ABSTRACT
I can imagine that some of you are thinking that ‘Sir’ is too philosophical; he speaks of education and enlightenment; education and religiosity; education and nationalism; and ideology and curriculum; but seldom does he talk about what really matters in our everyday life : the skills we need to acquire for participating in the sphere of work and earning our livelihood; and the relationship between education and these skills. Yes, in this lecture I wish to throw light on these questions; but then, I would do my job not as a career counsellor, but as a sociologist of education with critical sensibilities. There would be no escape from philosophy; but philosophy would acquire a new meaning because with philosophy we will continually look at the skills, which, at a certain juncture of history, tend to become more relevant than others, and the effect of mere skill learning on the dynamics of education.
