Editor,
The recent article by Patricia Mukhim entitled “Education: The only game-changer” (ST 18 Dec, 2020.) was very thought-provoking. The writer laments – “I have rarely met parents who would say they want their kids to be ethical humans with respect for the rights of others; children who will not discriminate on the basis of community, ethnicity, religion or other such divisive factors that are currently emerging…..” These few words touched me more than anything. It led me to dive deeper into the matter concerning the present condition of education and the consequences thereof.
In my personal observation, the definition of EDUCATION in modern times is crisp and direct. Be good at your chosen area of studies; the rest will take its own course. Who cares about the ethical norms if the disciplines chosen have been endorsed by the mainstream academic! What was ethically outrageous has now become the new normal. You can be excessively cunning, self-centered, uncompassionate, biased, or even illogical, but still, you can be academically qualified and you would be applauded. Only thing is that you need to maneuver yourself with an air of dignity and ostentation that appeals to the masses.
Dr. X, a noted neurosurgeon of a certain city is unkind, arrogant and lecherous. But he is a much-sought-after medical professional. He has mastered every part of your nervous system. Since he can deftly deal with your delicate nerves, you have no right to question his unrestrained testosterone and other personal failings. Moreover, in his vast study of science, there is literally no exclusive emphasis that he must be ethically acceptable after attaining academic proficiency.
Similarly, our advocate for justice can be a tricky fox. He can cook up crafty schemes to squeeze out fees mercilessly from his unsuspecting clients. For the sake of money, he can drag on cases for several months, nay several years. Any fear that his qualification will be derecognized? There is no such precedent. Therefore, a lawyer these days can also go to the extent to prove a wrong as a right and vice-versa. Has a deviant rapist not got away through a lawyer’s contrived design and legal skills? A murderer gets acquitted if he can hire a high-profile lawyer.
Look at the legislators that govern us. Many of them are involved in the most unethical activities and high-voltage corruption. What can we expect when lawmakers are the first to break the laws? Just the other day I happened to watch a video clip by a frustrated social activist from West Bengal – Ms. S. Chakraborty who is actively associated with Human Rights. With an intense surge of anger, she thundered — “West Bengal Chief Minister is a hardcore despot who has used her administrative machinery to torture people who protest or disagree with her style of functioning. In spite of being the Head of the state she has blood-thirsty party cadres who have allegedly murdered so many people against whom even FIR cannot be lodged…..” Is it because of lack of education that the Bengal CM has acted this way? No, not at all! Mamata Banerjee has a high degree of academic qualifications. What’s more, Didi has additionally been crowned with a Doctorate of Literature degree by Calcutta University. Will this academic honour be taken away now when she has abused the constitutional power unethically? That we “tolerate” such abnormality in our leaders is a serious question to all citizens who brag about the power of democracy. Have we actually lost our intellectual “prudence”? It calls for serious soul-searching.
Don’t be surprised but our spiritual masters of various religions are not far behind. Many of them have been caught committing the most satanic acts and so on. How do you define the custodians of spiritual values who throw ethics to the wind? What about the terror activities hurting humanity which have roots in religious fanaticism?
In the entertainment world, the lesser said the better. Every human abnormality is on display and every imaginable bestiality feasted upon. Have we ever thought about our tender kids who have been exposed to all these immoralities? Our silence is itself blameworthy.
What I’ve cited here as examples are just the tips of the iceberg. In every sphere of life, we see ethics being trampled to pieces. In one’s eyes, our present education has completely failed to inculcate human values, which must have been the “first requisites” of education. Amidst the glitter of gross education, our system of academia has lost sight of ethics. I don’t think the greatest thinker Albert Einstein was wrong when he “prized” moral values over education with facts and figures. He has “forewarned” society by proclaiming – “The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life.” This rational scientist did not stress on the accumulation of raw information that tends to run riot.
Education without ethics has only led to intellectual indigestion. This sickness has rapidly been draining away the very strength of humanity and inner values from society. I wish we had listened to what Einstein said about ethics as we had listened to his “MC square” and “Theory of Relativity”.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong