intellectuals are yet to quote Ivan Illich who wrote “De-schooling Society” where in he argued that formal education in fact is an impediment to the acquisition of socially worth knowledge and skills. They are likely to quote from Paulo Freire’s “The Pedagogy of the Oppressed” to argue that for the oppressed millions of this country an entirely different type of learning experience may be needed that will help them to get rid of the oppressive social structure. All these statements and postures are made alas just to justify the appointment of a 38 year old lady as HRD minister who does not have much of political experience and who was defeated twice in parliament elections including the last general election where her party swept the polls. While granting the contributions made by our great leaders some of whom were not that well educated let me re affirm this statement. That in this modern era we in fact need well educated leaders with social commitment and political vision. As Bertrand Russell used to say a good life is inspired by love and guided by knowledge. Same with the governance of this country.
Posted on: Sat, 31 May 2014 04:44:48 +0000
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