Page:SELECTED ESSAYS of Dr. S. S. KALBAG.pdf/80

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5. While a "syllabus" is necessary for present day education system, it should allow for flexibility in detail. The student should have a choice in doing things that he wants, even if the skill to learn is fixed in the syllabus. We should distinguish between information and knowledge. Knowledge comes only from information that has been experienced. So unless information is put to use, we do not get knowledge. Knowledge is a tool; it is software, a 'program' in the computer jargon. We should not rush through education, until we give the child the joy of learning a new skill. It must enjoy using the aquired skills wherever it wishes. This way it will internalise them and then it can go on to the next. We should concentrate on giving the skills and leave the child to choose the material on which to use it. Thus, reading is a skill, writing is a skill. Mathematics is a skill in handling markers, e.g. how to use a railway timetable or a library catalogue. We need to have skills that can help us shape the world around us-the clay, the soil, the wood and in the modern world, steel, energy sources like the sun, fuel wood, electricity, diesel, kerosene and petrol. We need to have the skills that will make our living easier, that can help to concretise our ideas, our inventions. In modern education, it is not enough to be able to think; we must have the capability to act and this, our general education does not even try to give. How to do this kind of education? 1. The balance between the concrete and the abstract is maintained by giving a practical exercise for the student to do. These practical exercises will comprise of skills that are relevant in modern society. Thus, the learner sees the relevance. And he learns while trying to Rural Development Through Education System 67