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Inculcating social effectiveness
Lt. Gen. Singh believes that India is still in the industrial age but time is rapidly pacing ahead, making a 10-year decade a five-year decade now.
Lt. General Manvender Singh PVSM AVSM VSM, Honorary Director, Sportseed Pro, introduced himself rather interestingly by sharing his experiences of being in the army for 40 years. He was also at the military college training for two years. Post-retirement, he was appointed by the organisation itself to study the impact of social media on services.
Singh, with his immense experience, believes that in the past 30 years, our country has shifted from the industrial age to the information age. The educational environment has become volatile, unpredictable and complex. The link between information, education, and communication is now virtual and the new system of education has dramatically changed students and education. He maintained that one has to be very careful about the invisibility factor, irresponsibility factor and the impulsiveness factors of this type of education. “This education has to be closely monitored or our children can go astray,” he voiced.
Singh further added, “With such a type of education, we develop two kinds of personality – virtual and real. The educators should not let the virtual personality dominate. Youth develop the tendency to become de-sensitised and can take violence easily. They should be monitored and guided.”
He also laid stress on the fact that virtual education is giving rise to the problem of lack of fitness. He provided real data to support his point and said that the physically weak tend to suffer from psychological disorders and problems and start adopting uncertain options.
In order to bridge the problems, he suggested that educators should join hands with social media to provide funds for sports on a mandatory basis. This would provide opportunities and resources to the students. He gave his own life example of how he was taught a sense of responsibility and trust by his father at 8 years of age.
Lt. Gen. Singh believes that India is still in the industrial age but time is rapidly pacing ahead, making a 10-year decade a five-year decade now.
He suggested mandatory sports education with more focus on organisational training rather than on an individual basis. He emphasised that it should be structured, fuss-free, scientific, fun, non-competitive, non-gadget and developed approach based. Online help should always be available but monitored properly. There is a strong need to cover spare time with such activities, he maintained.
In conclusion, he underlined that there is a great need to create an additional hour apart from the regular curriculum for the all-round development of students. He closed his speech by saying that our system should assist, access and assure children so we can bring a sense of responsibility and social effectiveness in all students.