Dear Sir , your article in LE MAURICIEN of Friday 11th May , titled “L’Education passe avant l’Instruction: Elle fonde l’Homme” did catch my attention as it provides welcome visibility to an important topic. However i felt that it should have concluded with a message of hope and on the things that we can do to tackle the present situation.
Your narrative reflects the lives of the majority of young people world wide who are marred by frustration. Stressed, over-worked and undervalued – these are the characteristics that stick to young people, who have neither the time nor energy to demand a better future because they are always on-call.
Your narrative reflects the lives of the majority of young people world wide who are marred by frustration. Stressed, over-worked and undervalued – these are the characteristics that stick to young people, who have neither the time nor energy to demand a better future because they are always on-call.
They are experiencing the abolition of the life/work division in a way that tends towards total work. “We’re working all the time: whether it’s being buzzed on your phone, always on the computer, always looking at advertisements.’ Growing up in societies that make individualism the highest virtue and solidarity a quaint artefact, the youth are best understood as the jittery, tired children of globalisation. The values of our parents’ generation — work hard, study, save, invest, live within your means — have given way to shortcuts to become wealthy and successful. For e.g during the subprime mortgage crisis they were told “You can have the American dream — a house — with no money down and no payments for two years”. On their own two legs for the first time, they’re wobbly. Who would expect otherwise?.
Mauritius’s moral compass has been completely obliterated. Some social scientists have revealed the appearance of essential flaws in the national character, prompting a far-reaching debate about social decay and the decline of decorum and morality in the country. Incensed by the media that exerts a disproportionate and undeserved influence over shaping the national narrative, our reactions veer from silence to indifference to hysteria. Then we go back to sleep and wake up again to react to the latest incident of outrage.
One of the main reasons for this state of affairs- the stress, the violence, the substance abuse- is that our an old-fashioned education system do not prepare our youth for life’s challenges ; their ideals are often battered by reality and this increases their frustration and stress levels. Indeed a balanced development of mind and body in harmony with the spirit is the key to the enrichment of human personality and an outcome of value–based education, which must in the ultimate analysis help humanity to transcend to a higher level of consciousness. Our children must from their infancy be taught the values and traditions for their all-round development.
But i am confident about the future because they are many NGOs, which have taken the task of trying their best to leave this world a slightly better place than how they found it. They are making a difference to the lives of children . They are setting up value-based education centres all over the island for the blossoming of children, inculcating values and traditions for their all-round development, nurturing children to get back in touch with our value system and develop into better human beings. These centres will be run by committed Volunteers who are trained as Teachers or Coordinators. They provide a family atmosphere to children. In a loving atmosphere and in playful manner, they share the wealth of experience from their lives along with outlined sessions- development of character and personality, inculcation of good values, yoga for healthy body and mind, practical uses of home remedies, games, creative expression for a sharp mind and free spirit and appreciation of diverse cultures and traditions.
We are living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes. We still have all the potential for achieving a better society, but only if we get back to work on our country. We have waited too long for a genuine education system- not one that that churns super rats for a rat race instead of nurturing excellence and creativity- that enhances our ability to perceive things better, increases awareness and can nourish in built virtues. We hope that Government will at the very least support these NGOs - those front-line troops tackling civil society and the social ills and bridging the gap between formal education and family and society’s based values-education.
