Formal education tends to restrain our minds and spirits rather than set them free

Education seeks to enlighten and inspire us, but often fails to do it holistically. We get the best schooling for thirteen years, but we fail to admire the subjects in depth. We acquire a graduation degree, but we fail to question the unknown. We refrain from reaching the stars and confine ourselves within the domain specified by societal and moral rules. We fail to look beyond the unknown, stop nurturing our curiosity and resort ourselves to the pattern of life we are thrust into, inadvertently losing our dreams and desires and our very own identity. Although formal education promises to enlighten man and set free the mortal self, in reality, it confines our mind and restrains our soul.

The very joy of learning and discovering the inner self and the world around, the necessity of questioning the unknown and seeking out for divine knowledge, which constituted education in its real untarnished form in the Vedic period, has degenerated today. Education has now transformed itself merely into the array of books, classrooms, examinations and assignments. It emphasizes on the career growth and development, ultimately preparing us for a decent earning and a well-off lifestyle, but fails to make us realize the importance of the very essence of our lives.

Formal education confines us within the shadow cast by the canopy of materialism. The very existence of life, which suddenly appears to depend on the amount we earn and how lavishly we live, make us overlook on the spiritual aspect of life. We fail to draw nourishments from the life and works of Gautam Buddha, or embrace the philosophy of our ancient moral teachers. Seeking the essence of life, the very source of our sustenance, the age-old wisdom, and freedom of spirits, joie de vivre, the simplicity in nature and unrestrained independence of the soul can humbly rejuvenate our senses. This was the only reason why Rabindranath had set up Shantiniketan, to impart students an education in the lap of nature, instead of confining them within the four walls of a classroom. His poem, “Where the world is without fear, and the head is held high/ where knowledge is free” recuperates the very essence of learning – no wisdom will suffice if it does not cater to our moral faculties.

Formal education has moreover curbed our aesthetic senses. We fail to appreciate the beauty of sunrise every morning, or imbibe the truths poets and writers have incorporated in their works. We fail to appreciate the melodies of nature, question what the vastness beyond our vision holds, the void of the universe, the mysteries of life and the existence of the Almighty. School/college education cannot help us set free our minds and help us comprehend the unifying force that merges Haripada’s dilapidated umbrella with Akbar’s parasol in Tagore’s Flute Music, or make us appreciate the liberal views of various religions or fuel in us the unrestricting urge to break the shackles of life and rise above the ordinary baseless self.

“But who can eat sunsets?” How long can appreciation of beauty or pursuing the philosophies of life sustain our very need for food? This is where formal education comes into play the most crucial part in a man’s file- it trains and teaches how the practical world functions and defines the very means of sustaining ourselves.

Thus, formal education, although being an indispensable part in a man’s life, does not cater to educate a man holistically as it restrains our mind and spirits.