archive: WHO WILL EDUCATE "THEM"?
WHO WILL EDUCATE "THEM"?
Posted by Ashok Chowgule (ashokvc@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in)
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Posted on Thu, 08 Jul 1999 10:09:50 +0530
WHO WILL EDUCATE "THEM"?
By Kum. B. Nivedita
(Secretary, Education, Vivekananda Kendra)
Genesis of Vivekananda Kendra
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA, after his wanderings all over India, came to
Kanyakumari and sat in meditation for 3 days - 25th, 26th and 27th
December 1892. It is here that he discovered the mission of his life
and became the world-conquering monk. On the sanctified place of his
meditation, Late Mananeeya Eknathji Ranade, with the participation of
lakhs of nationalist citizens, constructed the Vivekananda Rock
Memorial. Crores of people visit this monument and return inspired
with devotion, national spirit and urge to serve mankind. As a sequel
to this Memorial, Shri Eknath Ranade founded Vivekananda Kendra - a
spiritually oriented Service Mission which calls upon those youth who
want to dedicate their life for serving the nation.
WHO WILL EDUCATE "THEM"?
By Kum. B. Nivedita
(Secretary, Education, Vivekanand Kendra)
Reprint of the Editorial in
Yuva Bharati, December 198 issue
VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PRAKASHAN TRUST
3, Singarachari Street,
Triplicane,
Chennai - 600 005.
No. of copies : 2000
Price : Rs. 1.50
Printed by Hi-Tech offset (P) Limited.
No. 1, Angha Muthu Naicken Street,
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Phone: 8546681, 8552697
WHO WILL EDUCATE "THEM"?
Read any report of the education commission constituted since
Independence, listen to any educationist, participate in any Seminar
on Education, or listen to any chitchat over a cup of tea on
Education; the unanimous conclusions are:
1. Our Educational System is not rooted in our national ethos.
2. It has ceased to be a character-building education.
3. It does not prepare the child to face life with confidence.
4. It does not reach the needy. Thus, the literacy rate is still very
very low.
So, any time the educationists or those having responsibility of
education gather together, the agenda for discussion invariably
centers round these and other related points, to find a way out. On
Oct. 23 when a meeting of education ministers was convened, some
suggestions for solving the above problems were included in the agenda
to be discussed. But even before the meeting started, some of the
ministers raised objection to Saraswati Vandana and staged a walk
out. The nation was surprised that in India, a Jnanabhoomi, what else
can be the prayer if not Saraswati Vandana in a conference of
education ministers? Till last year in programmes after programmes
organised by the Government of India, Saraswati Vandana was sung. Why
the protest only now? When individually confronted with this
question, these embarrassed ministers hastily explained that the
objection was mainly to the annexure of the agenda. The objection was
mainly against these points in that annexure.
a) The suggestion to Indianise, nationalise and spiritualise the
curriculum, and also to include Vedas and Upanishads in it.
b) Introduction of compulsory study of Sanskrit in school curriculum.
c) The girls are discriminated in the curriculum, as home-keeping is
added to their studies.
In short, the objection was that the whole curriculum will take the
country backwards in time, it is communal, and it discriminates
against the women. The storm raised was such that really it appeared
that the agenda for the conference in general and the annexure -
'Recommendations of the group of Experts'- in particular, was
discriminatory, backward-looking and negating the needs of the present
and future. Indeed an alarming impression Our ever 'alert'
journalists - so it appears - immediately took up the cause, and
editorials in national dailies and magazines; articles and reactions
of various leaders; cartoons and jokes were promptly published to
drive the point home that this agenda is totally unacceptable as we as
a nation want to march ahead, and not be taken back.
It is generally hoped that journalists report facts. When any
incident takes place, they are expected to take pains to verity the
facts. But the journalists seem to have built up their story only on
the angry protestations of some of the education ministers, who, in
turn, appear to have neither gone through the details of the paper on
the agenda or have deliberately given wrong impressions. Either .way,
it was as wrong for those education ministers as it was for the
journalists to create issues out of nothing for political or
professional gains without the least thought for the cause of
education or nation.
It is imperative that we know the facts and also resolve to face the
situation.
