Knowledge: A word of change!
“Knowledge can be life changing but only if it changes your view of the world. Kamran Rizvi”
No single educated individual would deny the importance of education in one’s life and the ways in which it helps in shaping destiny. It’s a dream of every parent to provide their child with the best possible education. Before a child is able to walk or speak properly, most of the parents already have a well carved-out plan for his future including the school he would attend, the degrees he would pursue and the career he should be focused on in his life. Whether the choice of career should be in the hands of the child alone or parents should also play an active part in it seems to be a well debatable topic. However, before arguing about this divisive theme and jumping to any conclusion, another important area that needs to be addressed pertains to the education system in which our children are exposed to knowledge. The important question is whether the knowledge gained by the students is life changing or not? Does it help them think about things in a different way or just makes them retain the stated facts to be reproduced in exam and earn grades? The real education might not be the one reflected in degrees or grades, it relies more on how it has changed you as a person in a better and positive way. Unfortunately, many of our educational institutions have the syllabi that help the students achieve a degree by focusing more on cramming, memorizing and retaining the facts taught rather than emphasizing on concept building and learning social skills. However, these are the skills that will help them to be successful in their professional lives. Many recent studies have shown that to be successful in life one needs to learn social as well as emotional management skills in addition to academic intelligence. Consequently, the true essence of knowledge lies in making a person more flexible in his/her thinking in order to make him/her look at things from different perspectives. In doing so one can develop new schemas that make him/her look at the world many different ways. Therefore, having this ability would make one educated in the true sense of the word.