Srinivas Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center, Mangalore

The benefits of education are well known: Education is the key to improve livelihoods, healthcare, nutrition and the exercise of civil and political rights. Ideally, education includes all forms of schooling. At their best, Colleges can be safe spaces where young people can forge identities, clarify values and develop critical thinking skills, while also learning to exercise their rights. Even though education begins before and goes beyond schooling, a new paradigm of ‘life-long learning’ in the colleges, emphasizes the transformative synergies that can occur between educational institutes, family, community and cultural experiences. It encompasses the acquisition of relevant capacities – the knowledge, marketable skills, social capital and values that enable individuals to function effectively in a range of adult roles, including worker, household provider, parent, spouse, family caretaker, citizen and community participant. In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way. Then a learned man came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the man laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the man picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The learned comprehend what many others never understand.