This post is a follow-up of my earlier blog 4 Main Reasons Why Indians Prefer a Son

I bumped into Mrs. Sinha at a birthday party yesterday. We aren’t really friends but have had a long association, professionally. A lady with a motor mouth, who seldom knew what diplomacy, was. And anyways in kiddo birthday parties, amidst all the screams and squeaks of children, her loud voice may really not bother you much.

It all started with someone complimenting my prettily dressed girls. “How cute little girls look in party frocks, shoes and shimmers,” he said. Mrs. Sinha took no time to respond to this statement. “Girls would be cute and a pleasure now when they are young. It is only as they grow older would you realize the issues. You would have to keep a watch on where they go and whom they meet. And then the expenses you have to incur on them- spend on their education, later get them married, another expenditure on “Godh Barayee” (Baby shower equivalent in India) and later on her child. It is never-ending. I am glad I have a son.”

The group present just disapprovingly said, “Come on, things have changed”. And the conversation ended there. I of course was not really surprised. There are many such people in our society who think in a similar fashion (I had spoken to some during the course of my earlier blog post). But here is what struck me. Education!!

Mrs. Sinha holds a Masters in English Literature and an MBA in Marketing from Patna University. With a double degree she worked as a high school teacher. So if this was the thought process of the “qualified” individuals of our society, is our education system actually in place? Are we actually “educating” individuals, or merely “qualifying them”, piling on degrees after degrees?

Value education is an almost mandatory thing in most schools. I know for sure as my daughter’s school “Carmel Convent, Delhi” ensures the child is involved in campus programs on Swacch Bharat Nirman, child abuse and other daily issues.

What I am most concerned about is at the University level. After speaking to a few students in South Delhi Campus, I realized that yes, colleges do conduct value education through street plays, debates and extempore. But still, there seems to be large gaps. Firstly, it isn’t really mandatory to be a part of it (unlike at the school level). Next, this probably is limited to some colleges and universities. Not all universities bother to stress on value education. And in states such as Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, which need it the most, it is pretty negligible.

Shouldn’t our education system concentrate on briging out individuals with better thought processes, so that something more positive could be done for the society at large? We need to make our whole education system effective. I am hoping Prime Minister Modi’s “Beti Padao Beti Bachao” scheme is taken up more seriously by the HRD ministry too.

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