Good morning respected jury members and my fellow mates. Today I Nimisha kumari on this august day is here to speak about “education is kindling flame not just the filling of vessel.” The saying “Education is not vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled” by Socrates means a lot to the present situation of education. These days students believe that scoring well at school level means education, which seems as filling something into an empty vessel. Education is like a fire that is lit upon something that grows eventually to sustain. It is totally different that when a student is forced to acquire knowledge rather than tempted to acquire knowledge by his own interest and curiosity.
Students now-a-days lead a stressful life. They get fed up due to overloaded homework, lots of books, project, etc. So it is extremely important to make them understand that “education is a part of life”. They should bring about their hidden talents by inculcating the thoughts and good deed within themselves. It is not possible to fill minds with answers as it wouldn’t remain stable in the student’s mind.
So education should bring about an individual’s talent and make him prosper in his life. They should understand that education should only be gained by understanding and not by mugging. “The only gift to yourself is your ability to seek knowledge.”
Interest is like fire. When interest is inculcated in one’s mind it will make him enthusiastic and develop an eagerness within him which will insist him to do research and question on topics that he come across. This will make him a well trained professional in his field rather than just well educated .Interest should be kindled by knowledge.
The Essay on Formal Education Tends to Restrain Our Minds and Spirits Rather Than Set Them Free
The statement that formal education tends to restrain our minds and spirits rather than set them free seems true to a very good extent. It is based on the assumption that too much of formal education tends to create a narrow line of thinking. Formal education dictates the path that a person is supposed to follow to reach his/her destination. It stresses on the need to learn from the mistakes of ...
Education without interest is just waste. Learning is different from studying. Learning gains you a long lasting memory with exact definition and understanding but studying is just a way of filling answers into minds without understanding it. There is a saying.
“If you can’t explain it to a 5 years old child then you yourself aren’t thorough about the topic”
So education should be in such way that it helps you as well as your surroundings. Such education can be gained only through interest.
There is no use in just storing something in a vessel rather than sharing and making use of it. Same is education. There is no use in just gaining education. When it is shared and taught it attains its peak usage like the spreading fire when it is lit in one place and not like the stored content in vessel. I’m hungry for knowledge. The whole thing is to learn every day, to get brighter and brighter. That’s what this world is about. You look at someone like Gandhi, and he glowed. Martin Luther King glowed. Muhammad Ali glows. I think that’s from being bright all the time, and trying to be brighter.
Therefore, I strongly feel that mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.
