Education as a tool for Civilization

Education is the process of teaching and transfer of knowledge or skills to achieve some aims and objective. Today’s Education system focuses on fostering knowledge to liberate and overall develop an individual and to skill him for the current world needs.

Types of Education

Education is mainly of two types: Formal Education and Informal Education. Formal Education is provided in the institutions, schools and colleges whereas Informal Education is given by parents, self-learned and what is learnt from experienced and expert people informally.

History of Indian Education

• In the olden days, the teachings of Vedas were given to children by the elders and teachers orally.
• Taxila University (believed to be oldest), Nalanda University in Bihar, Vikram University were the main centers of Education in India.
• Wide range of subjects from Biology, Botany, Mathematics to Astronomy were taught.
• The temples were centers of religious and spiritual learning and spread of culture. Ancient India followed the concept of Ashram System, where the students use to go to a Guru (teacher) in his Ashram and learn from him. Practical knowledge, life skills, and morality were main teachings imparted in these Ashrams by the Guru.

Modern Education System

The Modern Education system is mainly formal in type. There are public institutions and private institutions across the world. The Modern Education System focuses more on-

• complex vocational skills and
• knowledge needed for the modern world such as coding, computing, managing, etc.

Although there is availability of Education all over the world, but Quality Education is accessible only to a few. This is due to many factors such as high fees, competition, low number of seats in the Universities, language barriers etc.

Revolutionizing Education

The era of Information Technology has revolutionized the Education System. The Online platform has provided an alternative solution to the learners. The students from the corner of a room and can learn from top University professors across the globe from their computers and mobile phones. This easy access to Education is the new future. This also has proved effective during the lockdowns imposed during the Corona Pandemic.

Way Forward

Education is a basic need. Indian Constitution under Article 21A states that free and compulsory education should be provided to children of 6-14 years age group. It is also the duty of the parents to send their children to school. The world is changing rapidly, and new knowledge must be adapted as the old knowledge becomes obsolete very quick.