What is Education?

Today we had our morning assembly up on the terrace for a change. For those who live in the mountains, there is a danger of getting habituated to, taking for granted and hence growing unappreciative of or even forgetting, the immense goodness of fresh and cool mountain breeze. So we all sat still and silent for a few minutes, listening to chirruping birds, the rumbling stream and feeling the cool breeze brush against the skin. Then after all the morning assembly rituals, we had a brief discussion on the meaning of education. Many children seemed to be bemused by this question, perhaps because of its strangeness? It is strange that this fundamental question should seem strange. Even as grown up adults reading this, how many of us have actually pursued and stayed with this question with utmost seriousness?

We then watched a Hindi movie called Gattu, a touching story of a 9 year old orphan boy, who has never been to school. A series of unlikely, and at times hilarious events, he finds himself on a journey of real learning, culminating in him getting enrolled at a school. 

 

Finally, during the second half of the day, the children of classes 3, 4 and 5 were asked to write a short essay on the topic “Why do I need education?” They were told that it was not an exam, there would be no marks or grades given, and that they were free to express themselves as freely as they wanted to. Some children did take this invitation seriously and laid bare their heartfelt reasons. 
Some seemed to suggest that they preferred school to their homes- a heart-breaking declaration in some ways, perhaps reflective of the less than wholesome situations they come from.