Higher Education Prepares You For Life

Your University Gives You an Attitude

Higher education is popularly taken to mean education that is imparted in colleges or universities. For example, Manav Rachna University that imparts education whether it is law, engineering, mass communication, architecture, pharmacy, dental sciences so on and so forth are called higher education. The external test of higher education undoubtedly is the possession of a degree or degrees. But its intrinsic quality is the possession of a distinctive attitude to life based on an intellectual level. One of its important and real criterions is the capacity to apply to the problems of life, reason and judgment based on the knowledge of facts. Hence a person claiming to have received higher education must not only possess knowledge but must be able to apply it in day-to-day business of life. Thus, if you being a university graduate know law but are prevented from using your knowledge of law by time-worn prejudices or out-mode habits, you place yourself outside the dugout and remain a ‘bookful blockhed’.

A High Standard Education-Matter of National Pride

There are people who look askance at education from two contrasting standpoints. Some look down upon it assuming that it has no great practical utility in life, since its possession does not ensure of itself the possession of the good things of life. Others again are suspicious of it because it creates a chasm with the people. Both these views are deeply flawed, a conjecture not adequately bolstered by evidences for they are based on a misconception of the nature of high education. It may not ensure material success, but its non-possession renders material success vulgar, vile and valueless. And far from creating a rift with the people, it makes one take a genuine interest in the affairs of the people. I always maintain that the prevalence of a high standard of education is the true index of the cultural level of a nation, which is a matter of national pride. It fixes intellectual standards and academic values. A nation meets the world not on the ordinary levels of life but on a superior platform where new ideas can be aired and exchanged to greater effect freely and cordially. Let’s not forget the fact that it is by its cultural attainments that a nation draws the attention and respect of the world.

Greater Responsibilities Require Greater Preparation

Today we are living in an extremely complex and diverse society. The development of science, the growth of industries, the evolution of democratic institutions, the coming together of nations through politics and trade, diplomatic relations are made constantly, foreign policies are accorded, international agreements are signed –these are among the factors that have complicated the general patterns of life all over world. Every moment new situations are to be adapted, fresh adjustments have to be fine tuned, new solutions have to be found; these require a high degree of knowledge in science, law, economics, international relations, politics and history. Without knowledge of law how can we manage a civilization of the modern democratic set up? Without knowledge of economics, it is impossible to tackle the complicated problems that emerge from the incidence of world-wide trade and commerce. Democratic Governments can work successfully only on a proper understanding of true limits of state power and the rights and duties of citizens. You have won freedom after long years of struggle therefore, complacency has no room, you shouldn’t be casual and careless rather it requires austerity, watchfulness to ensure that the conditions of freedom are being maintained and safeguarded. You cannot meet the challenges of an advanced civilization with the obsolete notions of a feudal age. Your responsibilities today are infinitely greater than what your ancestors had to shoulder, and greater responsibilities not only require greater preparation but a constant state of intellectual alertness. This function can be fulfilled only by a very high standard of education. It is thus the proper means to provide you an impetus to turn your dreams into reality.

University Education-A Must

There is a very narrow and restricted outlook that judges higher education by immediate material value, its, efficiency in solving the bread and butter problems of our daily life. But the broader and larger outlook may be different. The purpose of education is to make you a citizen not of a small locality but of the whole world, a member not of a community but of a federation of nations. This is its need and justification. The country, therefore, that neglects its higher education, condemns itself to a back-seat in the comity of nations, a position that no self-respecting nation can desire. Therefore, it is imperative to organize national education on a high level of efficiency. The foundations of national universities, national laboratories, and national academies of law, science, art and culture are right steps in this direction since they contribute towards fixing standard. But these are not enough. Regional, state, and national universities, even private universities are being built up but in an uncoordinated way. There is disparity of standards, there is over-lapping of functions, and even wastage of resources. Here planning—and organization are needed. The colleges, universities and other institutes imparting higher education must prepare our students to play the leading role in building the nation to fulfill its many-sided functions in the service of humanity.

Written By:- Dr SK Bose, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Manav Rachna University