The Missing Link In Education

The Choice Of Education

Let us for a moment imagine your child seeking your help to “Make A Rainbow”.

And let me try to guess the outcomes.

60% of you'll may guide him to do a drawing or a craft depicting a rainbow

30% of you'll may guide him to use light prism with the hero of a water bat mirror etc.

But what I do hope is there will be some exceptions who may help the child to make a real rainbow, outdoors, with the help of a water jet sprayed towards the sun over a still water body.

As a parent myself, the above percentage is a matter of concern about the future of our children. We make thousands of decisions in the hope that it will result in a future for children that is full of truth, beauty, justice and goodness. But one such important choice we have to make is about their education and developing their grey cells through it.

The choice of schooling for my son made me reflect on the education I received as a child and observed that not much has changed since. Traditional system that is based on teaching and testing may work for some, but not for all in the same way. If you judge a fish based on its ability to fly, it is the failure of the system and not the individual. The problem is that even though we learn, understand and know the concepts based on books and gain the right knowledge, the real life experience and exposure required for learning is still missing. The wisdom that comes from actually doing and various experiences of how humans really learn are very similar to animals. From the beginning of humanity, that is how we have learnt and grown through all our senses and guess what, it's stuck with us! It has stuck so well that we have evolved, survived and thrived as specie. Despite knowing this, it is strange that most schools and colleges are still functioning the way they are. A Group of students are caged for 1/4th of their life into a box and are made to just see and hear the lessons taught out of textbooks and expected to get ready to face life without any hands on experiments. Teaching aids are based on the past and we use them to prepare children for the future. In short the future of their family, future of the society and future of the planet is dependent on the outdated teaching methods used in the present. This undoubtedly brings in vast amounts of knowledge  but what's missing really is Wisdom.

The Journey of Growth

Evolution of Man
Evolution of Education

Whilst doing my MBA, there was a constant nagging feeling that something crucial was missing in the classrooms. It was then that I decided to focus more on building other aspects of the personality for holistic development rather than focusing just on academics. We are currently living in a country where marks, percentages, grades are calculated to the T, and yet over all development is grossly neglected. This is something i didn't want to miss out on in this rat race of marks and grades. Soon after i went for my first ever trek and enjoyed the beauty of the wilderness that surrounded me rather than sitting closed in four walls staring at a black board. By volunteering with an NGO and experiencing the joy of service, of selflessly giving, I saw a different aspect of my being.

Soon enough I developed a keen interest in adventure sports.For the first time I stopped studying and started learning. There is an element of choice in learning and that makes it so much more impactful. Around this time the intense rushed city life began to bog me down and I decided to explore a different world that is far away, across the Himalayas. Ladakh happened and my social internship up in the mountains was truly the turning point in my life. There are 3 key elements which are instrumental in our journey of growth and learning and these are missing in our education system today, especially in the cities. During my 2 months stay at  SECMOL in Ladakh, Sonam Wangchuk’s alternative school of learning, I was exposed to a unique model of education which was completely contextual and hands-on. The students there were in the driving seat and they learnt by experiencing, by doing. They were partners in innovating, in experimenting and in problem solving.

I observed keenly that those who failed the 10th grade in conventional education had skilled hands, a bright head and a kind heart. For eg. Stanzin. A young ,sharp and intelligent man, he can drive everything from a cycle to a bus, can fix everything from a solar cooker to a bore well, he plays ice hockey, runs 10 kms everyday at 11000ft, goes home in the summers to harvest barley and take care of 100 odd yaks. He holds no degree, but we need to question if the sum of of our life can really be boxed into a piece of paper. Stanzin doesn’t exist, he lives, despite tough geographical conditions and scarce resources. OR maybe i should say because of tough geographical conditions and scarce resources he truly lives. 

N. A. V

Its disappointing that we fail to come across children in the city who can do half as much as him. And just maybe we need to target our cushioned lifestyle with the luxuries and comforts of modern amenities,to understand why cities are conditioned in this way today.

When was the last time we allowed our children to go to school on a cycle or by foot?

Don’t We usually provide them with an ac car or a cab to make their journey whether short or long comfortable?

And this is where we need to question our modern city life and how disconnected we are from the natural resources provided by Earth.

With my understanding and experiences I discovered what N.A.V is and it’s not Net Asset Value as we have studied in our classes.

• It is proven time and time again over decades and generations that the ultimate teacher in the entire  universe is nature and this is what the first letter represents. NATURE.
• Research says that the most fertile ground for learning is outside our comfort zone and we all have experienced this in our own lives at some point. ADVENTURE marks our second key letter.
• And Lastly, when a person is able to find a larger meaning and purpose in life. When he begins to think not only about himself but sees himself as a part of the whole, he  offers himself completely & selflessly. V stands for VOLUNTEERING.

