DailyPost 2648
OF LEARNING AND WORK!
Learning and consequently knowledge and may be its progression to expertise all of us want to boast of. Work has been defined differently for different areas and for different geographies, primarily going by work culture that has been created over decades if not centuries, the purpose for which work is being done and if there is any bigger goal. The goal can be that of the enterprise, sector and can loosely be of the geography too. Quite a few times it pertains to the country too, and it has been more propelling quite a few times than anything else.
Can work be connected to what we cumulatively achieve on a regular basis, consistently and relentlessly, wherein you see a bigger goal opening up, milestones being conspicuously achieved on a regular basis and enthusing the workforce to work and deliver more and more. The first few outstanding milestones are very critical as they set the tone or mar the progress journey. More often than most of us; enterprises, sectors, geographies and the nation, don’t want to get into it, in the first place, it is too much of a pain to get embroiled in it. Is consistent commitment to a greater goal not a part or work? The stark reality is that without it we would not reach anywhere and that is what we see profusely in this country.
Though nothing much has not been written about the theory and practice of learning over the years, yet the linkage of learning solely with certificates and degrees is all too evident. Unfortunately, but for lip service for learning, in the real world it is scramble for degrees. Though the degrees have hardly delivered enough yet it seems that the battle for degrees would remain hot for all times to come. To add insult to injury, is the new world of coaching, which all of us have got subsumed into. Cancerous you can call it. Even certificates and degrees become secondary, coaching should make him clear the competitive exam, by rote, or by any hook or crook. Monetization of exam at its worst. When it is not the objective, where will learning come from? What the student has learnt is no one’s concern, and after clearing the exam even if he forgets whatever little he knew, it is still fine.
All this for our love for learning and by extension education. The next part of the journey is even more disgusting. The package is the job. Job is life. It brings salary. The beginning of getting salary is treated as end of learning in this country. The quality of learning or its non-presence we have already talked about. Job being synonymous with salary, makes discussion about job content or the nature / content provided in the job description not relevant. Work is not even contemplated upon even at the conceptual level. That you are getting wedded to a nature, description and trajectory of work and you have to excel in that and make a mark for yourself, is not even in their dreams. If you can manage salary hikes and promotions, you have arrived in life.
LEARNING DEFINED BY CERTIFICATES AND WORK DEFINED BY JOBS AND SALARIES HAVE BROUGHT TO THIS PASS.
Sanjay Sahay