Gandhi like most great thinkers had definite ideas about education. Some of them are probably even more relevant today than when he first articulated them. Here is an attempt to examine the Mahatma's educational philosophy and its relevance.
For the Mahatma, education was much more than literacy. It was the means by which a large body of knowledge of the past is passed on to the present generation in an organised manner. He believed education to be a life-long process and an instrument of social change. He wanted education to bring about economic advancement, political evolution and moral responsibility. While computer education in particular, has brought about economic advancement in the country, our education system's contribution to our political evolution and moral responsibility leaves a lot to be desired.
All round education
For Gandhi education meant training the mind and the body. He stressed on the three H's - head, heart and hand than just the three R's. Discipline was therefore a key aspect of his concept of education as also learning of manual skills. Work experience, he felt, stimulates the mind. Unfortunately, Gandhi's call for all round education has gone unheeded. Most urban schools stress too much on studies and neglect the child's all round development. Manual work is looked down upon by both children and adults. The consequence of this attitude is a society sharply divided on work-roles and plagued by obesity.
Gandhi wanted education to equip the youth to handle the tremendous changes that a society in transition throws up. He wanted education to churn out individuals with strength of character. At the same time he believed that education should be need based. Education, he believed ought to put a stop to unemployment and result in economic self-sufficiency. He wanted the Indian education system to strike a balance between individual good and community good - something that we have not been able to achieve. He wanted education to train individuals to think independently, critically and creatively and thereby bring about personal worth, dignity and self- sufficiency - something that many of our schools and colleges have succeeded in.
Believing that the youth held the key to our country's progress, Gandhi wanted them to actively participate in nation building. He interacted with them at every opportunity. At the same time, he was against student politics. Gandhi would have been pained by incidents such as the recent murder of Prof Sharma. His anti-student union stand definitely seems justified in the light of increasing politicisation, hooliganism and worse, murders in campuses.
Primary education
Gandhi loved children and often advised fun filled activities as a means of educating them. He wanted education to be child centred and dynamic. He also stressed on education in the mother tongue, something that is now losing popularity both with educationists and parents. He wanted primary education to be free and compulsory till the age of 14. Only this, he felt, could remove poverty and ignorance that plague the country. We are making progress in the area of primary education. Programmes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, mid day meals and Anganwadi training would have gladdened the Mahatma's heart. But there continues to be an alarming drop out rate and everyday we read about teacher less schools and under/mal utilisation of funds. Surely with concerted efforts of government, NGOs and parents themselves these problems can be solved.
Need-based education that Gandhi laid emphasis on is something that we are losing track of especially with reference to village and tribal children. Also, for many first generation learners, education has brought about only marginal betterment of their lot and they are not too keen on letting their children pursue their studies beyond the primary level.
Gandhi wanted rural education to become self- supporting. If Gandhi's idea of self-sustained villages is to come true, we need to clean up our act and not just educationally!
Gandhi also felt that we were not giving enough importance to religious education and therefore our children were unaware of our rich cultural and religious heritage. While the term religious education may bring forth strong reactions today, what Gandhi wanted was for children to study the important tenets of all religions, so they become aware of the similarities rather than the inconsequential dissimilarities that fuel so much hatred. In the current atmosphere of heightened religious and sectarian tensions and crumbling values, Gandhi's call for religious education should be interpreted as a call for value- based education.
The country as a whole is witnessing a renewed interest in education. Education of the specially-abled is also receiving the attention it deserves. Policy-makers, teachers and parents would do well to bear in mind Gandhiji's ideals while implementing existing and while formulating further educational plans.
Bharathi Prabhu
Gandhi scholarship at London Met
London Metropolitan University, which earlier this year launched a new scholarship named after Mahatma Gandhi for an outstanding Indian student to undertake postgraduate studies at the University, has announced the first award (for 2007-08) to a student from Bangalore, Priyanka Raghavan.
Priyanka, a graduate in Communicative English and Legal Literacy from Bangalore University, will pursue an 18-month MA programme in International Marketing and Communications at London Met.