In the agenda notes the goals set were not regressive but are given
as:
a) Education for all-total eradication of illiteracy.
b) Providing free education for girls up to college level, including
professional courses, so as to better empower women.
c) Harnessing Yuva Shakti for National reconstruction.
d) To effect decentralisation right up to the grassroots level by
activating and involving Panchayats and local bodies.
e) Commitment to the economic and educational development of the
minorities.
f) The interest of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward
Classes to be adequately safeguarded by appropriate legal, executive
and societal efforts and by large-scale education and empowerment.
g) To unveil a National Informatics Policy with short, medium and long
term perspectives so as to make India a software super power.
With these goals in the beginning-to which there can be no
objection-the whole agenda is set out including the annexure of the
recommendations of the Experts to achieve these goals.
But if the objection was mainly for the annexure then in the agenda
itself it is clearly written that, 'Recently a group of educationists
have suggested a course of action aimed at combining the schemes
together under an over-all program of Universalisation of elementary
education. The issues raised would need to be discussed and debated'.
It was very much expected and also expressly stated that the education
ministers should debate the issues, discuss and then alone take
decisions. But these few education ministers only protested and their
protest started with Saraswati Vandana itself! Therefore let us look
into the points in the annexure for which objections were raised.
Objection No. 1 was, the Government wants to take India backward in
time, by spiritualising the curriculum and by introducing the Vedas
and Upanishads. What is written in the annexure is "The curricula
from the primary to the highest education should be Indianised,
nationalised and spiritualised. At all levels of education and in all
courses, even the vocational courses, essentials of Indian Culture
should be introduced from 1 0 per cent to 25 per cent...
"The Supreme Court of India has already defined 'Hindutva' as a way of
life and. not as a religion. In the light of this decision, the
experts recommend that India's invaluable heritage of the Vedas and
Upanishads should find due place in the curriculum from primary to the
higher level courses, including the vocational courses.
"The experts reached an overall conclusion that there was a dire need
to institute a National Commission on educational reforms with a
missionary approach and where the participation of educational
thinkers and practitioners is considered as a first step. Secondly,
representation from various sectors such as industrialists,
technologists, management experts, man-power specialists, to shape
education in a way that it has its roots in the glorious cultural
heritage on one hand and pragmatic curricula and activities imbibed
with scientific outlook on the other. It should be given the mileage
and futuristic vision for the next twenty to thirty years."
It can be understood that our 'Secular' ministers were alarmed at the
word 'Hindutva'. But then they could have discussed, debated and then
rejected it. But then they knew (if they knew at all) that they
cannot reject it logically. Because the Education Commissions since
1947 have all along hinted at the same thing.
To quote the few important ones - Dr. S. Radhakrishnan in the Indian
University Education Commission 1948-49 says that 'The University can
thus become a real intellectual and spiritual home to which its
teacher alumni would love to come back for nutriment of mind and
spirit'.
Dr. A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliyar recommends in Secondary Education
Commission 1952-53: 'Religious instruction may be given in schools.
Such instruction being confined to the children of the particular
faith concerned and given with the consent of the parents and the
management'. He writes in the chapter 'Aims of Secondary Education',
'There is a need for reorienting the educational system in such a way
that it will stimulate a cultural renaissance' and he further
emphasises 'on the need to develop a sincere appreciation of the
social and cultural achievement of one's country'.
Prof. Kothari insists in the report of the Education Commissions
1964-66 that education should be related to life, need and aspirations
of the people. He writes in the chapter 'Education and National
Objectives', 'India is heir to an ancient and great civilisation which
can make a contribution to human progress by striving to create what
Acharya Vinobaji has described as the 'age of science and
spirituality'. She has to raise herself from her present standards of
living and take her rightful place in the comity of nations as soon as
possible, a task to be accomplished within the lifetime of a
generation at the most'. In the concluding paras of the chapter he
further writes, 'If we learn the lesson right, we can harness science
to support rather than weaken our basic commitment to cultural and
spiritual values. It should be our goal and obligation to
reinterpret, and raise to a new level of understanding, the insight
gained by the ancient seers as regards the fundamental problems of
life, which in some ways is unique and 'represents the quintessence of
deepest insight into the happenings of the world'.
If the Vedas and Upanishads do not contain the wisdom of ancient seers
of our country, then what else? In 1959 a separate committee on
Religious and Moral instruction was constituted under the chairmanship
of Sriprakasa. All these commission reports have written the above
passages in spite of their avowed commitment in the reports to
Secularism, Socialism and Democracy.
