Education not only moulds the new generation, but reflects a society’s fundamental assumptions-Shri.P.R.Micheal.

Shri.P.Rajadurai Micheal

Ninety years old Freedom Fighter/Social Activist Shri.P.Rajadurai Michael spoke in the World Literacy Day that the children should be taught the value education by teachers and parents. He quoted Gandhi, “The real difficulty is that people have no idea of what education truly is. We assess the value of education in the same manner as we assess the value of land. We need to provide only such education to give thoughts to the improvement of the character. The World Literacy Day was celebrated by South Zone Board of Continuing Education in the conference hall of Trichy welfare committee on the 8^th September, 2011.Dr.K.Govindaraju, Director, SEVAI and the Chairman of South Zone Board of Continuing Education presided over the function. (SCOPE) Shri.M.Subburaman and Dr.R.Veerasekaran were honoured with OZONE Award of the Board in the esteemed presence of Mr.L.Shanawaskhan, Vice President of the Board by Shri.Rajadurai Michael. Freedom Fighter Shri.P..Rajadurai Michael continued his key note address and further said “Given Gandhi’s values and his vision of what constituted a truly civilized and free India; it was not surprising that he developed firm views on education. Education not only moulds the new generation, but reflects a society’s fundamental assumptions about itself and the individuals which compose it. In Gandhi’s life he was to declare that 'real freedom will come only when we free ourselves of the domination of Western education, Western culture and Western way of living which have been ingrained in. As we have seen, Gandhi had not only rejected colonial education but also put forward a radical alternative. Gandhi developed his ideas on education. The core of his proposal was the introduction of productive handicrafts in the school curriculum. Gandhi’s proposal intended to stand the education system on its head. The social philosophy and the curriculum of what he called ‘basic education’ thus favoured the child belonging to the lowest stratum of society in such a way it implied a programme of social transformation. Gandhiji was also of the opinion that manual work should not be seen as something inferior to mental work. He felt that the work of the craftsman or labourer should be the ideal model for the ‘good life’. Schools which were based around productive work where that work was for the benefit of all were, therefore, carrying out education of the whole person - mind, body and spirit. Gandhi’s basic education was, therefore, an embodiment of his perception of an ideal society consisting of small, self-reliant communities with his ideal citizen being an industrious, self-respecting and generous individual living in a small co­operative community and it was an education that aimed at educating the whole person, rather than concentrating on one aspect. It was a highly moral activity”.Mrs.Percy Lal, District Resource person of Link Workers project of APAC proposed vote of thanks and earlier Shri.Jawahar Arumugam welcomed the gathering.-Govin