In plain words
Is education for jobs?
In the world, the matter of education is of very great importance. The influence of the educated is spreading in every field. But how did the education of today begin? Under British rule, people were needed to do jobs. Macaulay had education studied for the sake of jobs. Macaulay's intention was to make the people of Bhārata simply British in their feelings and their qualities. In those days education began for the sake of jobs. But today a state of things has arisen in which jobs are needed for the sake of education! The feeling that education is only for a job has taken root in the children. We must take this feeling out of the children's hearts. We must teach them that education is for gaining knowledge. Children are innocent. They have no experience of any kind. We must grow affection in them and turn them to the right path with good words. With good words we can melt the hearts of children. If the sapling is straight, the tree will be straight. If the sapling is crooked, the tree turns out crooked. We must set the children on a good path on which they can bear responsibilities in the future. It is the students who will raise up the Bhārata of the future! They are the leaders of tomorrow's country. The whole responsibility for the country rests on them. We must keep the students' future in view. But from childhood we do not teach the children morality and honesty. Out of Prema for their children, parents give them unlimited freedom. Freedom is needed! But excessive freedom is of no use. We ask for freedom (svecchā). But what is "svecchā"? The culmination of the unfolding of the Buddhi is freedom. The culmination of refinement is perfection. The culmination of knowledge is Prema. The culmination of education is character. Parents must become teachers who plant such feelings in the pure, steady and selfless hearts of their children. It is the parents who must first of all bear responsibility for the students' future. If there is the least neglect on the parents' side, no one can hold the children back!