I have been following Sultan Speak for years and what I have noticed is that Mr. Ahmed has a humanitarian approach towards education. This is the factor that drives me to admire the column and Mr. Ahmed as a contributor in the field of education. Mr. K.K. GUPTA, Retired Principal and Regional Academic Head, Atomic Energy Education Society, Mumbai, throws light on his perception of education and discusses it from a broader view with MENTOR.

The word ‘Education’ has been defined by different people in various ways. The word ‘Education’ itself explains its meaning. We send children to schools and colleges for education, but are Science, Math’s, Social Studies and so on the only topics that they need to be educated in? The one thing that we fail to realize is that we get educated anywhere and everywhere. All parents aspire that their children become doctors, engineers, IAS’s, but what they tend to forget is that should first try to build them to be men/women of high values and quality.

Exposure to a new environment and experiencing it is education. Encouraging ourselves or others to do something or working towards a goal without any restraint and disciplining ourselves in life is also education. Our understanding is a form of education. If we read and study a lot but we do not understand anything, then that is no education. The conviction and confidence that we have in ourselves to learn is education. The character we build out of ourselves and the level of commitment we can offer shows the degree of education instilled in us.

These days, parents are very protective and defensive about children. They are sent to the best schools, given the best of facilities, they can avail all luxuries; they are hardly ever put in a position where they have to worry for their family or for themselves. Children should not be prepared as touch-me-nots. Their ability and toughness to face any situation in life is what education is all about. Making a child industrious, independent and capable is what measures the intelligence quotient of a child.

Ability to stay original and come up with creative and innovative ideas is education. We have to be able to use our imagination to stay unique. If We cannot control the habits that we have developed, that shows a drawback in our education. We have to be able to start or curb a habit on our will and not the other way round. The word nobility gives us everything on education. Our dignity, graciousness, civility and decency reflect the type of education we have received in life.

I would like to recommend and share the 11 A’s of life with the readers of Mentor and I really hope they make use of it as they have really helped me in life.

• Be AWARE of what you are!
• Once you are aware of yourself, you can Analyses as to what you want and what you should do
• Since the analysis has been drawn by you, you ACCEPT the analysis
• Once accepted, you ACT on it and practise the analysis
• How you act it out depends on your APTITUDE
• Along with ability and talent, your ATTITUDE needs to be right towards the goal you are working at
• You need to pave a way to lead you in that direction-the APPROACH road
• Finally you need to reach the ALTITUDE. Push yourself to your limits so that you can excel in everything you do
• Now, that you have all the A’s needed to go ahead, you need to APPRECIATE these A’s and understand the meaning of them
• Only appreciation is not enough, you need to APPLY them to life
• For this, you need to make ADJUSTMENTS in life so that you can practise them without fail