VISHAL VASANTHAKUMAR
was born in Chennai and studied mechanical engineering before switching paths to teaching which he did for six years. He is currently enrolled for a PhD in sociology at the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar He also has a master's in international education policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has previously worked with the Department of School Education, Government of Tamil Nadu, and as a political consultant for a political party. Between 2020 and 2023. Vishal ran a thriving pesto business from his home kitchen. He currently lives in Cambridge, UK.
I didn't particularly enjoy going to school, but soon after I became a teacher, a sight that captivated me was the image of children reaching school early in the morning, all arriving at the same time. More importantly, I would pay keen attention to the faces of parents. There was always so much hope and so many dreams enmeshed in that act of dropping a child off at school every morning. A congregation of young students, mostly all at the same time, radiating hope for a better future, and this was the one place where we could see dreams materialize.
Through my travels for this book, I often found myself in different schools across the country, standing by the gate early in the morning, trying to understand the dreams and aspirations with which these students were brought to school. I found myself chatting with multiple parents, some who dropped their children off in pushcarts and some who dropped their children off in BMWs. Their dreams were similar in nature, a hope for a better future, to be more 'successful' than the previous generation, to make a better life for themselves. It is what formal schooling promised: a method to access dreams that were once out of reach. But in writing this book, I began questioning whether this promise holds true.
We are all affected by globalization. I use the term 'globalization' liberally, aware that the term is laden with many assumptions and ideas taken for granted, often as self-evident truths. We live in a very interconnected world where messages can be exchanged in a second, but walls and borders are built to keep people apart. Globalization was meant to benefit everyone and integrate everyone into a global economy. However, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that globalization and the forces of globalization have contributed to new dimensions of inequality and stratification, which have implications not just for education but for politics and culture too.
My grandmother always asked me to take my studies seriously, something I could not do in school. When my performance in school was poor, she often talked to me about how studying well was the only way forward. 'Don't you want to score good marks, get a good job and earn lots of money? I remember her asking me even as I sobbed after yet another underwhelming performance. It was something I heard repeatedly from my parents and my schoolteachers too Growing up, this was my world. My grandmother subliminally instilled in me that if one scored well, it was a reflection of one's intellect and skills, and that would lead to a high-paying job. That was the promise of formal education. But it was not just a way to earn more, it was also a route to dignity. Schooling and, by extension, education, was an investment in skills, an investment to make one more employable.
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