As I was walking into my office, a police man walked towards me, offered salutations and in a pleading tone said, ‘Sahib: I want my children to be IAS/IPS officers. I am not educated but I want to impart the besteducation to my children and want to aim high. I would like them to meet you’.I was taken aback and pleased: a humble constable; not even a matriculate had set high goals and aspirations for his children. This is very welcome and I hope this becomes a trend. As is the wont with these types of encounters, this set me thinking.
I arrived at two conclusions, the first one a banal and a platitudinous one and the other, even though very obvious, but with far reaching consequences for society and polity. In this part of the world or more broadly Asia, parents live their lives vicariously. They live life for and through their children. The second one was that opportunities for self- improvement and advancement through education put in place by the state can have far reaching ramifications and consequences for the society and thepolity. And that education can be the best solvent and antidote to traditional obstacles accruing from custom and tradition- caste, creed and colour.
Consider the case of India. A civilization state, the Indian firmament is comprised by dizzying diversity but unfortunately has historically been divided both horizontally and vertically on account of caste and creed.The case system freezes people in the social and economic hierarchy and renders upward mobility almost impossible. This is a social phenomenon. However, oncethe state which should be neutral towards its citizens enters the picture, and if it has an affirmative action program in place, the equations change. Thestate with its education policy and thrust transforms society. The taboos stemming from insalubrious aspects of society begin to melt and dissipate and people from the deprived sections of society enjoy the fruits of their labour. In short, meritocracy not ascriptive status in society becomes the arbiter of success and upward mobility.
This is the social aspect and is, given the path dependence of social and cultural institutions nothing short of a revolution. The state acts as a catalyst for social and cultural change and socializes people in values that are benign , forward looking and progressive. It has political ramifications and consequences too. Education not only empowers people but it also enlightens and emancipates them. They cannot, by and large, be made fools and are likely to be critical and more aware. An educated citizenry means then means an enlightened and aware citizenry. If this gets amplified and broad based, then this translates into a coherent , cohesive and aware middle class. A deep and wide middle class is good for democracy and the polity. National interest rather than narrow political and sectional interest takes precedence and people elect their representatives not on the lines of caste and creed but policies and political programs. And they also hold the political class accountable. People also, if they are educated, tend to resolve their disagreements through arguing and pleading rather than violence
In combination then, these two aspects and factors can only be salubrious and good for both society and the polity. It has and is working in India despite the immense structural changes and elsewhere. In the advanced West, where the right to education and education is an indelible part and parcel of people’s lives, education is taken for granted. However, in the less developed world, there are huge swathes of the population that continue be unfortunate in this regard. What then should the state , in these countries do?
It becomes exigent that the state deems education as a public good and on a war footing make education and the nurturing of human capital as a priority. This can only be an unalloyed good. The examples of most South East Asian countries are instructive here. These countries like Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia made nurturing human capital priority and have , in the least, reaped social and economic dividends. It is about time that these policies and approaches are replicated in India and broadly speaking thesubcontinent too. It is then that the demographic dividend can be reaped and people be given a chance to reach efflorescence and live their life to their potential without the encumbrances of caste, creed and colour. This much is owed to them.
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