Education for our survival
Today, in building a knowledge-based society, there is no alternative to science and technical education.
At the same time, educated leadership is necessary in all spheres to build a democratic society.
Competent individuals are required to manage economic problems, political crises, and diplomatic issues.
Education should be planned in such a way that it produces administrators, doctors, engineers, agriculturists, managers, bankers, researchers, professors, teachers, entrepreneurs, lawyers, military officers, police officers, and journalists.
By struggling against hostile nature, humans have survived up to the present day.
The story of that struggle for survival of primitive humans is closely intertwined with the development and evolution of educational thought.
From ancient times, education has had a very close relationship with livelihood and the way of life.
In other words, whatever variations education may have taken in the past and present, its connection with economic production has never diminished.
Since human methods and processes of production have never remained the same, the methods and processes of education have also not remained the same.
Differences in time, place, and circumstances have brought diversity in the subjects, forms, and methods of education.
Just as history is analyzed by dividing it into different ages, the question of different eras also arises when we evaluate education.
The education of the ancient age does not match the education of the medieval age; likewise, medieval education does not match the education through the continuous chain of human thought, research, and innovation, education has developed and progressed to such a stage that would have been unimaginable only in the modern age.
In ancient times, education was practical and family-centered. Hereditary learning and skills were the main means of survival.
The invention of language and its use greatly helped to preserve human thought and knowledge and to transmit them from one generation to another.
Today the advancement of science and technology has given civilization astonishing achievements.
It is difficult to determine exactly when institutional education began in the course of the development of society and civilization.
However, looking at the architectural style of the pyramids of Egypt, one cannot help but be amazed by the geometric and technical knowledge of their builders.
Although the continuity of human intellectual development has been disrupted at various times due to the rise and fall of civilizations, the progress of education and culture has never stopped.
In the past this development was extremely slow, but now it has become difficult to keep pace with the speed of its progress.
Nevertheless, no matter how much change occurs in education, its two fundamental objectives remain unchanged even today.
The first is the distribution of specific knowledge—such as learning to read, learning to write, learning languages, learning mathematics, and so on.
The second is to create a mental habit that helps a person acquire knowledge and develop sound judgment. The first stage of education may be called information, and the second stage intelligence.
(B. Russell, Free Thought and Official Propaganda, 1922)
In discussing this matter, we should bear in mind that the medieval mind was bound by many chains.
It had little opportunity for self-confident and independent judgment.
Under the domination of the Church, the fear of priests and clergy, and the unbearable oppression of kings and landlords, people lived a life marked by repression and ignorance.
The history of medieval Europe bears witness to this. Europe was rescued from this ignorance and stagnation by the Renaissance.
As a result, people gained human rights and replaced blind obedience with rationality. Significant changes began in the formation of society and the state.
Civil rights were recognized, and individual initiative began to flourish in economic activities. The feudal state system and social structure changed.
A new era began in human thought and relationships. Changes in the roles of men and women within the family and society, as well as in political outlooks, opened up immense possibilities for a new life.
The remarkable rise and development of democratic thought and capitalist economy that we observe in Great Britain soon spread to other parts of the world.
The merchants of the East India Company came to Bengal—the richest province of Mughal India—for trade and eventually became rulers through their intellect and strategy.
Meanwhile, through English literature, the message of European civilization reached the Indian subcontinent, especially Bengal.
People began to see life and the world from a new perspective. Bengali youth welcomed rationalist philosophy.
New types of schools and colleges began to be established to impart English education, replacing traditional education taught by the institutions such as tols, chatushpathis, maktabs, and madrasas.
The objectives of this new education were explained by Lord Macaulay and remain unforgettable.
In 1835 he declared: “We must do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern—a class of persons Indian in blood and colour but English in taste and opinions, in morals and intellect.”
Although the spread of English language and modern education served colonial interests, it also led to a form of intellectual awakening.
However, that awakening remained largely limited to the modernization of Bengali literature.
Many educationalists have defined education and discussed its aims and purposes in many ways.
But the great scientist Albert Einstein once approved a humorous definition of education which drew our attention. He said: “Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything learned in school.”
Moreover, he made many profound remarks about education that remain relevant even today.
In a speech to students, he once said: “Remember that the wonderful things you learn in school are the work of many generations.
They were created through enthusiastic effort and immense labor in almost every country of the world.
They are handed down to you as an inheritance so that you may receive them with respect, develop them further, and pass them on faithfully to future generations.”
Moreover he compared education to a white marble statue standing in a desert, constantly threatened with being covered by sand.
Therefore, everyone must come forward to remove the sand so that the statue may remain shining in the sunlight forever. No one will differ with his uncommon opinion.
In reality, modern education has developed through the combined contributions of religion, philosophy, and science.
Preserving knowledge and adding to it is one important function of education, but identifying errors and correcting them is equally significant.
For this reason, the purification of human thought is considered an important goal of higher education.
Those who believe that scientific truth alone is the only truth and that religion or philosophy are unreliable should consider the valuable observation of the British philosopher Bertrand Russell.
He warned against both blind faith in science and its cynical dismissals.
In conclusion we should emphasise on female education and women must be completely brought out of the darkness of illiteracy. Without educated mothers and homemakers, it is impossible to build advanced families and societies.
So, public money should be spent on educating our sisters and daughters with special care. In a ward education must be planned, purposeful, and of high quality.
(Writer: The Advisory Editor, The New Nation.)
