What's so Liberal about Liberal Education : Lesson 1
When I heard the term Liberal Education in 2013, I wondered what’s so Liberal about Liberal Education. I will be writing about this, as a series in my next couple blogs.
This is not
an Academic enquiry into the idea of Liberal Education but a viewpoint of what
I have observed during the last decade in my various roles at Azim Premji
University.
When my
colleague said, Liberal Education – “To Liberate you from the clutches of other
forms of higher education”- I did not quite appreciate it. Presenting today are
the career pathways of classmates who went through a Liberal Education programme.
First
student N was deeply interested in Biology and enrolled for a PhD programme at National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS).
The second
student R was in love with data analysis
and went ahead to pursue a postgraduation in Bio-Informatics. She is now
working as a Clinical programmer in a pharma company. Yes, you read it right
–Clinical programmer and not a business application programmer.
Finally,
the third student A joined a large Philanthropic organization and worked in the
field of Science and Language Education for more than 3 years. She is now
pursuing a MSc in Education in Finland.
---
So probably
the true essence of Liberal Education is the various possibilities that would
open up for the graduates, rather than restricting / preparing them for a
sector or industry.
So Lesson-1
of Liberal Education : Opens up a world of possibilities after graduation.
So how did
this happen if they all Majored in Biology – Does it have something to do with
the Course structure & Curriculum – That’s in my next post.
Picture courtesy : The Murals adoring the seminar halls of Bengaluru Campus of Azim Premji University. Watch the Video here.

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