Education that Transforms (ZSP Article)

Education that Transforms

Khai Minthang

Introduction: It is undeniable to every student that we go to school to get education for qualitative and quantitative transformation in our lives and the lives around us. I called my parents yesterday (Sep. 9, 2010) and asked them why they sent me to school. Their answer was simple, yet very profound: “We sent you so that you will escape the torment and torrent of the agro-based occupation and that you will get your livelihood not by grasping the throat-of-a-hoe, but with your education.” The most important and understood as per our culture, yet they would rather skip, was that they expect me to be their social security benefit (Retirement income) by the time they clinched their senior citizenship. Ultimately, panoramic memoirs of the past and dreams of my parents overwhelmed my thought and gave me the opportunity to write some of them. Every parent might have different answers to that question, but the ultimate aim of education will always be the same – to have qualitative and quantitative changes or growth in their kids’ lives and the lives around them.

We go to school and invested a lot of money, time and energy in the hope of getting transformation and in the hope of getting a good return of investment. I do not see the need to go to school and pay an enormous amount of money, time and energy if we do not want to be transformed by what we are going to study. Therefore, we ought to be transformed by what we learn at school. This is the essence of education. This is the literal and metaphorical definition of proverbs such as "Education is the best investment" and "Students of today are pillars of tomorrow," so on and so forth.

The Ultimate aim of Education: The ultimate aim of education is to exert the maximum potential of a person to make the person’s life worthy and compatible to the contemporary world, we ought to understand what the Lord Jesus Christ said. He says, “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” (Mat. 20:28) Prof. S. Pau Khan En writes, “From time immemorial, the world had seen so many educated people but only a few people did serve others and the world. Many educated people were bound by their own ego or self and they spent their education for their own good and left the world without any legacy.” The best and noblest way to touch people and the world is to dedicate ourselves in the service of others in our own capacities. A good number of educated people have lived and died without leaving any legacy. Think of a noble man or woman who touched the world and left a good legacy, you would probably think of M.K. Gandhi or Abraham Lincoln or Mother Teresa. Well, their names popped up because they have lived and served the world and humanity. Do you want to be one among them and leave a good legacy after you finish your earthly journey? The choice is yours!

Let’s put the Negative into Perspective: Education in our land is conceived by many as a garment of social fame and social status, but seldom as an agent of transformation. Education speaks a lot, but the value and the way we acquire is often obscure. We put every tactical effort to get a degree, a certificate or a diploma, but we seldom buy them with our energy, time and right effort. So, the ultimate goal of education became so hard to fathom that it sometimes appear as a fragrance of decorating the image of a person. It became a gate pass ticket to the utopian world of intellectual platform where the utopian intellectuals voices out “No degree; no voice.” Therefore, one has to earn or acquire (shall I say procure?) a degree by whatever form or means it may be, to share an idea and get the audience and the members’ attention. Thus, educational degrees became so cheap, the yield so barren, and the strength so volatile or vulnerable. This creates unemployment problem in our land. The ratio of job creation and that of job seeker is unequal and this phenomenon is going to get wider each year. Now, let’s read this: “The total number of educated unemployed people as registered in various employment exchanges of the state (Manipur) by May this year (2010) has reached 6,79,197 out of which 4,91,979 are male while 1,89,318 are female.” Manipur has a population of 2,388,634 (2001 census) which means a staggering 28.43% of the total population are unemployed, not even to speak of the retirees, uneducated, drop-outs, infants and students.

Let’s Talk about the Positive Side: We have steadily, yet promisingly, aligned with the mainstream education since the last 20 years, and this phenomenon is going to get better or faster and larger (quality and quantity) each year if we keep up with the good work in the family level, Community level and individual level. Many Zou parents and guardians have known that education begins at home and have begun to take time, energy and best effort to educate their children because they have learned that education is the best investment. Students of today are the pillars of tomorrow have become the anchor of our families and community which is why decisive steps have been taken to uplift our students and guide them at the cross-roads so that they will not stumble on the way to their destinations. Education policy, awards, career guidance, study forum, coaching, etc. have been taken to put our students on the right track. UZO is more open than ever to accommodate the creative ideas of the Zou intellectuals and the Zou intellectuals are beginning to involve in the decision making processes of our community. At the individual level, many Zou students have started to discipline themselves for sure-success by burning the mid-night oil, putting more time, energy and money to further their education. We are beginning to witness the good harvest of it, and at this juncture, there are more and more national and international (Foreign) graduates each year that adds to the beauty of the Zou community. And, all these are but signs of sure-success and progress in motion.

Two Types of Learners: There are two types of learners when we talk about education and transformation. They are functional and nonfunctional types, and can be seen by their action. They both get the same amount of education and training - completing their course of studies. However, their fundamental differences are in the application of their studies to their lives.

1. Functional Type: This type of students and graduates are open to new ideas and could make use of their learning in an affirmative and functional way. Since they are transformed by their educational processes, they can mobilize their knowledge and skills to enhance their lives and earning potential. Moreover, they acknowledged that their material and intellectual wealth are temporal and hence utilizes them to the service of humankind. They can invest their material and intellectual wealth no matter how small or insignificant it may be, for a common good.

