Basya Tsybukmakher
The Chazon Ish spoke about the importance of an individual approach to people and to education:
The Torah says: "Educate a young person in keeping with his inclinations."
Anyone who tries to establish rules for education strictly in accordance with his own views, without taking the students into account, is like a miserly tailor who tries to sew his customer a tight-fitting cloak to save fabric. He does not consider that when the person raises his arms or turns, the buttons will immediately pop off and the seams will split, and all his work will have been in vain.
• Flexibility in education: The metaphor of the stingy tailor clearly shows that blindly imposing rigid limits without considering a child’s character, talents, and individual qualities (“inclinations”) is unworkable. As soon as a person encounters real life (“raises their arms or turns around”), the artificial rules will “come apart at the seams.” Education must be “tailored to fit” the student, helping them grow rather than restricting their movements.