The new annual scholarship, awarded by London Met in conjunction with the Gandhi Foundation at Gandhi Smriti in Delhi, provides for a full tuition fees waiver to the selected student. It will be presented each year to an outstanding Indian student on the basis of academic performance in India and demonstrated potential for leadership and social change.
The scholarship will focus on international relations and international law and politics.
London Metropolitan University offers one of the strongest programmes in international relations and politics in London, including its BA in Peace and Conflict Studies, and two Masters courses in International Relations.
London Met has more than 300 Indian students currently studying on its foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The University has its own offices in India, in Delhi and Chennai, which deal with all aspects of the recruitment process. The address of the Chennai Liaison Office is: 207, Apeejay Business Centre, 39/12 Haddows Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai-600006. Phone:4204 3053. E-mail: chennai@londonmet.ac.uk
Achal Narayanan
Gandhian courses
Despite the cult of violence that one sees around, Gandhigiri, a coinage made famous by Bollywood’s affable Munnabhai, is still being taken recourse to as an effective means of driving home one’s point succinctly. That even the country’s commercial cinema found in Gandhian thoughts and ideals a sure shot box-office hit is ironical of the times we live in.
With Gen Next taking to Gandhian values and thoughts it would be appropriate to throw light on the Gandhian courses that offer Gandhian studies as a subject for higher education.
Since Gandhian ideologies touch every phase of our lives, right from agricultural development to issues such as women empowerment, untouchability and so on, it tends to be relevant even to this day.
“If one intends to take up social service then pursuing a Gandhian course would be of immense help. More than that, if you are looking for a career in a social service organisation, then pursuing Gandhian studies would be an added advantage as they are relevant even to this day”, opines in-charge director of Centre for Gandhian Studies at Bangalore University, Dr D Jeevan Kumar who is also a Professor at the Political Science Department.
The curriculum which includes the Gandhian Political, Economic, Social and Religious Thoughts, Gandhian Strategy for Social transformation, Gandhian critique of Western Parliamentary Democracy, Unity of Human kind, Holistic development, 11 Ashram vows of Gandhi and its relevance to our times, Philosophy of Education etc, is not only theory oriented, but also practical. Students are asked to do a dissertations based on an empirical study of a selected village, which improves their skills, gives practical experience and trains them to solve the present crisis and challenges and gives them an idea of the strategies to adopt to solve such problems, through Gandhian thoughts. Besides, pursuing the course could be an added advantage to those who want to put in their services in the field of Women empowerment, child development, Saksharata Samithi and so on.
Who can pursue the course?
Anyone who has a degree to his or her credit can enroll for the course. The University started the course in 2003 and offers a six months Certificate Course and one year PG Diploma course. Further, it also offers three weeks contact courses.
“Since the course is an ‘Add on Course’, students can take it up while they study other courses too,” says Professor Jeevan Kumar. The present academic year’s classes will kick start on Gandhi Jayanthi and the Centre even plans to take a full day’s class every Saturday besides classes every day between 4 to 5 pm to ensure that students from other streams also benefit.
The teaching staff includes professors from various departments such as Political Science, Economics, Philosophy etc, as Gandhian values touch all streams of society, he says.
“Many students are interested in pursuing the course and seats are already full. The applications we have received this year outnumber the allotted number of seats,” he says.
Fee structure
The fees for the one year PG Diploma course as well as the six months Certificate Course is Rs 500.
The Gandhi Bhavan of the University every year, on the eve of Gandhi Jayanthi releases books on various Gandhians. It has already released books on Nobel laureate Amarthya Sen, Papu, H K Veeranna Gowda, Khadi Rangappa, Nittur Srinivas Rao, G C Bhageerathamma, Tiptur Dasappa, Srinivas Rao and has plans to release books on Saalumarada Timmakka, Medha Patkar and so on, this year, on the eve of Gandhi Jayanthi. Besides that, the Centre for Gandhian Studies also celebrates the Sarvodaya Day with much grandeur.
The Centre, however, is in need of full time faculty.
For more details call, 080 22961146 or contact Dr D Jeevan Kumar at Centre for Gandhian Studies, Bangalore University.
Bhavya Bolar
