Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.
- B.F.Skinner

Education is what brings us closer to civilization. It is what separates man from a moron, a savage or an animal. Humanity’s march from the beginning has been one of education. Right from birth, it is the attempt of every parent to provide proper education to his child. But the problem with education is deciding on what is proper education, how to provide it, when to provide it, and what should be included in it. There has been dispute over it since the beginning, and cynics have said much to derogate standard attempts towards ‘education’. Hence, the quotation above. Or, to quote Norman Douglas, ‘Education is a state-controlled manufactory of echoes’. However, it is held in consensus that education adds value to life, that it teaches one how to lead life better, and that it is a great tool of empowerment and emancipation.

Education as we know it begins with and is developed in various types of schooling institutions. There are formal ones, and other informal ones. It starts at the pre-schooling stage, and goes on till the university level, where it may continue indefinitely. The common fallacy is to treat education as starting and beginning with schooling. However, education continues even outside schools. Philosophers opine that life itself is one long course of education. Education need not be strictly intellectual – there can be survival training courses, flight training, traffic training, courses on hobbies, art appreciation, photography, cuisine and cookery, and a host of other things. Since it is not humanly possible for one man to know or do everything so as to know about everything, education is a shortcut to internalize the ossified knowledge of all those who went before, all those who know better. As someone said, life is too short a journey to make all the mistakes for oneself and learn from them.

Education is a short cut to emancipation from ignorance which is a great enemy of innovation, goodness and freedom. In concrete terms, education enables a man to fend for himself, learn his rights, and in case of commission of any wrong, fight for what is right. This striving for what is good and what is right can be at a much mundane level – driving the car in the right lane and heeding all traffic rules is as much the sign of an educated man as quoting from Shakespeare.

This section of the web directory is a humble attempt to provide some pointers to educational resources for a variety of needs.

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