I enjoy having the ‘last word’ in print, a privilege which comes when you wait to listen to everyone else speak first. Today, I wish to speak about what concerns everybody at some stage: Education. At present, India is struggling to ensure literacy to everyone, regardless of economic status. This, however, is only the beginning of the spiral trajectory of civilisation. Those of you reading this have already attained literacy. So you understand the vast gap between being literate and being civilised.
We are in the profession of disseminating education, not mere literacy. Education is not only the acquisition of knowledge but also what use we make of it. There is the famous story about talents, where three servants used the money gifted by their master in different ways. One spent it all, while the other locked it up. The third invested profitably and was therefore, able to offer the master a gift, in turn. Similarly, education is how you can give back to society, the knowledge you have acquired from it.
Technology-enhanced innovative learning in our school is founded on a value system sustained by the Learning Partnership between teachers and parents. Home and familial values, moral and social values and cultural and global values all play a crucial role in shaping character/personality of students. School inculcates these values better with home support and reinforcement.
One global value rooted in the traditions of our oldest civilisations is that of giving and sharing. A few ‘primitive’ cultures, probably because they were close to ‘nature’, followed the rather desperate/ruthless idea of ‘survival of the fittest’. More advanced cultures discovered a less competitive and more efficient version of survival through collaboration.
The old fable of the hare-tortoise race was thus revised, allowing both to win the race. The hare covered ground quickly, carrying the tortoise piggy-back, while the tortoise in turn, swam across streams with the hare perched atop his shell. So, both were winners by sharing their individual strengths for a common purpose.
The best gift we humans possess by virtue of ‘natural selection’ or genetic evolution is our brain. My ‘Last Word’ to my students is then, a question. How will you use the invaluable gift of aeons of human civilisation, your brain, for a suitable return gift to our global society?
The question does not require an immediate answer. I would like you to begin thinking of possible answers, and keep improving your response as you grow older and wiser. That is how your education will truly bear fruit.
Dr. Sanjukta Sivakumar
Principal