Prateeksha
(Prateeksha graduated with B.Com (Hons) at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute
of Higher Learning, Anantapur Campus after her schooling in Bangalore.
Currently, she is pursuing her Chartered Accountancy(Final) while also gaining
experience as an intern at Prashanth & Associates Chartered Accountants.
Her interests include reading and listening to music. A very humble and
dedicated person, she actively participates in every Seva opportunity. In this
article she shares her thoughts on the concept of Free Education and how it can
best yield positive results.)
Recently, I have been pondering on Free Education, its
quality and the right target audience for an educare based learning programme.
Does Free education really serve the purpose and who might be the best
recipients of such a system? While, everything has its own advantages &
disadvantages depending on the situation, and while there are no exact answers,
I would like to share a few thoughts on the topic of Free Education.
We often hear people mention that Education is a critical
necessity in every one’s life. But what type of education? Swami says true educations imparts wisdom,
and helps in enlightening a person to discriminate between the ‘rights’ &
the ‘wrongs’.
I know that institutions disseminating such education are
very rare but they are not extinct. For instance, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai
Baba’s institutions are known for or rather they concentrate on this type of
education more than the worldly type. We call it ‘Education for Life, not just
for a Living’.
Coming to think of it, most people aspire for the education
that will land them more money and higher status alone. Hence the aspiration
for getting such ‘education for life’ itself is rare. If one is required to pay
for the same, even fewee would evince interest.
At the same time, it’s not a joke or an easy task to impart education to
those who are already running behind ephemeral and fleeting passions.
No wonder then that Swami began the whole process with the
young, innocent and unpolluted minds. As He puts it: “Young minds are like
liquid gold which can be put to any shape that the goldsmith desires. Once
youth sets in, the minds will solidify into the mould that it was cast
into.” So, what better way than to
follow the Master and spread this education in Human Values among the young
children?
Children of today are very bright for their age, have
creativity beyond levels seen hitherto and their thinking processes are fast.
Many of them have shown keen interest in attending Bal Vikas and Human Values
based games and programmes. In my opinion, providing Values Based Education
free to the younger minds will ensure that the future leaders of the world are
noble citizens with concern for all round welfare. I conclude by saying, that
if anyone can or wishes to provide ‘education for life’, it ought to be free to
children who are beginning their schooling so that the foundation of value
education would be built strongly. Later as they grow & cross their
schooling stage, wherever they go for higher studies, this firm footing would
ensure that they would be capable of learning the right things in the right way
& become responsible citizens.
||Jai Sai Ram||
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