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Rabindranath Tagore

Q. The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence- Rabindranath Tagore.

Education is the basic foundation of human character. It gives information about the world around us and helps build opinions and viewpoints. However, this should not be the ultimate purpose of education. Tagore suggested that through information people may become powerful, but they attain fullness of being through sympathy. The purpose of true education should be to assist humans in gaining that sense of completeness.

Education should create healthy and wholesome personalities, which are capable of rising above differences and have a broader outlook towards life and diversity. It should inculcate the spirit of empathy, service and self-sacrifice, which can help in improving the conditions of marginalized people. Further, it should also generate a sense of the importance of things around

us, which are important for human life. Therefore, promoting effective and sustainable use of resources for the good of mankind. Ultimately, the need is to create unity between people without imposing uniformity that may lead to forcing the individual to blindly imitate the dominant patterns in society. Therefore, it creates a peaceful and harmonious society.

Challenges such as climate change, refugee crisis etc. require collective action. It requires understanding of the issue from different perspectives. Then only one would be able to see the complete picture and act accordingly.

In this scenario, value-based education enables citizens to appreciate the differences and live peacefully that would lead to the evolution of society rather than stagnation. Knowledge about the significance of the things surrounding human life would lead to sustainable and judicious use of resources and promote practices such as resource conservation, adoption and mitigation. As such the curriculum should revolve organically around nature. The Indian society that is divided along numerous fault lines and faces a resource crunch stands to gain the most from adopting such changes to its education system.

Creation of such an education system requires an active contribution from all the stakeholders of society. It should focus on producing ethically grounded, global citizens rather than profit-makers.

Therefore, need is to transform the education system in ways that bring a happy synthesis between the individual and society and help to realize the essential unity of the individual with the rest of humanity.