Kids’ education and Higher Education. Every Mama wants her baby to go through this path, higher and higher. This phenomenon is common all over the world across different races, different countries. It is as common as a farmers’ desire to have more land, cattle sheep etc. Does it mean there is a universal driving force behind it?
Due to my personal experience, here I will use examples from Indian and Australian context. I have found the affordability may be different and the priorities may be different but desire to have a most sellable degree is very much common. Why would someone spends 10-15 years of their prime life if the rewards don’t justify the input? Is it always beneficial to have higher education or it is calculated risk? Sometime there are financial rewards such as degree in Medicine in a developing country can payback within a year or two. May be a graduate degree in anything is a requirement of a government job that can pay several times the effort and money input for that. Sometime there could be social status reward such as better matrimonial prospect for graduate daughter of a well to do family.
Secondly if we do decide to get educated, how do we pick subject of study or Institution of Higher Education? We will see a sharp contrast when we compare today’s choice of masses, which is primarily market driven courses from factory like mass production Universities and few generation ago when only few from elite/rich families were able to provide for their kids education. Back then it was not important what job they will get when they spend few years with their Guru (teacher) but what knowledge they have acquired be it military or political. Some were even above this and were sending their kids to study philosophy, music, literature or even religion. These days one doesn’t get paid enough to survive by pursuing these fields with the exception of religion.
May be the answer lies in the doctrine of mean. Practice one profession such as Real Estate sales or Stock broking for financial reward and learn poetry or gardening for mental reward.
Until next time….
Dara Dhillon
