ZYRA E.

FONTELAR
BSA–5

“Schooling the World”

Directed by Carol Black

In today’s world, it is already a necessity that one has a proper education. “Schooling the

World,” a film directed by Carol Black depicted how modern education influenced or rather

changed the human perspective about life. Shot at Ladakh, the film featured the insights of

several Ladakhi people and some professionals about how this modern education affected the

world’s cultures. The documentary pointed out the other side of the existing public discourse

about the universal education that people have right now.

‘Education is a good thing,’ that’s what people thought, because that’s what people are

taught. However, the point of the film is that the education that the world has right now wasn’t

entirely for the betterment of one’s life. Removing children away from home just to receive a

proper education in a school at a big city that promised to help them develop and have a better

life wasn’t all-good. These children struggle just to fit in with the requirements of the highly-

Westernized education, and majority of them end up being labeled as ‘failure’ by the school who

promised to help them, building frustrations and depression. It is disheartening to know that not

long ago, these children were living an abundant life in a small village, living happily with their

parents, aware of the know-how’s of managing physical works, but now they’re being stomped

on because of their incapacity to comprehend and adapt with the Western-styled teaching. And

even when they finish their degree, it still is uncertain to get a good profession, and enjoy a

glorious life. Moreover, subsequent to the dispersion of this Western education, inferiority was

also instilled in the minds of this ‘traditional’ people, that even on their textbooks says that being

educated and illiterate can’t bring them success and will remain backward and primitive. The
following can be found on a Ladakhi Economic Textbook: “As the mass of population are

uneducated and illiterate they will remain backward, and follow old and religious superstitions.”,

and “As majority of people are illiterate (sic) and backward, their standard of living is low as

compared to their counterparts who are well-educated and advanced.”

Of course, education is not a bad thing; however, it is not right to say that a child is

uneducated just because he doesn’t attend school. Even before this so-called modern education

has taken the whole world, every society has their own way of teaching the young. Survival is a

huge evidence of knowledge. In the film, Ladakhi people discussed how the elders have

managed to survive just by knowing the basics like farming and forage, in which younger

generations have failed to learn. They rip children from nature, lock them eight hours a day in a

room to learn about nature, accentuating more of a text-based rather than experience-based

learning. They teach about how one can extend life using these modern technologies, but

honestly they are the main reason that life becomes shorter.

‘Education for all.’ The Government of every country pledge for an education that is

accessible for all. They believe that good education leads to a better nation. Better nation usually

denotes economic growth and stability, which means, low poverty rate. But ironically, this

education invented the word “poverty.” Although, the government has promised to support the

education of many students nowadays, it is not enough to cover all expenses. That is when

parents, in order to support their children, resort to selling properties, and borrowing, or making

loans, making them largely indebted. And that is when poverty arises. Furthermore, the

government always emphasizes the need to reform the state’s education system to fit in with the
global economy, which in fact means, training the young people to be suited with the needs of

the giant corporation, as the film implied.

‘English commands the world.’ In the past, there are approximately 6000 languages

spoken on earth. But today, half of these languages are not taught to children as English language

is said to be the primary language of the world and is greatly enforced in every school to keep

track with the global perspective. Language is the most noticeable indication that a nation has

been already taken over by foreign civilization; however it is incomparable when the whole

culture was entirely invaded. Culture is the identity of people in a particular race, and it will not

only be the language that will be altered, but also the lifestyle of the whole community. What if

culture was modified? The identity of that community will not be preserved, it will completely

vanish, and it will probably just follow the mainstream that the world embraces.

“Schooling the World.” What might be the reason why it was titled that way? The clear

message that the film is trying to make us realize is that, “If you want to destroy one’s culture or

even change the world, start with the youth.” Education can now be a way to efficiently and

effectively colonize people’s minds. Young and innocent minds are the easiest to manipulate

since they just follow the dictates of the elders and the people-in-position. And the best probable

subjects for colonialism are children from rural communities, as well as their families because

they mostly can be swayed just by talks of success, and life improvement. Schooling the world

so that in no time, they will be “brown on the outside, and white on the inside,” is a proof of

colonialism. Western culture looks promising because they implanted inferiority on the natives,

downgrading their very own culture and elevating an alien version. Those beautiful cultures that
those native people have beforehand might have been honored in the present if only it hadn’t

vanish through the foreign education that is reigning the world right now.