For centuries, an education system has been an integral part of society. From the intellectual peak of the Greeks, to even the war oriented Spartans, one form or the other of institutionalized learning of literature, philosophy and even combat and warfare were well established. It is to these very pioneers of educational development, whether they lie in Eastern or Western history, that we owe all of the development and amenities that we enjoy today.
The path of this development has been rocky and unstable, sometimes even going in reverse, where the approach was many a time too utopian to be actually implemented. Such were the ideas of Plato, when he described the education system of his concept of the ideal state.
Plato idealized a system of 50 years of education where all the children must be admitted from the start. The basic level would be up to the first 20 years where the individual would learn mostly physical education and gymnastics for their physical health. They would also learn mathematics, science and history, but in the form of songs or verses, as Plato believed that learning could not be forced.
On attaining the age of 20 they had to take an exam to determine whether or not to pursue higher education. Those who failed the exam were to take jobs in the communities such as businessmen, workers and laborers, etc. Those who passed got another 10 years of education, in subjects such as geometry and arithmetic, and at the completion of ten years, they had to face an even more rigorous elimination test. Those who failed became military and civil officers.
Those who passed had to go through further years of mental and physical training, learning philosophy and dialectics, until they reached the age of 50 where on passing all tests, they were the most suited to be kings.
The whole scenario may seem farfetched and impossible even by the standards and control of the most Orwellian state possible today.
Among other things, Plato had one extremely obvious aspect of his approach absolutely on point, which we are missing today. In his entire framework, at every step of elimination of students and their appointment in various courses of life, he gave them an equal opportunity to learn, and compete.
The most imperative issue of today, in relation to education, along with the 22 million out of school children, is the quality of education being rendered to the majority of the children already being enrolled. This is a fraction of the level of education being imparted in the private sector, which is a direct contributor to the 'elitism' alleged to be in the professional circle, whether it is the private or public sector. This is why the entire idea of merit on basis of competition becomes fundamentally flawed and void.
We have a system where the child from an economically weaker background will have to be enrolled in a school with outdated methods of education and no environment for mental growth, and a child of the same age and capacities with a stronger economic background would be admitted in a private school with much greater amenities and a wholesome learning atmosphere.
The former in the same manner, if he continues his education, would most likely gain admission into a secondary educational institution that shies to the repute and exposure of that of the latter. And even if the former gets admission in a better institution, as are many exceptions, he will have a much harder time than in understanding and adjusting as compared to the latter whose academic maturation would have surpassed the other by miles.
Finally, both of them would sit in the same competitive exam, and no matter how transparent that exam is, the odds will be greatly in favor of the already privileged. And this sad tale of "merit" where the disadvantaged bring swords to gun fights shall and has been repeating itself over and over.
The dire need of the hour, along with the practical implementation of the Constitution's Article 25-a – which guarantees free compulsory education to all children from 5-16 year of age – is the refurbishment of the public sector with a curriculum more up to date, as several academics have already suggested. It has to be followed with a greater standardization of the quality and methods of education in comparison with the growing private sector, to develop critical, independent and inquisitive minds, who question and study for the love of knowledge and learning and not merely for employment. Until we get our priorities and our direction straight, the majority of our coming generations will inherit the blindness that our sightless approaches are handing them down in the name of "education".