Incidentally, a point may be made here. The most objectionable word
in the whole recommendation, and the one which seems to have attracted
the strongest resentment, is 'spiritualisation'. There is no wonder
that it should be so to the 'dialectical materialists'. But they seem
to have overlooked the realities of the situation. Even in China, the
biggest 'communist' country in the world today, spirituality has not
only lost its sting, but also has become acceptable - nay,
honourable. The '10 point policy framework' which the 15th Party
Congress unanimously adopted contains this sentence:- "it calls for
equal attention to material civilization and spiritual civilization"
(Hindu dated 7th Nov. '98). If Communist China can now introduce
spirituality in their party programme, one wonders how the leftists
find it a red tag in India, the very home of spirituality.
The recommendations of experts in the annexure were only logical
conclusions of the earlier commissions but written boldly and clearly,
without inhibitions. But in doing that, the recommendations of the
experts also take care of the sensitivities of religious minorities.
It recommends, 'Every section of citizens, whether based on religion
or language, shall have the right to establish and administer
educational institutions of their choice. The State shall not, in
granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate against any
educational institution on the ground that it is under the management
of any section of citizens based on religion or language. Value
Education Centres with the facilities of comparative study of all
religions should be established'. And yet the impressions out of such
loud protestations created was such that by nationalising the
curriculum it is being Hinduised at the cost of the rights of
religious minorities.
The second objection was to Sanskrit and the impression created was,
that all regional languages henceforth would be relegated to the
background. In the annexure it is written, 'Considering the
contribution of Sanskrit to the development of Indian languages and
its unique contribution to the cultural unity of the nation and
ancient wisdom, it may be made a compulsory subject from class III to
X'. Note the word 'may'. Just before that recommendation, the
recommendation No.7 says, 'A comprehensive programme for mother-tongue
as a medium of instruction at all stages of education should be
launched'. All the education commissions quoted earlier had
acknowledged the importance of Sanskrit and recommended that the
facilities be made available for learning of Sanskrit. But each
report fights shy of saying that study of Sanskrit should be included
in school curriculum. The experts recommendation only takes the firm
position which other commissions hesitated to take. Can we deny the
importance of Sanskrit? Just to quote a few of our great thinkers and
leaders on the importance of Sanskrit:
Mahatma Gandhi : - 'No Indian boy or girl should remain without an
elementary knowledge of Sanskrit'.
Jawaharlal Nehru :- 'If I were asked what is the greatest treasure of
India and what India has received as the greatest heritage, I would
reply without hesitation that such a treasure is the Sanskrit language
and its literature and all the treasures stored in it as its
heritage'.
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed:- 'Sanskrit has been one of the most potent
unifying forces in our country through the ages and that the study of
Sanskrit must be given its due place in the School and College
Curriculum'.
The famous American Historian Dr. Will Durant writes in the 'Story of
Civilisation', 'Sanskrit is the Mother of all Languages'.
Dr. Einstein, a German Scientist, hailed the Indian Scientist Dr.
B.N. Gupta in Sanskrit. Mr. Gupta pleaded his inability to reply in
Sanskrit. Dr. Einstein was amazed at the poor response of the young
Indian scientist and said 'you hail from India which is the original
home of Hindu Philosophy, yet you have not cared to learn that
language. Come along, see my library which treasures classics from
Sanskrit namely the Gita and other treatises on Hindu Philosophy. I
have made the Gita as the main source of my inspiration and the
guidance for the purpose, scientific investigations and formation of
my theories'.
Study of Sanskrit language will not suppress the masses. Swami
Vivekananda felt that Sanskrit is needed for raising the masses. He
said, 'therefore the ideas must be taught in the languages of the
people; at the same time, Sanskrit education must go on along with it,
because the very sound of Sanskrit words gives a prestige and a power
and a strength to the race. 'The secret is here. They (Buddhists and
saints of the Bhakti movement) raised the lower classes they had all
the wish that these should come up, but they did not apply their
energies to the spreading of the Sanskrit language among the masses'.
Sanskrit language will help in understanding the wisdom of our seers,
in scientific research and also in uplifting the masses. There can be
no objection for studying of Sanskrit. And yet-just to remind
again-those ministers should have discussed, debated and then rejected
the recommendation like any other normal matured adult does in
meetings, but they chose to protest.
The third objection was that women are discriminated against as the
subject of home-keeping is included for them to study. The original
recommendation in the annexure is 'No differentiation should be made
in curriculum for boys and girls at the primary stage. At later
stages, the curriculum for girls may include in addition training in
home-keeping'. Let us see the unfoldment of thoughts on this issue in
the education commissions.