2. Nonfunctional Type: This type of students and graduates include MA,BF (Matric appeared, but failed. A humorous abbreviation actually!!!), BA, MA or even Doctorates, but could not turn their education into transformation - not much ROI. They could not mobilize their learning to make a living and be transformed by what they have learned. They assumed they have learned a lot and thought they knew everything, but their behaviors never reflect their titles or educational degrees. They often underestimate their friends and want to impose their irrational ideologies every time and everywhere.

Qualitative Transformation of Education: To be precise, we have been brought up from different family-cultures but, we are under one culture at the school. Our native or inborn culture should be humbled by the new culture we have cultivated and ought to be qualitatively transformed by the intellectual culture that we have learned at the school, college or university. So, finishing school, college or university is not the end of education, but the beginning of our qualitative and quantitative educational endeavor to make them alive and put them into practice.

1. Firstly, our outlooks must be transformed by our education. The “flat world” must be changed to the “round world;” and “the sun revolving around the earth” must be changed to “the earth revolving around the sun along a fixed path.”

2. We have to be the change we want to see in our family and community, and be able to demonstrate by words and deed to people who don’t esteem education that education is transformational in nature and likable or indispensable to qualitatively and quantitatively impact our lives and the lives around us.

3. Our education must open our eyes and minds to see beyond our next meal, and has to impact the quality of our knowledge, life and legacy – a clearer understanding of what we know to make them alive and to put them into practice.

4. Our education has to set us free from bondage and poverty, and we have to demonstrate meaning, essence and implication of education. We ought to be liberated in terms of political, social, economic and spiritual bondage, and be elevated from material and psychological poverty.

5. Our education must train us to manage our earnings properly and effectively. This is one of the greatest and most common pitfalls of our educated and richest persons. We did get a lot of money from different sources and accumulated quite a lot of wealth, but failed to manage them properly. Therefore, we could not hold or manage our wealth for just a generation. Civilized people, nations and countries could manage their wealth for generations without losing their capital, but rather increasing their assets and interests. A wealthy and respected person of our community a decade ago or just a couple of years ago is now begging for his daily meal. Financial management is as important as our learning and earning because it can turn our potential and legacy upside down.

Quantitative Transformation of Education: At the first glance, this might seemed very commercial, but our education must transform our earning potential. To be true to our conscience, we have been sent to schools to get a good grade, to pass exams and eventually to increase our earning potential by getting a good job, and being in a position to help others achieve their goals.

1. Our financial management skill is more important than our earning skills. Rich people get richer because they can multiply their assets, thereby increasing their interest and wealth. They always turn their salaries into income generating assets and spend from the income or interest of their assets. This is the secret of their wealth. Their successors even became richer in the next generation because they trained them well, and thus, the wealth accumulation, management and expansion of their business or wealth has been selective and hence, effective.

2. A good many people earned, but could not live with their earnings. They failed to differentiate between their needs and wants and spent their earnings on luxurious items and end up their hard-earned money without any significance. One very common practice of our Govt. service beginners and successful businessmen is that they thought they have clinched and settled there, and wanted to seek pleasure by getting themselves indulged in drinking, smoking, intoxicating, etc. thereby deteriorating their health and wealth which eventually ruins their family, wealth and takes their lives.

3. Another interesting account when we come to financial management in Zogam is that some people do not want to lose money in any form or way. They accumulate wealth as much as they can, but never give away. They are interested only in themselves and turned a deft ear to the world outside. They ignored the needs and interests of others and failed to recognize that there is greater joy in giving than receiving. These types of people are greedy people who want to kill the hen that laid golden eggs instead of being satisfied with the eggs. Greed imprisoned them and they spend their lives looking only for their benefits. (We don’t like’em. Do we?)

Conclusion: I am confident that the Lord of Ages will be with us if we do not lose faith and abide by his commandments. Human resource is our greatest asset and education is the greatest weapon and the key to accomplish these short-term and long-term goals. Often times, the farthest horizon that our biological eyes could see tended to be farther than what our mind’s eye (vision) could see. We ought to exercise our mind’s eye to see what our biological eyes could not see and be clear with what lies ahead of us at a distance of 5 years, 10, 15, 20 years and so on. We must prepare ourselves to face those challenges that lie ahead with boldness: The clearer we see, the better we prepare; the better we prepare, the better we begin. Ultimately, well began is half done. A lot of students did not begin well and eventually ends up somewhere half-way empty. This is one of the first obstacles of a student. We ought to be transformed by what we have learned at schools and vocational institutions. Our outlooks and lives should be transformed by the enormous amount of money we have invested to get the education of its best kind. Let us join our hands and minds to re-building the fallen walls of our Zogam. Let us accomplish our goals with the Lord, as our Lord Jesus Christ said, "Everything is possible for him who believes." (Mark 9:23)

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