Education: Handling the student/ Sisyphus Convolution – Rising Kashmir

If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.Chinese Proverb

Posted on Feb 20, 2022 | Author HAMNA MUNIR

We all must be knackered by the repetitive deliberations and discussions on the subjects of Education, Academic Institutions, Student life, etc. But how many of us have reflected upon it with serious concern. It is as if we are ready to make amends in whatever seems redeemable but then give up due to indolence. What really is education? To some, it is a good degree in hand, a creditable post in an office of work; all in all, to live life well. Unfortunately, education has become more of a burden than a blessing in this day and age. We necessitate ourselves in this particular institution not as if by choice but a salient convention merely to be followed. Education maketh a man. This assertion is apodeictic and needs universal comprehension. However, what should also be understood is that not everyone comes through the same. Life is a staircase of certainty and disbelief, and the acceptance of both should be the sine qua non, to which everyone must adhere. One needs support regardless of what one wants to pursue, and the execution of ones performance in a particular field at a specific period should in no way be taken as a benchmark to ascertain their worth.

It has nearly been over two years now, and the global pandemic COVID-19 has positioned a threat to everything ubiquitously. Education has reached a fatal standstill, and efforts in this direction seem ineffectual. It appears that students are on a mere Sisyphus Climb reaching out for a better upcoming hopelessly. Albert Camus has veritably stated that, what is the point of living and not living in a universe devoid of order and meaning. That is precisely how the students perceive the world now. They are being predisposed towards nihilism rendering everything and anything unavailing. So how come one be brought out of it? It is a question of immense understanding. If you ask me, I will acknowledge the declaration that rectifying any problem we face is a human approach. Our etiquettes make us who we are and what impact we leave on others. We cannot change what is out there with immediate effect, but we can perceive things constructively.

A good outlook on education doesnt necessarily, as a matter of course, require one to indulge in esteemed colleges and universities and procure felicitous degrees. Although these are admirable but whats more fundamental is that one needs to be content with whatsoever one is engaged in. Above all, if you are satisfied with what you are doing, your perspective on life will be pragmatic, and eventually, you will pave the way to a world of better understanding. Unfortunately, the majority of the students are stuck in a quandary pursuing degrees they dont even relate to either by obligation or to meet up the ostensible standards of society. Nowadays, they are engaged in an infinite loop of online and offline adventures. Just as Estragon and Vladimir wait for Godot to come likewise, students wait for better days. Nevertheless, this continuance will come to a stop sometime someday as Jacques Derrida has truly verbalized that everything is a matter of deconstruction and demands questioning and analysis.

On the whole, my main motive to indite this write up is that we need to be less captious and more considerate. Not everything can be deliberated in terms of philistinism. One must aspire to keep their conscience content to live a blissful life. As Camus says, A man devoid of hope and conscious of being so has ceased to belong to the future.

One must always imagine Sisyphus Happy.

(The Author has done PG in English Language and Literature from IUST and is currently pursuing B.ED from Kashmir University)

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Education: Handling the student/ Sisyphus Convolution - Rising Kashmir