Science fiction helps us understand the principles of science better. I know there are hundreds of thousands of sci-fi books and movies that are not even remotely close to the laws of science as we know them, but then, some of them are. And they help us understand scientific mumbo jumbo and jargon in terms that we are likely to grasp. Would we understand the significance of an invisibility cloak if it did not have a starring role to play in the Harry Potter series? Would we show an interest in DNA sequencing if it were not for that famous scene in Jurassic Park where the eccentric, billionaire island-owner explains how they were able to recreate an entire dinosaur from strands of DNA retrieved from blood in a mosquito, a mosquito that had been sealed alive in a stream of amber millions of years ago and thus been preserved for posterity? Or would we even know what a deflector shield was if we were not avid Star Trek fans?

Science fiction makes it easier for us to be interested in science. Long before the world showed an interest in the CERN reactor, Dan Brown’s book “Angels and Demons” introduced this scientific wonder to the book addicts. While Brown’s work was part conspiracy theory part science fiction, it made us sit up and take notice when the Large Hadron Collider was unveiled last year.

Science fiction helps us realize that anything is possible. Today it’s fiction, tomorrow it may be reality. That is the beauty of technology and innovation. What’s just an idea in someone’s head this year has the possibility to make headlines in a few years’ time. In short, science fiction helps us realize that with technology and imagination, anything is possible.

Besides looking at the subject of school vouchers from the advantageous position of the parents’ point of view, let’s lend a ear to the opinion of the rest of the population; the proponents of this system are of the idea that public schools will be forced to pull up their socks and provide an education that’s at par with private schools in an effort to prevent their students from leaving for greener pastures. There’s also the fear that for each student that leaves the system, there’s going to be a corresponding decrease in the amount of money channeled to public schools from the government coffers.

But the detractors have these points to voice:

• They feel that the voucher system allows parents to send their children to schools where religious indoctrination is rife rather than choosing one that’s best in the academic sense. This would only lead to segregation based on religion, a situation that’s an anathema to the constitutional separation of religion and the state.

• Some of them argue that education is a field that’s not suited to the competitive market and cannot be analyzed and studied with the same markers and standards used for other disciplines.

• Others vent frustration at the fact that the government is naïve enough to think that any school reform that’s based on privatization, competition and the parent factor will succeed in the long term.

A school is only as good as its teachers; they are the ones who are responsible for making the kids want to learn, providing them with the motivation to succeed, and looking out for their best interests. Private schools may be more expensive, but price is no guarantee of quality, as we see in things that we use in our everyday life. School vouchers or not, parents would do well to pick schools that boast the best teachers, because they are the ones who are responsible for molding their children into the shapes they were born to be.