The new national education policy (NEP 2020) has been proposed and a lot of debate and discussion is happening about it. And rightly so, it is worth a discussion as the future of any country depends on the education it provides to the next generation.
For a futuristic approach, it is said, “A businessman should plan one year ahead, a politician should plan ten years ahead, and a teacher should plan one generation ahead…”
The real success of NEP depends on how we all together implement it. So let us look at how the education system (śikṣā) would be better through the right teachers (śikṣaka).
But, before that let us see what Chanakya, a great teacher himself, said about the education system nearly 2400 years ago. The Arthashastra is about the training of a student to become a leader. We can learn a few things and make the next generation think like leaders than followers.
“Training and discipline are acquired by accepting the authoritativeness of the teachers in the respective fields.” (1.5.6)
The education system started with training the students with experts—what does that mean to us? We should have more experts teaching children than just teachers teaching subjects. A teacher is important no doubt, but when experts come to schools or colleges, they can provide insights into the respective fields.
Imagine Sachin Tendulkar training the next generation of cricketers, or Vishwanathan Anand teaching about chess, or Narayana Murthy teaching about ethics in business. They can probably take one lecture a week (now online also) and guide students. These experts will bring in wisdom and insights for the next generation and inspire them. That is what Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam did lifelong. Though a scientist or well known as a missile man of India, he loved to be called a ‘teacher’ and died as a teacher on the lecture platform.
Dr Radhakrishnan Pillai is an Indian management thinker, author, and Founder of Atma Darshan and Chanakya Aanvikshiki. Dr Pillai has extensively researched Kautilya’s Arthashastra, the 3rd century BC treatise and incorporated it into modern management.
Comments