“The whole purpose of education is to make mirrors into windows” – Sydney J. Harris
I am a post graduate student in Life Sciences, specializing in Chemical ecology and environment. Striving to understand the chemical language of insects, my love for nature kept growing. This also made me think of conserving nature in this anthropocentric age.
To bring the idea of sustainability into lime light, the current education needs a paradigm shift from industrialization to sustainable living and happiness. When this shift is enabled, people will find purpose in their education and every profession in the society will find its survival without exploiting environment. Today’s unprecedented situation due to pandemic is disrupting our normalcy; we are left with the Hobson’s choice of opting to e-learning.
Moving forward, the learning experience can be made flexible and teaching done in an application based platform to upgrade experience. This is evident in the Sustainable Development Goals framed by the UN, giving a significant position for education.
Most schools in India kill the innate creativity of a child, make them memorise rather than building logical thinking. This gradually results in growing up outside their creative zones and becoming monotonous individuals. This approach of building a career cannot contribute to develop a society. The 21st century is packed with challenges of an unknown job market. Today’s job titles were beyond comprehension in the past and ten years from now we have no clues about the transformation. But throughout, education has remained the same. We have global issues initiated by human activities like climate change, land use and land cover changes, automation and artificial intelligence which might leave us with unimaginable consequences.
Future wants an education that is customized to the needs and interests of the students and is accessible to all students. Through this, without rushing through the curriculum, students can absorb knowledge effectively. Making online platforms accessible through advanced technologies is the need of the hour. Teachers must keep in mind while imparting knowledge to students that they will contribute to the society for the next few decades. These life lessons can form happy citizens who find satisfaction in their work and outgrow their challenges. As it was quoted “We manage what we value, and value what we measure.” What do we measure in the today? We measure literacy and human capital generated by our employment. But the education that we aim for the future must focus on holistic human well-being.
Join me and 5 other youth finalists as we engage with senior decision makers and policy makers on the purpose of education. Register now as limited spots are available: https://delegatesfortage.paperform.co/
About #UnitedForHope
As part of the UN75 initiative, the United Nations in India launched the #UnitedForHope campaign in partnership with Youth Ki Awaaz with the aim to create meaningful conversations with as many people as possible: to listen to their hopes and fears; learn from their experiences; and empower them to think and act globally.
With the spirit of “We The Peoples” at its core, the campaign provides an opportunity for the global public, especially young people, to share their ideas on how to tackle the developmental challenges of today, and build a better future for everyone, everywhere. For more information, see: in.one.un.org/un75