Does education come to an end?

There is so much concern among teachers and parents about today’s children not studying enough, not taking interest in learning, and not developing the reading habit. Most of us just go on pressurizing the children to study, without realizing that we are aiming at very short term goals. There is much more to the learning process than just mugging up from text books or notes.

Every child is ritually admitted to a school, and the more reputed it is, the greater the joy of the parents. Each child has to go through the ritual of lugging a huge schoolbag day in and day out, endure seven periods of monotonous or lively lectures, and then periodically sweat it out to face the great monster called exams.

When the grand finale of the final exams of school is over, and the tense wait for results brings in happy news, the mad rush begins for admissions in colleges, entrance exams, and donations. This begins another phase of endless lectures, thicker books to memorize, and another series of exams to agonize through.

Somewhere along the line years of slogging and drudgery seems to have paid off, and the child is now grown up. He is no longer a student, and can aspire to work, earn and enter the big bad world outside. “No more studies for me” he tells himself happily, and looks forward to evenings out, overtime, dating and long hours of music. What an irony that learning should acquire such draconian features, but it is true. And this leads to many people developing an aversion to books, which they carry through their lives.

Gaining knowledge, learning about the fascinating world around us, exploring the unknown – adventures that should have fascinated the mind, become an endless agony imposed as a punishment. In the whole process of acquiring certificates and degrees, no one cares to see whether any real learning has taken place. Parents push their children to the utmost, threatening them of dire consequences if they don’t get good grades. Children start identifying their self worth with the type of marks they score. And as a result of this, many stop the process of learning and lead mundane adult lives.

Books can be a man’s best friends. They can console when one is depressed; they can provide wonderful company when one is alone; they can cheer up when one is down and out; and they can provide adventure right inside the four walls of our home. Amazingly, they can be time fillers when we are bored, yet they never ever make a demand on our time unless we want them. Even in this electronic age of satellite TV, Internet and mobile phones, they continue to be the cheapest, most reliable and the widest range of learning that we can ever dream of.

If we as adults enjoy books, our children will do the same. Starting from reading out aloud to very small children, one should go on to discussing what we have read from time to time. Discuss books the way you discuss movies, sports or other common interests. Show what you have gained from books, and what you are gaining from them whatever your age may be. Once children start understanding that books are their friends, they will not have so much of an aversion to studies.

Since it is a proven fact that children are very poor at listening to their elders, but very good at mimicking them, setting an example of reading and enjoying books is the best way to educate a child. Teachers who say “I have no time to read books” obviously make their students feel the same way. Parents who feel they are beyond the reading stage convey to their children that reading is only a transitory task, something that has to be endured till one grows up – and then they will be free from books.

Those who think they are adults and have completed their education, please do look around. There is so much more to learn, and the farther the frontier we extend, the more fascinating the process becomes. When all else fails and our near and dear desert us in the sunset years of our lives, these friends will always stand by us.