Education Must Teach Children To Serve Others: Justice Ghose

Bhubaneswar: Education is not about earning degrees, but it is about the values and life lessons a person imbibes in the process of learning, the Lokpal of India, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, said on Monday.

“Education is a holistic process. We learn not to get a job, but illuminate our own self with what we have learned,” he said while delivering the 2nd SOA Lecture at the Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University here.

Education, he said, is about hands on learning and gaining practical knowledge and it should equip a person to use intelligence and capabilities to face real-life situations, he said while speaking on the theme ‘Siksha O Research’.

Stating that perfection or divinity in man was nothing but a result of education, Justice Ghose, quoting Swami Vivekananda, said “education is manifestation of perfection in man.”

“Learning which is manifested as mere intellectualism of ideas is not enough,” he said adding an educated person would be unselfish which was not the case in the present day world. “It is actually the parents who infuse selfishness in the children who are directed not to share their study notes with fellow students as they thought the other children might secure better marks than their own. They don’t understand that by sharing, the children would learn more,” he said.

Justice Ghose said education which did not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for the struggle for life, bring out the strength of character, imbibe a spirit of philanthropy and courage, would not help. “Education must provide life-building, man-making and character shaping assimilation of ideas so as to develop an integrated person,” he said.

The significance of education, he said, helped the child to achieve personality first and developed personality immediately after which was the goal of continuous education. A developed personality would learn the art of service and dedication to the people around.

Narrating an anecdote, Justice Ghose said a father brought two fruits for his two children at home giving one to each. The elder child straightaway headed towards his room with the fruit, relished it and then came out. The other one took the fruit, found it good and went straight to his friends in the courtyard and shared it with all of them. Though the first child was intelligent, his intelligence had turned into mere cleverness as he was self-centered. He remained just an individual who had not yet developed into a person. But the second child had grown into a person and had spiritually expanded so as to think of others, care for others and had developed the spirit of service. Between the two children, who was the truly educated one?, he asked.

“This manifested the moral, ethical and humanistic development of the child which was necessary,” he said, adding a teacher was a social architect who had a great role to play to shape the life of his students.

Justice Ghose was felicitated on the occasion by founder President of SOA Prof. Manojranjan Nayak.

University’s Protem Vice-Chancellor Prof. R K Chauhan presided over the programme.