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Empowerment basically means to be able to do things on your own. As I see it, education is the basic pre-requisite of doing things on your own terms.

An educated country has the best chance of thriving. If people are aware of their rights and duties, they can help in nation-building. Education is actually a way of living. India should provide free education to each and every child. It should be made a citizen’s basic right. More than anything, a well-educated democracy is much better than an uninformed one.

And in today’s time, I feel, education is created by technology. Internet is a driving force of communication and we must utilise it in India.

I’m a high-volume Internet user. I use it for information and not infotainment. Though there’s nothing wrong about the latter, I just like the power of information. These days, I blog a lot. Everyday, I learn something new about the world and it’s a big high.

I feel our education system is very outdated. We need to update it but according to the global movement. Our studies are too theory-centric. We should be telling our children to come up with their own theories.

The idea should be to make learning more innovative and fun. We should go in for e-books and new ways of imparting knowledge. The thrust should be on students to tell their teachers something new that they’ve discovered.

Computers are the need of the day. In fact, students should be given computer classes from Std I. It’s my dream to see a computer in every house in India. But for that, they need to provide electricity first. But that’s another thing entirely and I’m sure the government is well aware of that.

But the picture isn’t so bleak. I’m amazed by today’s youngsters. They’re really very aware and well versed with everything new. Even in the film industry, our technicians know the latest software and techniques. It’s a very heartening thing to see. But very few people can avail this right to information. That’s where I think the government can come in. Basic education should be given to every child in India at his or her doorstep.

Source : The Indian Express More