Financial Education IS A Must Today!

The world economic turmoil has caught people red handed that there is little or no chance for people to escape the monster from being consumed. However those equipped with financial education are on the safer side than those who know little about financial world.

Many people wouldn’t have witnessed these tough times had they invested first in their financial education. The world is not coming back, rather it is moving forward and we should be moving with the time too.

There is little hope for financially illiterate to catch up with the world which is undergoing a massive transformation. I hope, you pick any good financial books and start educating yourself. Don’t bank on the government leaders to bail you out, rather you be your own messiah.

Learn about different investment vehicles and try to learn the new rules and operate accordingly. Try to see the world through wise eyes rather than the masses.

Alwed Ekka

Participate In Your Children’s Education As Much As Yours!

Today both parents are busily involved in their work and there is hardly time for children. These parents just prefer to keep their kids in hostels or far away from home only to be left free from any daily hassle of child care. I think parents must participate in their children’s education as much as theirs.

Parents feel that they have reached to the level of great education and that they have already graduated from schools and universities and that they know everything. But in my opinion, they may have finished the academic requirements to find jobs but they haven’t finished the education that can help face new challenges of life. Therefore parents have to participate in continuous learning and upgrading their skills, knowledge and information.

The other day I came across a student studying in one of the International Schools and the boy is in 10th grade IGCSE. The boy stays in the hostel away from his parents. His parents put him in the hostel because both parents are working and the boy was on his own. He didn’t study even when he was at home so his parents put him in a hostel thinking that the boy would study.

The boy didn’t change himself not even a bit. His attitude is negative, sarcastic, argumentative and all the negative things that you can imagine. The school has problems with him and can’t deal with him. The hostel warden can’t seem to go well with him. His behaviour is not tolerable. He got many suspensions and warnings. His academic performance is poor that he failed in almost all subjects except maths. He scored A in maths.

This boy is intelligent, clever and capable but his poor performance in studies is because of his addiction to computer games, watching movies and surfing the internet. The parents gave him a laptop to study but he uses it for playing computer games all the time and he misses the classes too though he stays in the hostel. Besides, he fights constantly with his teachers and dorm parents when they tell him to study.

During Christmas vacation, he wanted to go back to his country because he has less friends and poor results. He is withdrawn and continues to play the computer games. I was asked to guide him and at first he didn’t cooperate with me. He insisted upon going back to his country though his parents didn’t want him to return. After 10 days of session, he said to me that he had decided to stay and finish his studies. He deleted all his computer games and resumed his responsibility to study. It was a big victory, a paradigm shift.

Many children these days are distracted by the modern gadgets and technology so much that they easily go off course. It is the duty of parents to participate in their children’s education and not only the schools and teachers.

Participate in children’s education as much as yours because without parents involvement there is not much learning and rewarding. Life will be easy if parents give their time to children and encourage them to pursue whatever they intend to.

Alwed Ekka

Educate Yourself One Day At A Time For 365 Days!

It will be an awesome experience if we really learn something every day within a period of 365 days. What a life changing event it would be if we all decide to learn and develop something in us. All God’s given talents are not in full use so it is better that you educate yourself one day at a time.

It is just one day at a time and it will make a profound difference in your life. Educate yourself about every thing that you wanted to know but haven’t learned yet. Set aside a portion of your time in learning and educating to make a difference in your life or other’s life.

Learn to live one day at a time for 365 days and your life will be transformed for better. Don’t take for granted the discipline, lifestyle and character that you will develop and the most valuable person you will become. Choose to be the valuable person to your immediate family, friends, country, organization and the world. You can take up this endeavour one day at a time. Learn new language, learn new attitude, new values and lifestyle.

Begin today to change something, to correct something, to pursue something, to achieve something, to laugh, to smile, to love and to be successful and healthy. Because today is the right time and never tomorrow. Do it one day at a time and persist till you turn this to be rewarding and fulfilling. If you think you can begin tomorrow, then you are mistaken because by tomorrow you will be one day behind and if that persists for another day or so, then you will regret for having failed to do and live in guilt. And you know guilty feeling never guarantees salvation.

Wish you all a great, healthy, rewarding and happy new year 2011.

Alwed Ekka

Be An Active Learner And Not A Passive Learner!

