Teaching children to be self-sustainable

Mahatma Gandhi’s thoughts involve innumerable strands of which some are well known, and some are not. ‘Nai Talim’, one such lesser-known philosophies propagated by the Mahatma, is very relevant to our times. The Nai Talim is an education system proposed by him for the emerging new nation. However, it got sidelined in post-independent India particularly because the nationalist leaders believed in the modern education system. After seven decades, the modern education system’s limitations are more visible. Before getting into the crisis of modern education and the necessity for an alternative education system like Nai Talim, it is important to understand the role of education in shaping a civilisation.

Materialistic values

There is a close connection between education and the definition of human prosperity or the notion of good life. The modern education system is largely shaped by the conception of human prosperity in terms of material accumulation. In other words, it is designed to gain unlimited material wealth. The history of modern education can be traced back to the industrial revolution of the late 18th century. It was structured with a particular intention of producing workers who don’t think independently but simply follow the orders in the emerging factories.

It was described beautifully by Alwin Toffler in his 1970s famous book ‘Future Shock’ as follows:

“Mass education was the ingenious machine constructed by industrialism to produce the kind of adults it needed. The problem was inordinately complex. How to pre-adapt children for a new world – a world of repetitive indoor toil, smoke, noise, machines, crowded living conditions, collective discipline, a world in which time was to be regulated not by the cycle of sun and moon, but by the factory whistle and the clock. The solution was an educational system that, in its very structure, simulated this new world. This system did not emerge instantly. Even today it retains throw-back elements from pre-industrial society. Yet the whole idea of assembling masses of students (raw material) to be processed by teachers (workers) in a centrally located school (factory) was a stroke of industrial genius. The whole administrative hierarchy of education, as it grew up, followed the model of industrial bureaucracy. The very organization of knowledge into permanent disciplines was grounded on industrial assumptions. Children marched from place to place and sat in assigned stations. Bells rang to announce changes of time.”

The same features of regimentation and lack of individuality are evident even now in the current system of education. Even though it has led to immense technological revolutions and has made life easier, the large section of society has lost its freedom. Today, students who come out of the education system largely look for jobs rather than having their own independent livelihoods. It clearly shows the success of the modern schooling system that was started about 250 years ago. However, its repercussion on human civilisation is profound. It has increasingly alienated people, has led to the degradation of the environment and an increase in social inequality.

Gandhi had clearly understood the connection between modern education and colonisation. He had foreseen its relation to the civilisational crisis. Therefore, he vehemently opposed the modern education system and advocated Nai Talim that enables people to ‘swaraj’ or rule over themselves to lead an unalienated life. The Nai Talim education system was shaped by the perception of human prosperity in terms of peace which encompasses the internal mental state of tranquillity and external harmonious relationship with other beings in the cosmos. The proposed education system was a part of Gandhi’s normative vision of development as swaraj.

Nai Talim gives equal emphasis on physical work as well as intellectual work. By doing so it challenges the modern education system that considers the latter as superior to former. Further, it recognises both kinds of work as inseparable.

It is precise because persuasion of any one of them creates an imbalance in a mind-body relationship which in turn results in alienation. Thereby it stands in complete contrast with the modern education system that separates intellectual work and physical work where former is considered as an exercise of human beings whereas latter as of machines. The Nai Talim clearly identified this split as the root cause for today’s civilisational crisis and hence advocates a holistic learning process that doesn’t compartmentalise physical work and intellectual work. Such a learning process can be illustrated through the spinning activity.

Spinning is a simple activity of making yarn out of cotton using a simple tool such as Charka. While teaching the spinning skills to children, the activity can be connected to other subjects. For example, physics can be taught by explaining speed and velocity of spinning wheel; history can be told through the textile tradition; botany can be explained through the wood used in Charka; economics can be taught through the productive activity and so on.

While teaching the spinning skills to children, the activity can be connected to other subjects.

On one side, this kind of learning teaches skills that help children fulfil their basic material needs and on the other side it sharpens their intellectual ability. More importantly, it expands the social consciousness of children. In other words, it encourages children to recognise the essential obligations they have towards the larger society and environment by making them understand moral and material relations. Therefore, it enhances their concern towards others, in turn, reduces alienation, social inequality and environmental crisis.

Holistic development

There are many efforts being made to establish a holistic education system inspired by Nai Talim even though there is an enormous pressure from the state to enrol children to the modern schooling system. Homeschooling, de-schooling or unschooling and open schooling initiatives in India are significantly shaped by the idea of Nai Talim. Numerous learning centres close to the idea have been established across the country.

A well-known effort is ‘Anand Niketan’ at Wardha. It is a Nai Talim school established on the campus of Sevagram Ashram in the 1940s. It was reopened in 2005 after a few decades of closure. Even though the school follows local state board syllabus, it focusses on experiential learning. There, the learning process involves activities such as kitchen gardening, spinning, lab experiments and so on. Similarly, ‘Puvidham’ at Dharmapuri, ‘Thulir’ at Sittilingi and ‘Arivu’ in Mysuru are few other initiatives that draw inspiration from the conception of Nai Talim. All these primary and higher primary learning centres are recognised by their respective state education boards and are structured with an intention of improving the personality of a child through bridging physical and mental
labours.