Book: Education at the crossroads
Edited by Apoorvanand & Omita Goyal
Publisher: Niyogi Books
Page: 233
Price: Rs 495
At the outset, the most pertinent question is: What’s education? Though its answer could be hackneyed and also to the point of being threadbare, one must at least be familiar with the word education and its simple connotation. Education is empowerment. But in Indian context, does education empower the receivers? This is a million dollar question and this has been elucidated by the prominent educationists of India in this book: Education at the crossroads Edited by Apoorvanand and Omita Goyal.
The book is a rich compilation of essays and research papers submitted by the likes of Apoorvanand himself, Romila Thapar, Pushpa Sundar, Satya Sivaraman, among others. All have dealt with the present education system and its flaws and cavities. We are still following the education pattern that was conceptualised by Lord Macaulay in 1832. Nothing significant has taken place since then. We all know this but we hardly talk about it. It’s become a classic syndrome of an elephant in the room.
The conventional education system simply churns out degree-holders year after year and there’s no depth in them. It won’t be wide off the mark to mention that a group of students at a college in Chhattisgarh, wrote in their English papers: Sexpeare was a great bird! No exaggeration. This actually happened in 2018 when the Second Year students of ‘English Literature’ wrote this in lieu of, ‘Shakespeare was a great bard’. That they were not even aware of the spelling of the great Bard and relegated him to a feathery entity cannot be condoned by our policy makers in the sphere of higher education.
All the contributors are experienced people who have taught and formulated the syllabuses of various varsities. Many of them have rued the fact that higher authorities are not that willing to change the system and revamp it. This is a reference book for the educationists, policy makers and is also useful to those who want to be abreast of the present education system in the country.