My belief that learning cannot be limited to four walls of a room and 8 hrs of sitting in the class got further strengthened. Unfortunately the major focus is still on passive studying but what we truly need is active learning.  After completing my MBA, I focused on establishing my professional career and later plunged into entrepreneurship. A decade went by, my new born became a toddler and I felt a need to inculcate virtues of NAV in him. The need further intensified when I observed that he was being taught experiences out of a computer screen. Programs like “how to grow a plant” where he was guided to add water and sunlight virtually. I started taking him outdoors for camping and trekking. A very keen interest developed amongst the people around who understood the need of real living and sent their kids along. Given my own experiences, I didn’t want to impart any more knowledge to kids as they were already burdened with too much of it in their heads. Instead, I wanted to focus on developing these 7 skills that studies show are needed for the future:-

Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Adaptability, Entrepreneurship, Communication, Analyzing Information, and Curiosity.

These skills can be learnt only by doing, by being and by working on the self. I went on to start and build a community initiative called the Me Too Kids Adventure Club.

Here, we don’t charge for participation but have parents and kids who volunteer in making each event a success. The idea is to conduct regular activities for kids in the age group of 7-14 yrs, ranging from trekking, kayaking, camping, and rappelling to clean up drives and even supporting NGO’s. We provide a learning platform that's breaking stereo typical education. The kids take the lead in exploring routes on a trek, take risks of slipping from a kayak into the river, struggle to pitch a tent, overcome their fears while rappelling, earn aerodynamics while sailing, see a scarab roll dung, ants build hills and much more. Most importantly they channelize all their energy and get completely involved and absorbed without bothering about the results.

Lessons learnt can’t be taught in school even over a span of 30 days. But with such outdoor activities, a matter of a few hours can leave a valuable impact. And the most important part, the kids are loving it ! In the entire process, they relate to math and science, history & geography and so on. For e.g. when you show a child how spiders make a web for half an hour... it can be equal to a 3 hour of class in geometry, architecture & biology, all combined.

The sense of accomplishing a difficult task after all the hardships makes them their own hero. It builds their confidence and they wait for the next challenge. Operating in the learning zone has a positive snowball effect on their overall approach to life and inculcates a variety of skills. Needless to mention that academics also get strengthened. These are part of character building through process of self discovery.

As for volunteering ,I live by a simple formula that can solve 1/3rd of the world’s problem if we all start doing it. Whatever is your age, just give that much % of yourself to a cause you care about. Eg: If you are 25 yrs old, give 25%. After years of volunteering you understand that usually you take back more than what you give. Experience, love, joy and service are key elements I've taken home with me.

To Be A Planet Warrior

The recent World Economic Forum's Global Shapers Survey 2017 has identified climate change as the most serious issue affecting the world today FOR THE 3^RD TIME in a row. Nearly half the participants chose this as their topmost concern. It is all the more essential that children are sensitized to nature early on and made to sense its functioning and significance. They will soon begin to connect the dots between what looks like simple fun activity and get to the deeper meanings. Only then will their sensitivity evolve and make them protectors and solution providers. Sustainability then will not just be a hype or fashion; but will become part of their DNA while growing up.

In Ladakh, we are currently working on climate change adaptation projects like the Ice Stupa Artificial Glaciers which are technological innovations to store wasting winter water in the form of huge cones of ice so that they gradually melt in spring and give water for farming when there is acute shortage. And all this is done without using any machines but just gravity and some basic principles of high school science.

In order to continuously do research and development that can address the challenges faced by people in the mountains in the domains of education, culture, and environment; we are setting up an alternative university called HIAL - Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh. HIAL will set the standard for the next learning revolution in higher education as it aims to break the rigid boxes of conventional thinking and be relevant to people's lives by encouraging experiential learning through practical application of knowledge. The education wing will be complemented by live labs or enterprises. For e.g. the school of tourism will run high end hotels and simple farmstays. Infact, we already have dozens of farmstays running that earns while giving sustainable livelihood to women of the village. This is also a way to take innovative solutions to the world. Students learn best when they work on things that make case studies and not just solve them with chalk, talk and paper.

For a sustainable future, we need new models of education which are customized to the reality of the current time, place and need. It needs to be able to face challenges and be tuned to the growing needs of our country whilst harboring the idea of solving problems of our own fellow beings inhabiting this earth just like us. Once the model works, it will gain critical mass and mainstream system is then likely to adopt it and adapt it. It won’t remain an alternative thereafter.

With right education, each one of us can rise to our true potential. There is a need to build a strong chain that creates selfless warriors to save the planet and we need to recognize this. NAV is the only structure that fills that missing link which can secure our children’s future and our future sustainable in the true sense of the word.

This article is about my journey, I would love to hear about yours and your thoughts on education in today’s world.