‘Education should challenge perceptions’

The theme of the conference is ‘Identity and Diversity’ and stresses on the need to prepare young minds for global harmony and to groom them to become future leaders. The conference is being attended by 60 educationalists from abroad as well as 20 from different parts of the country. 

Rev Prof Martyn William Percy, Dean, Christ Church, Oxford presented a seminar on ‘vocation’ on Sunday that touched upon the commercialisation and conformity that is present in institutes of higher education. 

He summarised the plight of education by saying, “We face real issues in marketisation, consumerisation, commodification, atomisation and specialisation. Our young people are burdened with debt and they want to know not what the intellectual journey will do to their minds, but how fat it might make their wallets later in life so that they can repay their debts.”

The effects of an underwhelming education can have far reaching repercussions on the unsuspecting individuals. Rev Prof Percy added that, “We also face a cultural anemia; a lack of knowledge means ignorance spreads. We run the risk of how people are formed and what they bear in their minds when making decisions about life, politics, society, citizenship, voting, democracy etc.” 

He further went on to state that colleges are not just factories that produce people with degrees, but are places that produce citizens of character and virtue, who have a positive contribution to make to the social platform. “To achieve this, institutions of higher education must be in touch with facts, must not collude with watering down their importance and at the same time not exalt opinions such that facts become detached from reality,” he says. He highlighted the problems faced in the developed world by saying, “Universities and colleges are now expected to make sure that lectures and curricula are not overly offensive and difficult for undergraduate students. This trend is alarming as the role of education is to challenge perceptions of people.” 

Quoting Paulo Freire, a renowned educator from Brazil, Martyn Percy said, “The point of education is not teaching the answers, but educating people to ask questions. The marketisation of our institutions and degree programmes, leads to a pedogogy of compliance and conformity. The results are a castration of curiosity. Knowledge is not something to be banked for personal investment, it is to serve society and awaken individuals.” He added that the role of educators is to stimulate people’s capacity to experience surprise, awe and wonder. To respond to their surprise and help them solve fundamental existential problems, he said.

Dr Alexander Jesudasan, Principal, MCC said, “The Indian chapter of the UTAC is conducting the conference this year and it is a privilege that it is being organised on the college premises. The conference provides a platform for educators from across the world to meet and disseminate ideas. It also plays a role in creating a network between the dignitaries that take part in it and encourages the sharing of resources between institutions.”