“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” -Carl Sagan

I came across this amazing quote quite suddenly when I was looking for some information in the internet and realized how relevant it is for all of us: children, parents and teachers. There is never any point in the life of a person when he can sit back and say. “There is nothing more to learn, I can relax with the comforting thought that the universe around me is an open book. I know it all.”

Education is not just about the subjects that are learnt and taught in school. Becoming educated is not restricted to being in school and then in college, gathering certificates and feeling proud of oneself. It is a lifelong exercise that can be unbelievably exciting if only we wish to jump onto the train of experience and take a trip to every conceivable place on the earth. Now we know that this cannot be done literally, so how do we manage it, first in school and then as we go on through the journey of life?

First, we all have to be on the same page: children, teachers and parents have to understand that education is not restricted to lessons taught in the classroom from text books. Parents and teachers must encourage children to ask as many questions as they can. For it is in wanting to know that will result in actually getting to know.

The thirst for knowledge is not restricted to the child. It is also essential for a parent and a teacher to keep adding to their own knowledge bank by keeping their eyes and ears open and by reading as much as possible and ensuring that children develop these habits as well.

"I received the fundamentals of my education in school, but that was not enough. My real education, the superstructure, the details, the true architecture, I got out of the public library. For an impoverished child whose family could not afford to buy books, the library was the open door to wonder and achievements,and I can never be sufficiently grateful that I had the wit to charge through that and make the most of it.”- Isaac Asimov

Besides all of the above, that add to children becoming truly educated, schools and teachers must ensure that children have a society of enriching experiences. Surprisingly, these experiences develop a child’s creativity and imagination and lead to something that is often thought to be more important than knowledge. Creativity and imagination make children grow up to be productive adults who then arrive as citizens of the world ready to make their own great contribution to mankind.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. “ - Albert Einstein

My message to the Principals, Staff, Students and esteemed Parents of Somerville Schools administered by the Lott Carey Baptist Mission in India, is to dedicate this year to a correct understanding of what education really means and let us all benefit from this understand.

      

Mr. D.P. Singh
(Director Message)