Travelling can be educative

Updated on: Friday, April 15, 2011

Homer, the famous 8th century poet first wrote about the travels of Odysseus in his epic poem Odyssey highlighting the journey home taken by the Greek hero from Troy. He probably had no idea how useful and informative it would be to historians at a later age.

Throughout history we have seen many examples to illustrate the fact that the inquisitiveness to travel and explore the world has been the reason behind amazing new discoveries.

If Columbus had not made the ‘mistake' of coming across the Bahamas in his bid to find India then he would not have discovered any of the large countries that he came across during his voyages.

It is said that he was not a scholarly man, yet he came out with ideas about the world that were characteristically simple and strong. Today's young generation lacks such ideas.

When we come across a course which promises to deliver ‘experiential education with a person-centric approach to un-tap creative potential' it will make you wonder that if it will be of any use to you in the first place (‘what I will gain from this?'). This is probably the most asked question to Sampreeth Reddy, Founder of Worldview Education.

He says, “Today's young generation has high observation skills and very less innovating skills. It is because from a very young age we are taught to observe and learn, not to experience and learn. And that is where the basic flaw in our education system lies”. Promoters of Worldview Education believe that travelling gives students an opportunity to think and explore for themselves what the world is about.

Here they use travel to promote education and there is no measurement system to gauge a persons learning scale because each is unique in their own way. There are many programmes which are designed for age groups ranging from 15 to 25 years and they help in nurturing the individuals in realising what they want to do as opposed to what they are expected to do.

Himank Duvvuru, who manages the EDUYatra, which is a travel based learning programme tailor made by Worldview Education, says “In the last six months we have taken more than 500 students to China, United States of America and many Scandinavian countries. The response from the participants is just so overwhelming. Each one has had a life changing experience and they are more focussed on what they want to do with their lives after attending our programme that provides the delegates with unparalleled social and cultural experiences. They meet over 2000 delegates from over 30 countries for four days of dynamic cross cultural exchange”.

The learning does not end there, the participants are given free access to the Young Turks Café, which is located in their office premises to get together, watch movies, hang out, learn and share experiences. This kind of learning experience is like a breath of fresh air when compared to the harsh learning techniques that are used in most schools and colleges where training to be a doctor or an engineer starts at class eight only. Children should be given a chance to learn, in the true sense of the word and our country will have a lot more to boast about now like how we did about our wonderful ancient culture.

Travelling can be educative

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