Each individual is blessed with unique set of talents, skills and abilities. These abilities can be further developed potentially if the individual assumes the responsibility of learning the stuff by actively involving himself/herself. Being an active learner is the best thing that an individual can taken upon himself. Passive learning has no depth and strength. It is therefore desirable to be always an active learner.

My son is two and half years of age and I am proud to see him involve actively in exploring, learning, questioning and knowing things by himself. My son is learning many things because he is involved in the process actively and it is a great way of imparting education to children. He holds the toys and admires it, throws the ball, breaks the stuff, fixes the broken pieces, scribbles on the walls and papers and repeats the rhymes, says the alphabet and recognizes the animals, plants, colours, flowers and many other objects. All these things are possible for him to do because he is an active learner. He learns himself by his beautiful senses because all of them are involved actively in the process. This is how the adults should learn as well as the grown up children.

I am afraid, as my son would grow up and join the institutionalized schools and colleges, he might be discouraged to continue his active learning style. The schools and colleges don’t really appreciate the active learning style rather they encourage the students to learn passively. Here there is not much participation of students. Everything is ready made and fed to the students’ brains. This passive mode of learning is not a better choice because it cripples the able person from learning and growing.

When I was studying philosophy the professors always gave ready made ideas, concepts, knowledge and wisdom of other well-known philosophers. They expected the students to learn by heart those concepts and vomit them out during the exam. It was purely an exam centric study and an absolute passive learning style bored and tired me so much. There were no new ways of looking at the reality and the world. Those already discovered notions, concepts and ideas stood like the fundamental principles or dogmas and that couldn’t be changed. On the other hand, I wanted to rethink, rediscover, re-analyse the concepts and re-look the existing reality from a new perspective but were not encouraged to add new ones because being a student I couldn’t think or figure out new concepts and notions. It is important to be an active learner today because you will learn more and there is a great depth and strength.

These days children are made to learn things passively. The system doesn’t allow them to learn actively. This is a sad phenomena and if it continues it is not good for the future generation. Albert Einstein as a child was a slow learner. He couldn’t do better academically in the beginning but when he persisted his active learning style, he emerged victorious, genius and great. This is what an active learning style could do to an individual if they really learn to embrace it. Bill Gates pursued and did things actively as a result he could transform his own life. So did Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Larry Ellison, Thomas Edison and many others. Active learning frees one’s ignorance and gives freedom.

It is therefore important that you become an active learner than a passive learner. If you want to be an extraordinary human being, you must follow active learning style. Don’t remain passive. Be active and do something that you find catchy and interesting.

Alwed Ekka

Choose Real Education Over Pure Entertainment!

They say, technology breakthrough has provided mankind wings to fly and wheels to run and besides it has also given them entertainment machines to kill their valuable time. These days people want first entertainment over real education. They seek entertaining shows more than the books, seminars or education that could enlighten their minds. It is a problem of choice and people have been misled by the fancy and the superficial lifestyle. What can a man do when he comes home tired from day’s work- watch TV, seek entertainment over education.

It is about this that I would like to discuss in brief. The film industries, TV programs and other feature films have become a huge success today all over the world that the actors and actresses, producers and directors are enjoying the great profit margins. Who pays for these feature films and TV shows? It is obviously the viewers who choose blindly pure entertainment over real education. Those who are associated with film production and marketing are enjoying great lifestyles but those who view them purely as entertaining agents are the losers and failures. Those who watch these programs don’t mind giving their precious time away to such shows which don’t add any value to human growth instead they only conspire to keep people tied emotionally and mentally ignorant.

I have come across these days children addicted to playing computer games. There are different kinds of games mostly entertaining and fun than educational in character. The educational characters don’t seem to be interesting because of the poor choice people have learned to make over the years. These children play computer games but they don’t gain much in life. Yes they do get entertained and they help the gaming companies to make profits. Parents expect their children to pursue their interests and hobbies so that in turn it could add values to their lives. But it isn’t so. Children neither pursue their special interests nor do they study well academically. Down the road, their future earning capacity could be jeopardized if they don’t learn to make a proper choice between entertainment and education.

Learning and education will set you free if you take upon yourself the responsibility to teach rather than while away your precious time. I am sure learning will improve one’s life more than entertaining. Even those whose job is to entertain and make films and shows do learn and educate themselves otherwise they won’t make a living. But the viewers don’t really make a wise choice between entertainment and learning. Make a wise choice to educate yourself; choose real education over pure entertainment. Draw a fine line and limit your exposure to the pure entertainment because it won’t fill your pocket.

