Education Should Liberate, Not Merely Appoint
Lalit Gargg
Every year, 11 November is celebrated as National Education Day. This day should not remain a mere ritual or formal observance, but a moment for serious introspection. It reminds us that education is not simply a means to pass examinations, but the foundation of a nation’s character, culture, and creativity.
The day commemorates Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of independent India — a visionary statesman and profound thinker who regarded education as the most powerful instrument for social transformation, self-reliance, and national unity. He once said, “Education is like a lioness; only the brave dare to drink her milk.” Maulana Azad believed that India’s education system must provide equal opportunities to every class, community, and individual — from primary to higher levels. His dream was that education should not merely be a process of acquiring knowledge, but a means of shaping life itself.
Today, when we reflect upon our education system, we find that although it has advanced technologically, it has declined in human and moral vision. Instead of creating peaceful, compassionate, and holistic individuals, our education often produces restless, stressed, and imbalanced minds. Education has become a race for marks and certificates rather than a journey toward wisdom. Students are turning into rote-learning machines, and their power of thinking and creativity is being suffocated.
Values such as morality, coexistence, compassion, and non-violence have lost importance. The social respect once enjoyed by teachers has eroded; instead of being sources of inspiration, they have been reduced to employees focused merely on completing the syllabus. A deep divide separates urban and rural education — cities boast ultramodern schools, while villages still struggle with basic facilities. Thousands of single-teacher schools still exist in the country.
Degrees continue to multiply, but employment opportunities shrink, and the imbalance between education and life’s real needs grows ever wider. From early childhood, today’s students are pushed into a blind, competitive race in which marks, grades, and ranks have become the ultimate goals, replacing knowledge, sensitivity, and character. Schools have turned into examination centers rather than temples of learning.
Parents, teachers, and society together have created an atmosphere where success is defined only by becoming a doctor, engineer, IAS officer, or earning a high salary. Education no longer develops humanity, creativity, or empathy; it has become a contest of performance. The weight of coaching, parental expectations, and fear of failure form a triangular pressure that slowly breaks children from within. Education, once a source of joy, has now become a burden and a cause of mental stress.
Disturbing realities emerge from this education system. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), around 14,000 school students die by suicide every year. Even more distressing is the fact that student suicides have increased by nearly 65 percent in the past decade, and by 34 percent compared to 2019. These are not mere statistics — they are the silent graves of innocent dreams that our education system has crushed.
This shocking situation should concern not only schools, states, or governments but society as a whole. National Education Day must therefore serve as an occasion for collective reflection on where our education is heading and what its true purpose should be.
Education in India must not remain confined to intellectual development alone; it must aim at the integrated growth of body, mind, heart, and soul. In ancient India’s Gurukul tradition, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual development were given equal importance. The goal was not only to gain knowledge but to awaken self-awareness, self-discipline, and a spirit of service to society.
True education develops sensitivity, concentration, reasoning, creativity, health, and moral strength. Yoga, games, and physical activity must become essential parts of education. Knowledge must combine with skill so that students can acquire practical abilities useful in life. The harmonious blend of these aspects forms the foundation of complete education.
India’s education should be a living synthesis of tradition and modernity. Mahatma Gandhi rightly said, “True education means the harmonious development of body, mind, and soul.” Our education must therefore be life-centered, not merely job-centered. It must be value-based to sustain morality and humanity in society. It must blend the local and the global — keeping students rooted in their culture while opening them to new technologies and the world’s latest knowledge.
It should encourage research and innovation, enabling India to lead the emerging knowledge economy. Education must also be inclusive, bridging divides of language, gender, and class.
No education system can rise above the quality of its teachers. A teacher is not only an instructor but an inspirer, builder, and guide. Teachers must be given proper respect, training, and satisfaction. Maulana Azad rightly said, “Good teachers are the soul of a nation.” Teachers must be empowered technically, emotionally, and ethically.
The National Education Policy 2020 has opened the way for several promising reforms — such as the 5+3+3+4 structure, mother-tongue learning, skill development, and multidisciplinary studies. But these reforms will bear fruit only when implemented with sensitivity and dedication at the grassroots level.
The ultimate goal of education should not be to distribute degrees or produce employees, but to guide humanity toward morality, spirituality, and liberation. In Indian thought, true education has always meant “Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktaye” — knowledge that liberates. Sadly, today it has been reduced to “Sa Vidya Ya Niyuktaye” — knowledge that merely appoints.
If India can unite science with wisdom, technology with ethics, and competition with compassion, it can once again become a moral and spiritual guide for the world.
National Education Day reminds us that education is not just the foundation of economic progress, but the builder of culture, character, and consciousness. If India’s education policy can truly embody Maulana Azad’s vision — integrating equality, quality, values, and soul — then our nation will once again move toward becoming the world’s teacher, the Vishwaguru.
The true purpose of education is not merely what we become, but for whom we become. When education transforms a human being into a sensitive, self-aware, and socially responsible individual, that will be the truest tribute to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
(Lalit Gargg
Writer, Journalist, Columnist
E-253, Saraswati Kunj Apartment,
25 I.P. Extension, Patparganj, Delhi-92
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