What is True Education? 💜

Two news reports in today’s The Times of India 

On Education | & the Right Type of Education

17th May 2025 | Reflections

#madraschristiancollege

#newspaperinlearning

Well, there were two lovely articles in today’s Times of India Chennai Edition that inspired me to do this blogpost. 

The first one is on Madras Christian College.

It’s about a state topper from Tamil Nadu, M S Ooviyanjali from Dindigul, who scored 599 out of 600 in her Class XII exams, and enrolled herself in the BA Economics Programme at Madras Christian College, last Friday.

The college has announced that it would waive her tuition fees and provide her with free coaching for civil services exams.

She scored a centum in accountancy, commerce, economics, computer application, Tamil, and 99 marks in English. She aspires to work for the Reserve Bank of India.

“The BA Economics course offers a great opportunity as an economics and finance degree will give a better chance to join RBI. I was informed that MCC would provide better exposure, so I selected the college,”

Ooviyanjali told TOI.

Ooviyanjali’s father, Muruganandham, is an accountant at Oddanchatram market, and her mother, Shanthi, works with the rural development department.

“Ooviyanjali joining the economics programme will inspire many more to consider a degree in economics. So, we have decided to waive her tuition fee and hostel room rent. We will also raise funds to support her through civil services coaching conducted on campus,” said Dr. Paul Wilson, principal of MCC.

The college also offers a wide range of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities to develop leadership qualities among the students.

She did her schooling from kindergarten to Class XII at BVB Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Palani, Dindigul district.

The second article in today’s Times of India is there right on the front page.

It’s about how an immigrant worker’s daughter named D Jiya Kumari, who aced her Class X with 467 marks out of 500, including 99 in English and Social Science.

Says the news article –

In the midst of all the rhetoric over language comes this heart-warming story of a girl from Bihar scoring 93 out of 100 in Tamil in the Class X state board exams in Tamil Nadu.

“My father migrated to Chennai for construction work 17 years ago. Later, he told us that govt schools in Tamil Nadu were good, and my mother, two sisters and I came to live in Chennai,”

said D Ji-ya Kumari, who aced her Class X with 467 marks out of 500, including 99 in English and social science. She is a student of the Cowl Bazaar High School run by the Tamil Nadu govt.

Jiya said she picked up Tamil by interacting with her classmates and teachers at the school.

“Tamil was definitely harder than Hindi, but once you begin to understand it, it becomes easy. Everyone here spoke only Tamil, and I spoke with them in that. If you live somewhere, you must learn the language spoken there. It also helps you mingle with society easily,” she told TOI.

Jiya plans to do her higher studies at a govt school in Pallavaram.

You may want to read our past blogpost on Domestic Migration and the Innumerable Hardships faced by Migrant Labourers, HERE on our blog. 

Coming back –

These two news articles bespeak to the importance of education or the right type of education in a person’s life.

In fact, education is not merely about acquiring knowledge; it is a life-transformative process that empowers students to lead fulfilling lives, achieve their fullest potential, and help them contribute meaningfully to society.

In this regard, only the right type of education can equip them with the essential skill-sets, values, and strengths to navigate the complexities of the world and build a brighter future.

So what pray, is the right type of education?

For this, I would like to fall back only on J. Krishnamurti’s philosophy of education.  

In his insightful book titled, On Education, J. Krishnamurti speaks about the right type of education.

Here are some key aspects from what J. Krishnamurti said about the importance of education for a student –

To Krishnamurti, “to be educated is to have cultivated a heightened critical awareness of the inner and outer worlds”.

The years which a student spends in a school must leave behind in him a fragrance and delight.

This can only happen when there is no competition, no authority, when teaching and learning is a simultaneous process in the present, where the educator and the educated are both participating in the act of learning.

There is a departure in Krishnamurti's teachings from the traditional approach of the relationship between the teacher and the taught, the guru and the shishya.

The traditional approach is basically hierarchical; there is the teacher who knows and the student who does not know and has to be taught.

To Krishnamurti, the teacher and the student function at the same level - communicating through questioning and counter-questioning till the depths of the problem are exposed and understanding is revealed, illuminating the mind of both.

That’s all as excerpts from the book for y’all.

Coming back -

Education then for JK is the total or holistic development of the individual – nurturing their intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual dimensions. It should not focus solely on academic achievement but aim for the integration of the whole being. He believed that developing only one part of the individual leads to inner conflict!

To this end, JK emphasises on the limitations of the current education system, which often “conditions” students to conform to societal norms, traditions, and beliefs, hindering their ability to think freely and independently.

True education, according to him, should help individuals break free from this conditioning, enabling them to discover truth for themselves rather than accepting it from external authorities.

Moreover, a true, holistic education helps in cultivating healthy and meaningful relationships – not just between individuals but also with society and nature. This requires understanding oneself and others, developing empathy, and acting with love and responsibility.

However, there is one stumbling block for this holistic education to be realised in the child. 

And that’s the element of fear.

Krishnamurti stressed that fear hinders learning and the development of a free mind. He believed that schools should provide a safe and supportive environment where students feel encouraged to explore, question, and learn without the pressure of competition, judgment, or the fear of failure.

And that’s where the role of the teacher assumes a lot of significance.

The teacher is not a mere transmitter of knowledge but a guide and fellow learner, who creates an atmosphere of inquiry and encourages students to discover for themselves. The relationship between teacher and student should be based on mutual respect and a shared pursuit of understanding.

In short, education is a journey of self-discovery, freedom, and the cultivation of a holistic intelligence that enables individuals to live meaningful, responsible, and fulfilling lives, says J. Krishnamurti.