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 Former President Zakir Hussain, himself an eminent educationist, in his 'Thoughts on Education' addresses those wishing to give the Indian people a worthy educational system, saying "Transform all our educational institutions, from the elementary school to the University, from places of passive receptivity to those of spontaneous activity, from places of collecting and forgetting information to places of the discovery of knowledge and its use, from seats of theoretical, intellectual one-sidedness to those of practical human many-sidedness, from places of individual selfishness to those of devotion to social ends."
"An Arts College". English Literature
Class in progress. Lecturer teaches for 25 minutes. Dictates notes for the remaining 25 minutes. Our protagonist is busy writing. Not the notes the Lecturer is dictating, but her own verses about an unsung thinker. Her woes begin when the Lecturer spots her, snatches what she is writing, reads it and throws it into the waste paper basket. "Why aren't you taking down the notes?" "Ma'm, I already have them. I got it from a senior." "So?" "So I am doing some creative writing." "Did I ask you do creative writing now?" "Ma'm there is no creative writing class and there cannot be one". "Get out of the class".
"A Secondary School". Biology class in progress. Teacher is reading "From Caterpillar to Butterfly", pausing for occasional descriptions. Suddenly there are shrieks from the back-benches. Stands our second protagonist red faced trying to hush his friends and at the same time hiding a cardboard box-- a caterpillar house! The teacher snatches the box and peers in. As students gather round, her eyes widen in amazement. They all see a caterpillar wriggling out of its skin and mouth as it normally does when growing bigger. Some of the caterpillars in the box are in the 'chrysalis' or pupa stage while one or two have just emerged from the chrysalis and look rather strange with wet wings. "It will take hours for the wings to dry and harden," volunteers our protagonist in a placating tone, which, however, doesn't please the teacher. She takes the box and walks him to the Principal's office. The class is cut short but the students don't mind. "From Caterpillar to Butterfly" is imprinted in their minds for life!
 "A Primary School". A period without a name for the kindergarteners is in progress. Miss is teaching the children to write ABCD. Our protagonists' neighbor is crying softly. She has forgotten to bring her pencil box. Her tears vanish
as fast as they appeared when our protagonist gives her the only pencil she has and now waits patiently for her to complete the work. Miss spots her sitting idle, hears the whole story and gives a whack on the protagonist's back for 'trying to act smart'. The child promises between sobs, never to 'act smart'
again.
In each of these cases, it is really a debatable point whether the child has been doing something "wrong". But the teacher invariably perceives that he or she is breaking some sacrosanct rule. It is because our teaching system is rooted in conventional ideas and lack of imagination that a spontaneous outburst of creativity in children is curbed without thought. The teacher, of course, has to enforce discipline, but should keep President Zakir Hussain's immortal words while doing so. Then only will transformation take place.
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