Education Beyond Textbooks: Where Life's Real Lessons Begin
Friends, how are you all? I hope you all are doing well wherever you are. Life is indeed a vast school, isn't it? We are all constantly learning something here. When we hear the word 'education', the first thing that come to our mind is books, notebooks, schools, colleges, and exams. We all know how important this textbook knowledge is. But I think that the real education in life is not confined to the pages of books. There is a huge world beyond this, where we learn somethings new every day, which makes our lives more complete. Today I have come to talk to you about a profound thought: education beyond textbooks.
Looking at my own life, it seems that after crossing the boundaries of school and college, I have learned to live again. The knowledge from books has shown me the way, but the lessons I have learned on the path of life were not in the textbooks. These lessons have come from real experience, from mixing with people, making mistakes and getting up again.
Real-life classes: learning that never ends.
What does education mean beyond textbooks? This means that what we learn is not limited to the classroom syllabus. This education comes from the events happening around us, from our relationships with people, and from dealing with difficult situations.
Suppose you have learned how to do business by reading books. But in reality, when you run a small shop, how to talk to a customer, how to win their heart, and how to be patient even in the face of losses—all this will not be written in any textbook. You have to learn it by doing, through experience.
To become a good person, we may study ethics. But in reality, when you must stand by a poor or helpless person, the compassion and love needed cannot be learned just by reading books. It comes from the depths of the heart, when you feel the suffering of others in your heart. Learning humanity, cooperating, feeling responsible for society are the best lessons outside the textbook.
Learning Through Travel: New World, New Knowledge
I think that a big part of learning outside the textbook comes from traveling. When we go to a new place, the people, their culture, and their way of life give us new knowledge. We may have read about the mountains of Bangladesh or the Sundarbans in books. But when you see the vastness of those mountains with your own eyes or feel the silence of the Sundarbans, that experience will teach us more than reading a thousand books.
Traveling broadens our minds. Talking to strangers provides new information, which changes our perspective. The languages, food, clothing of different regions enrich our knowledge. As a tourist in Malaysia, a country with a different culture, the lifestyle, patience, and hard work of the people taught me a lot that no textbook in my country could.
Learning to mingle with people: Relationships and a sense of life
Another important lesson outside the textbook comes from mingling with people. When we interact with different types of people in society —rich rich or poor, educated or uneducated, people of different professions— we can learn a lot from their lives. From the hardships of a rickshaw puller, we learn about life's struggles; from the story of a successful businessman, we understand the importance of hard work and intelligence.
Relationships also teach us a great deal. The importance of friendship, the power of love, and the bitterness of betrayal—all these experiences mature our minds. We learn to adapt, forgive, and control our emotions. These are not part of a syllabus; these are real-life lessons.
Learning from mistakes: the best teacher.
I think the biggest teacher in our life is our 'mistakes'. We may be afraid of making mistakes, but learning is incomplete without making them. When we make a mistake, the experience we gain from it surpasses any knowledge in a textbook. That mistake should be permanently etched in our minds, preventing us from repeating it in the future.
For example, I may have made many wrong decisions after coming to the country. Some people cheated me, and I also suffered financial losses due to some wrong steps. But these mistakes taught me to recognize people, to be more careful, and made me stronger. These lessons are a valuable asset in my life, one that I did not get from any school or college.
Education for the benefit of the country and the world: Contributions beyond the textbook.
These lessons beyond the textbook not only enrich us personally but also benefit the country and the world. When a person is humane, compassionate towards others, they wants to do contribute to society. When he learns from experience how to solve problems, they can use his knowledge for the development of society. A good person, who is not just a certificate holder, but has learned from life – someone plays a role in building a developed nation.
For example, an engineer may learn a lot from books. But when they go to a real-life village and sees the problems of the people firsthand and understands their needs, they may devise with a solution that would not have been possible with book knowledge alone. This is the main purpose of education beyond textbooks.
Every moment of life presents an opportunity for learning.
In summary, a vast world of education exists beyond textbooks, enriching our lives. These teachings make us not only intelligent but also wise. They expand our minds and make us more humane. Let us view every moment of life as an opportunity for learning. Let us strive to learn something new each day, learn from our mistakes, and enrich our knowledge by interacting with people. Only then will we become truly educated and benefit the country and the world.
I hope you appreciate these thoughts. I am truly happy to share this realization with you. May everyone be well, healthy, and always interested in learning. Thank you all