This refers to the article “Educate them, they will liberate you” by G N Ahmad. I agree with most of the views express by the writer. But he has somehow ignored a few issues concerning the nature of education which makes the article sound a bit one-sided. Education is the development of all those capacities in an individual which enable him to control his environment. Education, both formal and informal, ought to teach us not only how to make a living but how to live. Education should be both intellectual and values-based which influences the head as well as the heart. It must help us achieve a minimum level of moral and ethical literacy. It is this education that we need. But the education we receive in J&K is somewhat different. The motive of our education system is: 'learn to earn'. Our curriculum is based on the western ideas like materialism, Darwinism, nationalism and other obsolete isms. Here we drown in information but crave for knowledge and wisdom. Education is merely referred to the academic qualification. So do we really get educated in such a system? In spite of the flaws in our education system, we cannot shut our eyes to the advantages, although very few. Therefore having no other alternative at present and keeping in mind that something is better than nothing, we should selectively try to make most of it.

Abrar Ahmed Bhat
M. Sc. Biochemistry
Kashmir University

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