All subjects should get their due respect
For educators, the pandemic, and the new challenges it brought with it, gave the opportunity and time to introspect on the real purpose of learning. Efforts to contain/battle the virus required collective expertise of people across disciplines. Mitigation efforts needed doctors and epidemiologists, as much as they needed policy makers, statisticians and economists.
Having taught physics for many years it was a group of students who revealed to me the limitations of studying subjects in silos. Their science project required research on Renewable energy sources with case studies from India. The aim was to appreciate innovative ways in which people harness energy, giving an insight into the possibilities of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. One group of students who had worked on hydroelectric power plants, after their science presentation, also brought to light the social, ecological and economic impact of building dams. They gave examples of dams built across the country and statistics on how many families were displaced, how natural habitats were destroyed, questioning why it was still considered as a viable source. The ethics and limitations of science are a part of learning, but the implications of these are more comprehensively explained by the social sciences as they connect these with the real world, completing the picture.
Science teaches precision, observation, interpretation, innovative thinking, solving problems and learning to look at clues and solve the puzzle. But Social Sciences/Liberal Arts, Languages and Art develop skills of analysis, incorporating wider perspectives into our thoughts and actions, adaptability, understanding the interrelationship between Humans and the Environment. They show the way to bring about a change while appreciating diversity, usingskills of negotiations and diplomacy. Languages and Arts help synthesize these multiple ideas in varied forms. They teach skills of critical thinking and show the way forward in this conflict ridden world. Without being able to appreciate beauty and express thoughts and ideas in multiple forms, humans are incomplete.
The Indian mindset, however, continues to hold a hierarchy amongst subjects. The pressure faced by children from a young age when they express their interest in pursuing anything apart from science is a sad reality. This is despite the fact that a good percentage of engineers in our country are unemployed or have completely changed their field and have moved on to Finance or Marketing. Ironically, the skills they use in these areas are communication, analysis, collaboration and thinking beyond the obvious; skills not exclusive to the domains of science.
The problems of climate change cannot be solved with just science. Policies on containing pollution or conservation of the environment cannot be implemented without the guidance and participation of social scientists, economists, statisticians and scientists. Architects cannot design beautiful and effective structures without possessing the ability to listen and understand varied perspectives, appreciate beauty, the skills to present ideas and designs and the willingness and openness to adapt and change.
It is time that all subjects get their due and we learn to respect each discipline for how it enriches us. It is time to shift to an interdisciplinary approach towards learning. The NEP 2020 has shown the way ahead but it is up to us, educators and parents to take it forward and fulfill its aims.
Richa Sharma Agnihotri is the Principal of Sanskriti School, Chanakyapuri. Views expressed are personal.