Holistic Education Economy

and Health

Dr. Shriniwas Kashalikar

Improvement in economy through holistic education is pivotal to Total Stress Management i.e. empowerment and blossoming of an individual, school, nation and the world.

  If you analyze the poverty and associated globally prevalent

issues leading to ubiquitous stress, with a holistic perspective, then it would be clear that the innate core (the spiritual domain that imparts universal perspective and globally beneficial outlook) and the productive domain (that empowers); of people concerned with education; are grossly neglected and remain perennially deficient.

  Mainstream Education System and the courses and careers in

it; revolve around and serve the grossly petty and superficial considerations, motivations and interests (I am referring to what I have been observing in India for last half a century and guess that it is not much different in other parts of the world)! This state of affairs is strongly protected and strengthened by the political elements with similar interests! Hence laws, rules and regulations develop accordingly!

 

Steps to rectify  1. Working physically in different ways and earning

[productive domain] in itself, is not a burden. It is an opportunity to grow from within. It is an opportunity to develop self esteem. It is an opportunity to become self sufficient.

  2. This leads to self sufficiency in schools. They do not have

to depend on heavy fees or federal grants or donations. This makes the education institutions

accessible to all and self sufficient!  3. Through productive domain the hypokinetic stress,

emotional stress of being dependent and intellectual stress of excessive memorizing would be averted.   4. Due to productive domain, the dropping out due to lack

of earning [as is common in case of millions of students in many parts of world] and then turning into helpless, vulnerable and cheap child labor would come down.

5. Being empowered, the students would not go through the stress of unemployment and turn into helpless, frustrated mental wrecks or criminals.

  6. The emphasis on productive (and hence psychomotor

and practical aspects) would bring down the necessity to “copy” and associated crimes and corruption in procedures of examinations, certification, providing grants presently rampant in many parts of world.

  The caste based reservation for education, jobs and

other faculties; responsible for social divide and strife in many parts of the world; (especially India) can be peacefully and advantageously done away with, by consensus!

  This is only a brief sketch of the potential advantages

of productive domain.

The practical aspects of productive domain can include several crafts and skills and arts and their sale according to the situations. For example, planting of medicinal herbs, rearing of cows, home flower gardening, production of chalk

sticks, carpentry, pottery, arts such as music, dance, painting and others.

  Tips 1. The productive domain should be an essential

ingredient of Mainstream Education System, but no particular job should be enforced.

  2. The productive domain should constitute only

about twenty five percent of the school time.  3. The teachers and others should participate in the

productive domain.

Warnings1. Administrative aspects such as

infrastructural development have to be done with professional expertise.

2. It should be done with due care and concern for the physical capacities of the children and should not be painful and troublesome.

3. All this should be done with a clear aim of all-round development of the students,Teachers and other concerned.