Dr. Radhakrishnan Report says, 'There should be intelligent
educational guidance, by qualified men and women to help women to get
a clearer view of their real educational interest, to the end that
they shall not try to imitate men, but shall desire as good an
education as men get. Women's and men's education should have many
elements in common, but should not in general be identical in all
respects, as is usually the case today. Women students in general
should be helped to see their normal places in a normal society, both
as citizens and as women and to prepare for it, and college programmes
should be so designed that it will be possible for them to do so.
That through educational counsel and by example the prevailing
prejudice against study of Home Economics and Home Management should
be overcome'.
Mudaliyar Commission report says, 'While no distinction need be made
between education imparted to boys and girls, special facilities for
the study of Home Science should be made available in all girls
schools and coeducational or mixed schools.'
Kothari Commission report recommends. 'The recommendations of the
Hansa Mehta Committee that there should be no differentiation of
Curricula on the basis of sex is endorsed. Courses in Home Science,
Nursing Education and Social Work need to be developed as these have
attraction for a large proportion of girls'.
Though the reports progressively but faintly echo the rhetorics of
women liberation movement, still this fact that a girl needs the
knowledge of home-keeping is not ignored. It is a fact of the society
that the home-keeping is done mostly by women. Even most of the
working women too take care of homes. It is to be understood that men
and women are equal but have different functions. No one can deny
that nature has decided that mother carries the child in the womb and
that education starts from the womb. Scientists and educationists
have started writing papers and conducting courses for pre-natal and
post-natal education. So the training for a woman for home management
is a must. It could be that there will be some women, who, being
careeristic and individualistic may not have to manage homes. But the
needs of 90% of women should not be suppressed for the sake of these
10% of women. If the women organisations which protested were really
concerned about society, then they could have demanded that the same
course be there for boys too, because as the number of working women
in various fields increases, the men should share the responsibility.
But no thinking person can say that the women and men should not be
prepared to undertake the responsibility of looking after homes.
Thus the non-issues were raised, and what was the occasion to raise
them?- Walking out when Vandana for Saraswati is being sung!
Saraswati the Goddess of Learning is worshipped in this land from time
immemorial. As Sri Aurobindo puts it, 'She is the embodiment of 'the
river of inspiration flowing from the Truth-Consciousness. She by the
perception awakens in consciousness the great flood (the vast movement
of the ritam) and illumines entirely all thoughts'. Again a point
which deserves to be noted is, these 'objectionable' 3-4 points in the
annexure are out of a total of around 75 recommendations by the group
of experts. By wasting so many hours in protest, by changing the
focus from other 70 points to the distortion of these four points,
what have these protesting Ministers achieved? Just the wanton
vilification and negation of all that is Hindu!
The whole incident shows how the politicians and the so-called elite
of our country are casual, indifferent or malicious towards all that
nourish our nation. It is also an eye-opener for all nationalists to
note that the situation is grave and the nation is in a crisis. Thus
all these details are quoted not just to show how our politicians and
media use the so-called international rhetorics for selfish and narrow
gains at the cost of our nation, but to urge all those who feel for
the nation to follow the advice of our nation-builders like Swami
Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi, and not to be carried
away by these rhetorics doing rounds. Otherwise, even well-meaning
nationalists too for want of knowing the facts may fall into the habit
of repeating catch words without any debate and thereby harm the
nation unintentionally.
=======================The Kendra has 124 branch centres spread over 17 States of our
country. Life-workers and Whole-time workers of the Kendra, with the
co-operation of local well-wishers, carry out various service
activities. Our activities are in the fields of Education, Yoga and
Yoga Therapy, Rural Development, Management of Natural Resources,
Youth Activities and Publications based on the Life and Message of
Swami Vivekananda. We also maintain the magnificent Vivekananda Rock
Memorial and two permanent Exhibitions-"Arise Awake" and "The
Wandering Monk" based on the Life and Message of Swami Vivekananda, at
Kanyakumari.
=======================Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain
and runs riot there, undigested, all your life. We must have
life-building, man-making, character-making, assimilation of ideas.
If you have assimilated five ideas and made them your life and
character, you have more education than any man who has got by heart a
whole library.
The ideal, therefore, is that we must have the whole education of our
country, spiritual and secular, in our hands and it must be on
national lines, through national methods as far as practical.
Swami Vivekananda.
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