Alwed Ekka

Imagination Is The Real Education!

“Imagination rules the world.” Napoleon Bonaparte

George Bernard Shaw said, ” You see things and say, “Why?” But I dream things that never were and I say “Why not?” Imagination is the king and the ruler of whole world. It is the real education that children must have by all cost. The academic education may not encourage the students and the parents on the other hand may feel that fantasies will never put bread on the table, but they are all wrong about imagination. Imagination is creative and powerful. It has the power to liberate the entire humanity and take us to the outer space.

There are so many people who have used imagination to liberate themselves. J.K. Rowling is a real time example  and she says, “We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better. “ She advocates that the students must be encouraged to use their imagination more than the academic qualification. There is greatness, success, richness, abundance, freedom, peace and love in imagination provided that all children learn to imagine and fantasize things that others consider vague and unreal.

The images obtained through imagination will have a practical application later in life as you go through your daily living. So don’t snub your imaginative mind to explore and expand.  Albert Einstein too considered imagination as more important than the acquired knowledge. Acquired knowledge becomes obsolete while imagination updates the fresh and new information on the spot. Imagination gives timely information and it is reliable.

All kinds of inventions, innovation and technological advancements are the results of pure imagination. The scientists, film makers, actors, entrepreneurs and many others applied imagination to change things and establish new systems. It is good if you engage yourself in imagination morning an evening. There is a great possibility hidden within you and it can be disclosed to you only when you learn to use your imagination. Imagination has no boundary, no colour and no bias. It goes everywhere because it can penetrate all spheres and dimensions.

Use your imagination to attract health, wealth, happiness, freedom and peace. All that you want to accomplish in life is within your imagination and apply it to have them. Imagination helps to overcome failures, setbacks, mistakes and discouragement. Imagination can also set you free if you are sick and suffering from diseases. It is better that children must be taught to imagine. Children must be educated through imagination for it is powerful and creative.

Alwed Ekka

Academic Education Keeps People Ignorant!

The academic education is a part of greater conspiracy and its main purpose is to keep the masses ignorant. The academic books and lessons don’t teach about the important things that are required in life. The academic education makes the subjects so difficult that it takes the interests away from the students. It makes the students bored and occupied.

Schools and colleges don’t educate students about financial matters. They teach accountancy and it is about how to manage others’ money. It is about how to work for others for a payment. In real life people get messed up with financial problems and die with those unresolved problems. How can schools and colleges teach from the perspective of vested-interest rather than the students? Students must be taught financial education, how to manage their portfolios and invest them.

There is no way for large number of students to get financial education because their parents don’t know themselves. They are educated academically but the academic education has made them ignorant and dependent. If people are dependent they don’t feel confident and courageous and if they don’t feel confident they look for outside help and you know who comes for help, the banks. The banks play games in view of winning and what benefits them. They don’t bother whether it is good for people or not.

It proves that academic education doesn’t necessarily teach people to be educated in terms of life but rather what doesn’t make sense. The schools and colleges don’t teach students how to become rich. They just teach them to qualify to get the best available jobs in the world. But you know by now that those who work of salaried income, they are modern slaves labouring so hard but get nothing much in life.

I am not saying that academic education is not important and it doesn’t educate people. My point here is that academic education makes people ignorant, less confident and fearful. It doesn’t take away the fear, the negativity, the racism, the wars, poverty and sickness. It is only increasing day by day though we have prestigious universities all over the world. Instead of helping people it is creating problems; instead of freeing them, it is enslaving people.

So the best thing would be to be free, confident and courageous so that people could be life educated and live in freedom, peace, knowledge and healthy civilized world. The highly educated people are the less civilized human beings on this earth because they have kept the masses ignorant, dependent, fearful and enslaved.

Alwed Ekka

Non- Academic Education Strengthens People!

“You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.” Abraham Lincoln

There are so many examples and ideas about education. People get educated because they keep learning. Those who continue to learn receive a great degree of human education. Allow yourself to strengthen you. You must be enabled to perform any task that life demands from you in order to make a wonderful lifestyle.

