World peace — Teachers’ vital role

The manner in which most political parties and politicians, as also fringe elements regularly indulge in propagating casteism and intolerance in society in flagrant violation of constitutional provisions and democratic values, is indeed sickening. Sickening, because it impacts the younger generation presently experiencing the process of growing up, and who will take over the reins of power tomorrow.  H.G. Wells, the well-known science fiction writer had warned a long time ago that “If we don’t end war, war will end us.” This celebrated author had also indicated a way out: “Human history becomes a race between education and catastrophe.” Our very own Swami Vivekananda exhorted us that it requires education, education and education to lift the nation out of the darkness of intolerance and ignorance. The issue that urgently requires a global discourse in a strife-torn and violence-infested world is: What type of education?  The missing link between the eternal objectives of education — the “ray of hope and enlightenment” — and its failure to create a cohesive and caring world, needs to be found. Impressive achievements in universalising education, significantly greater numbers in higher education, unimaginable advances in connectivity, mobility and cultural interaction, have not led to a proportionate rise in the peace quotient. Therefore, education policy formulators in all countries need to address this issue.  In this context, it’s instructive to remember the words of the great American civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through periods of great social change. Every society has its protectors of the status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through the revolution. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change,” he said. In the new millennium of accelerating and unpredictable change, the progress of nations will be determined by the capacity to keep pace with, if not lead, change. But this is possible only when national education systems are updated and re-designed to move with the times. In India, the evidence of “not having remained awake” is mountainous. In my opinion, the education system must incorporate the real strength of India’s ancient civilisation which acknowledged the essential unity of all human beings, regardless of caste and religious injunctions. Indeed, it is arguable that India was the first major civilisation to acknowledge the critical importance of a man-nature relationship which respects all forms of life. In ancient India, divinity was assigned to trees, plants, animals and birds. It was this philosophy that led to the celebration, not mere tolerance, of diversity. Respect for all creeds and religions is the sole alternative available to humankind to end religious fundamentalism, fanaticism, bigotry, violence and distrust causing huge loss of life, misery to children and spreading insecurity worldwide. In simple words, all education systems must actively teach religious tolerance and propagate the verity that…