In the old model of the joint family system, there was the extraordinary ability of one of the elders taking care of the well-being and homeschooling of the kids. Education with love, care and affection meant better learning and development of skills.
Joint families typically had the elder and wiser people who would affectionately do homeschooling of the children and, in some cases, for a small group of children in the neighbourhood. I understand that the children of such families would typically not go to school until about 5th grade, as they would be homeschooled.
effective.
Today’s world is about granular families: mostly, working parents. Do the children, who are on their own and self-driven, have the conviction about what career they would pursue after their education at the school? Do they need professional coaching & counseling which they do not get from the wise elders in the family, unless they lived in joint families? If yes, attending special coaching classes, etc., would be a further burden.
Today, families have been granular with working parents, or a single working parent. Additionally, they live in limited spaces like an apartment, when compared to the bungalows such joint-families lived in.
Imagine the physical, moral, and emotional support that would flow if COVID-19, or any other disease that was widespread, happened in the era of joint families, and contrast that with the granular families that are mostly living in apartments or smaller places, and mostly bereft of the wisdom the elderly in the family would naturally provide. What would develop into a crisis situation would be well managed in a joint family set up where help and support is readily available.
Such thoughts and comparisons arise when we are challenged in the new way of living and the grand new social order