Education opens your mind, broadens your mind, inspires your mind and strengthens you as nothing else can. However the education that I am referring is the non-academic education. Non academic education touches people’s hearts and moves the spirit to accomplish greater things in life. I am sure people who educate themselves by reading books, listening to audio programs etc. do a favour to themselves; they strengthen themselves.

Nelson Mandela beautifully said once, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Actually what he referred to is the non-academic education that uplifts people and provides them confidence, energy and guidance to live a worthy life making the world a better progressive world for everyone.

Another great man who understood what education can do is Martin Luther King Jr.. He said, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” Yes, education must inspire and strengthen you to lead a normal life because if it doesn’t strengthen, then there is no positive point, no goodness.

Let non-academic education strengthen you and allow it to take control of your life to shape your future bright and shining. I am sure if you adopt non-academic education, it will surely strengthen you. So be ready and willing to educate yourself as much as you can.

“Education … has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.” – G. M. Trevelyan

Alwed Ekka

Education Should Be Fearless!

“Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them.” Rabindranath Tagore

The present education system is instilling fear in the hearts and minds of innocent students on a regular basis. The purpose of education is not to transfuse fear but ignite the talented mind. The athletes who wait for the gun shot to run the race are not afraid of failure and all of them are qualified and talented to run. The gun shot is not a sign of fear but a sign to start the race. But the schools don’t make a point to start the race instead they instill fear.

Today, I met a student from one of the International schools and he shared with me an incident that happened in his school. A particular student didn’t attend the regular class for some reasons and the headmaster of that school called the student one day in his office and suspended him from attending the class. Giving a suspension was acceptable but abusing, passing racist remarks, using f— word, and cursing and telling him that he won’t get jobs anywhere in the world etc were illogical and unexpected from the principal. He instilled fear and hatred in the students’ mind so much that the student feels victimized and traumatized. The boy has kept things secret and hasn’t shared with his parents and if they come to know, I guess there might be a big issue but the boy doesn’t want to give a bad name to the school.

This is just an exceptional case but there are other ways where students are being transfused with fears that they don’t feel confident enough to pursue what they want to do. Education must educate people about fears and failures but it must not frighten the students. Fear based education system is not healthy today and it doesn’t belong here. What we need today is the education that can guide, coach and mentor students in their respective areas of interests, passion and inclination.

There is fear of failing to meet the expectation of parents, peer groups and the society. There is a fear of not approving how the young students fair in their interests and hobbies. There is a fear that students may not be accepted by others if they don’t obey the rules, don’t wear the uniform.

Alwed Ekka

Go To School To Become An Entrepreneur!

“I wanted to be an editor or a journalist, I wasn’t really interested in being an entrepreneur, but I soon found I had to become an entrepreneur in order to keep my magazine going.” Richard Branson

In the old economy, parents said to their kids, “Go to school so that you can get a good and safe job.” But in this new economy, there is a new opportunity where students can become entrepreneurs. Parents must say today that their children should go to school to search for changes which bring opportunity to exploit it. They must train themselves to become entrepreneurs.

Being an entrepreneur is the real form of education. People learn to be creative and innovative. Paula Nelson says,”Going into business for yourself, becoming an entrepreneur, is the modern-day equivalent of pioneering on the old frontier.”

Children are trainable and teachable. They can be trained and prepared for the entrepreneurship venture. There is freedom and character in being an entrepreneur.

Some great entrepreneurs are Thomas Edison who founded the General Electric; Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company; Bill Gates founded Microsoft; Richard Branson started Virgin; Michael Dell founded Dell Computers; Steven Jobs established Apple Computers and Pixar; Ted Turner started CNN and there are many other great entrepreneurs who went to school to become entrepreneurs. These people didn’t follow the conventional wisdom rather they conformed to the unconventional wisdom.

If you really desire to be independent and happy, you must consider becoming an entrepreneur so that you can accomplish what other great entrepreneurs have achieved and become in their lives.

Why not, you must employ all your inner talents, skills and capabilities to find abounding freedom and happiness in your life. I guess you can have a great lifestyle. Remember, entrepreneurship is not for all but children must consider and examine whether they are meant for this or not.

The reason why I recommend entrepreneurship is that it helps the children to use their talents and skills independently without any control or influences. It is free and makes people comfortable and open to opportunities.

“The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.” Peter Drucker

Alwed Ekka