Gurukul to Guru-cool

Education is transversal in nature. It sees itself unfold in various directions across multiple lands, both vast and small. The world has seen incredible amounts of transformation in the method of propagation of education through the ages. From priests imparting the sacred ounces of knowledge to information pouring into one’s brain after the advent of the internet, education has made its way through a long-winded path undergoing countless transformations along the way.

Our own country, India, has seen a large variety of educational reforms, right from the Gurukul system in the Vedic age to the SmartClass technology of the twenty-first century. Gurukul is a type of schooling that has existed since time immemorial. The method intoned by this system has a very learning-centric approach towards knowledge. It involves training of students in various forms of meditation and yoga for efficient bestowal of information. Children were put together in small clusters and assigned a guru whose job was to impart knowledge. Children learned from their teacher and their peers simultaneously. The aura surrounding a Gurukul encouraged social awareness as one was in the presence of his or her peers constantly. There existed a fine trace of codependency among the members of the cohort. Carefully navigating their way through several years of formal education, which included the most crucial years of their youth, bound the children to one another inseparably. Social, cultural and humanitarian barriers were eradicated as students coordinated with each other and their surroundings. Aspects of life were understood in entirety despite the time they took to be conferred. This value-based education system had a very positive influence on the social and cultural detail of a man’s well-rounded life.

The reporter firmly believes that the Gurukul’s principles tie in with Albert Einstein’s famous quote, “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” Deliberate pondering gives way to imagination and innovation, which in turn helps to regurgitate the most marvelous ideas in existence. This system believes in focusing on moulding education into a journey that harnesses many values other than just the soaking of factually accurate knowledge. The system, however, has seen its peak decades ago. Now, it has transformed into something gargantuan; an entirely new manner of managing the untamable flow of knowledge.

Currently, we live in a world where there is rapid flow of information to satiate every curious mind’s ravenousness. Once a venerable bounty, knowledge is now a common element attached to the search engine waiting to be summoned in everyone’s smart phone. The internet supports transcendental transfer of information, which is now used by every country in the world. The first survey of internet users conducted in 1996 measured around 40 million users, which is an ant-sized amount when compared to the 2.3 billion users today. The internet has pushed levels of sociability and cultural awareness to new extremes, but problems continue to arise in matters of social, cultural and humanitarian sensitivity. This has created certain discrepancies in the observed influence of changing educational systems.

The measure of progress in education cannot be evaluated adequately when the parameters influencing the progress are outdated. Many revolutions have been envisioned for the beginning of this new decade, a prime example being set by the book written by the prestigious Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, titled India 2020. A developed nation is desired, with education as its primary pillar of support. It would, however, be inaccurate to say that India stayed true to what was envisioned. The country has fallen behind and development has taken a backseat in the face of obscure problems. The reporter, however, noticed a pattern in the vanishing of determination towards development, related to education.

Continuous reliance on one type of education system has landed India (and other countries) in trouble, multiple times. Change has stubbornly filled the void left by a gradually incompetent education system. The reporter strongly agree with change, and a new way of absorbing knowledge provided to us from several sources. A team of certain member nations boasting about the best education systems, like Republic of Finland and the Federal Republic of Germany should be curated to help set the standard of education for all low-income countries first, moving to more privileged ones later. The experience of such flourishing countries can help provide perspective to change the system for it to function more productively.

Change is the only constant. It is the need of the hour. The situation demands for instant action, with change being the first step towards a more socially and culturally sustainable educational system.

References: Cardoso, Gustavo, Angus Cheong, and Jeffrey Cole (eds). World Wide Internet: Changing Societies, Economies and Cultures. Macau: University of Macau Press, 2009. India 2020, by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

(Edited by Harsha Sista)