Sanjose A Thomas

Education can be rightly regarded as the most prominent social institution second only to family and it plays a vital role in the making of an individual especially in terms of his /her personality formation. The role played by teachers as stakeholders and as front runners in shaping the future of children is almost inevitable and is so vital which helps them adorn the status of ‘Gods’ in the Indian tradition. There was a time when teachers and teaching profession was held in high esteem and were treated as the torchbearers of the progress of a society. It was a time when they performed their role almost impressively and at par with the family members of the child. School and college was such a fond memory cherished in full swing and nurtured as times close to one’s heart and soul irreplaceable by anything. It was from there we entered into the new epoch or era of revolutionizing education and transforming it almost completely in tune with the needs and aspirations of the market as well as the global society. Our old schema and system of education as it prevailed in the 70’s and 80’s even up to 90’s became unfit to take on the needs of the ‘new age’ which ushered in an era of liberalization and globalization. Liberalization especially cultural liberalization touched education deeply and almost so profoundly that it made it more universal, market driven, totalizing, consumeristic, less adaptive and above all digitalized. This was very much evident in the domain of syllabus and pedagogy which has become highly complicated and multifaceted in it’s approach. As a result of this education has become less of an experience and more of an exam centric entity with high priority attached to the score as indicated in the CGPA or SGPA of the student and not in his emotional wellbeing or social skill set. Thus we create a market capable and highly employable younger generation, at the same time often become suspicious about their capacity to face the new world.
This is where Christian families eventually come to the picture. Since education also play a vital role in the formation of a child, the impact it has on the Christian growth and development has to be examined very closely. Previously education had a strong moral dimension which eventually reduced and paved way for the emergence of a more commercial enterprise and this also made some impact on the faith and moral formation of the child especially in Christian homes. Search for new pastures of life and less emphasis on prayer and sacrifice, replacement of selflessness with selfishness and self centeredness and above all moral turpitude in the public realm may all have  a direct impact on the Christian formation and subsequent deprivation of moral values. Campus today is moulded in such a fashion that despite the hue and cry over social media platforms and a plethora of social engagements of many sort, the real question lies in the point that whether it touches the heart and soul of the student and could transform him/her into a new creation endowed with humanity. This is where our new educational domain fail miserably as it couldn’t infuse the lessons of life which another generation learnt very easily from their campus life as well as from their multiple experiences. Many people today lament on the lost vibrancy of our campuses which were throbbing with life and energy in 80’s and 90’s. Imagine they haven’t even had many basic facilities which our younger generation enjoy and cherish now. So the difference lies in how we perceive them and how seriously we took them and relished them as our own which never happen nowadays. Our reference groups have changed and now we live in a world of hyper reality where nothing is real and almost everything is transitory and simulated. Such simulations even entered the educational arena to some extent and that’s why we lack ever lasting knowledge building platforms, but we rely more on temporary accrual of the same just for examination or score enhancing purposes. This even has entered into our relationships and is evident why the number of old age care centres and marital breakdowns are increasing and has almost become the ‘new – normal’.
The need of the hour is the identification of the loopholes and pitfalls in our educational and academic pedagogy and the plugging of the same. The proposed National Education Policy (NEP 2020) speaks about imparting value education but falls short of incorporating some institutional measures for making it a sustained practice. Character begins at family and is reaffirmed by school just like how charity begins at home. Let us try to make education an experiential phenomenon and not a classroom based exercise solely. The highest education is that which doesn’t merely gives information, but which makes our life in harmony with all existence.