Education and Culture

Etymologically, the word "education" is derived from the Latin ēducātiō. It means, ‘a breeding’, or ‘a rearing’. The word "educate" dates back to 1447, again derived from the Latin word ‘educatus’, which means to ‘bring up’ or to ‘draw out’. Education aims at drawing out and developing the faculties of students. In ancient Greece, Rome, as also in ancient India, literature, religion, and philosophy were taught to inculcate humanistic interests. The sole purpose was to promote the minds and hearts of the pupils. In those days commercial or vocational education was not prevalent. That was a discipline cultivated by those who acquired skill for work. During the Renaissance in Europe and England, humanities were encouraged.

That’s was what went before. With the assorted development of science, technology and commerce, education in the present century has ramified in different branches. Scientific study has become a rage; commercial education has acquired prestige. Now the emphasis is on useful study. At times it so appears that literature, philosophy, rhetoric, religion is regarded as useless knowledge.

There is no denying the fact that in this modern age of nanotechnology, our interest in science has increased. Scientific knowledge has revealed many secrets of nature, matter and man. It has excited the intellect and stimulated the imagination. It is an obligation for the intellectual equipment of students in the modern age. Moreover, in the modern educational scheme, the usefulness of scientific education can hardly be overemphasized. It is an age of increasing population and improving technology. Fierce competition for livelihood and survival has changed the whole outlook and attitude of man. Social, economic and technological systems have become complex and vast, involving many factors and forces. Man has to accept the new order. New areas of knowledge, the territories of discoveries have to be studied and appreciated. 

Nevertheless, emphasis on scientific knowledge does not mean the neglect of humanistic studies. Both are equally important for the development of intellect, emotions, and imagination of man. Education has the purpose of making an all-round development of man. Science stimulates the intellect; literature and arts develop the feelings and sensibilities of man. If only intellect is developed to the neglect of emotions and imagination, man's mental progress will not be sound and healthy. 

Man knows science, but man has also to know how to use science for the benefit of other men. If emotions are not developed, man will be blunt and insensitive - he may be rugged and cruel. Literature broadens the sympathies and widens the mental horizon and enables him to tackle the situations of life with sensitiveness, sympathy and broadmindedness.

In the modern age, cultural values and aesthetic interests of boys and girls are completely reversed. Old values of respect, sympathies, and tenderness are ignored. Culture has become decadent. Thus the purpose of education is not fulfilled. Schools and colleges have increased; educational facilities have been expanded but the quality has deteriorated. Practical education stifles the inner urges and spontaneous fellow felling. Education and culture are interlinked. Education must aim at including human values and encouragement of healthy cultural life. 

Therefore, in the modern age, educational schemes should aim at the blend of practical knowledge and humanistic interests. Knowledge of science and commerce should be combined with wide interest in arts, literature and rhetoric. Taste and interests must be refined and developed.

Education also seeks to develop the students' power of articulation and expression. A student should have the power to express his feelings and ideas in lucid and forceful language. So the purpose of education is to awaken and develop the whole man. Unfortunately, modern system fails to achieve this primary purpose of cultural development and promotion of spiritual values. 

As a result, there is quantitative growth but there is no corresponding qualitative development. There is development of brain but no corresponding development of heart. This is an ominous augury for the future. Education without culture would make India a degenerate nation. 

The culture of a society has its foreseeable effect on its educational system. The educational system points to an assortment of needs of the society concerned, because it is towards the accomplishment of the same that education is organized. If the dominant culture of a society is materialistic, the education system there is inevitably based on blind competition. In such a society, the primary efforts of an individual is directed towards the achievement of material goals, and nor towards spiritual or aesthetic ones. If individualism pervades a culture, the educational system too, becomes coloured by egoism. 

Whatever one might learn through education is immensely influenced by culture. In the opinion of Bartlett, “social traditions influence ways of thinking, remembering, imagining and doing creative things”. Culture is an inalienable part of civilisation. 

Culture, as Matthew Arnold says "is not only knowing and having but also becoming and doing". The progress of society will be thwarted if all of us do not strive  for a standardized ideal of education.