Gandhian Notion of Educaiton

 

After his campaign to free the farmers from the oppression of indigo growers, the Mahatma raised the issue of setting up "basic schools," in Champaran. At the Wardha Education Conference in 1937 the concept of basic schools was formalised as the kind of education system the  country should have. "It was a simple concept. The bottom line was that all knowledge should emerge out of productive work by children. It was a pedagogic education system merging the world of work and the world of knowledge explains Professor Anil Sadgopal of the Department of Education of Delhi University.

The curriculum told the teacher how to use the spinning wheel as a tool for teaching the rules of motion and thereby teach Physics. Similarly, it suggested using the cotton grown in the area to teach students about the economics of farming and trade laws. The concept of tensility was to be taught with the help of the thread spun on the charkha. "Till the late 80s the concept worked well," reminisces Tiwari. "But today parents would rather cough up money to give their children the kind of education we imparted in these schools," he says ruefully.

While the government machinery insists that things are getting back on the right track, for Tiwari and Mishra, the good old days will never return in their lifetime. But for his grandson's sake, Mishra hopes that something as basic as education in a great institution like the basic school will be revived.  - Lessons lost in Champaran, Indian Express, 17/12/2000, /eldoc/n21_/17dec00ie1.pdf

Gandhiji's ideas about education are not separate from living contexts or from larger political, social, economic, cultural and spiritual struggles.  In other words, to truly understand Gandhiji's major concepts of education, one must examine them in the larger framework of  his ideas on social-economic-political transformation; his redefinition of progress, development, and human life; his regeneration of parampara; and his vision of Swaraj.  If not examined with these larger reference points in mind, there is a great risk that Gandhiji's proposal will  be misinterpreted as a ‘vocational education program,’ where the purpose of education is to only learn a skill so as to fuel the local economy.  Furthermore, understanding Gandhiji's Nai Talim requires that we see and internalize the relationship/congruence between ends and means.

 

Further Readings

Recasting Education: Vision of Gandhi, Tagore Relevant for Rural India, KRISHNA KUMAR, Times of India, 16/10/2004, /eldoc/n00_/16oct04toi1.html

“Gandhian Values in Education”-  Ch 35 Kothari Commission, pg 292-298 .Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd,   [B.N00.B16] 

 “The Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi’s Educational Philosophy for the 21st Century” Dr. Makarand Paranjape,  Ch1-  pg. 15-28 . Education for the Millenium, Ed. Varghese Alengaden, Satprachar Press, 2000. [B.N00.A61]

 “The Soul of Nai Talim” Dr UN Jajoo , Ch 2 pg. 29-34 , M Paranjape  ibid [BN00.A61, -

Learning from Gandhi, Bandyopadhyaya, Anu, Other India Press, 2004, B.Q31a.B3

"Youth for Social Transformation" Gandhiji's View, 1999 Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal Mumbai Pg. 32  R.L24.8

 

 

  In contrast, the National Curriculum Framework for School Education prepared by the National Council for Education, Research and Training (NCERT) essentially views education as a method for affirming and expanding the status quo, the image of Development and Progress that dominates the world, or, put bluntly, the System.  The larger questions — What is education? How is it different from learning? What is a good human being? What things do we really value in life? What kind of world do we want to live in? — are not asked because it appears the document assumes the answers to such questions to be 'a given'. And, although Gandhiji is quoted frequently throughout the document, judging from rest of its content, very little of his ideas has been seen or internalized.  In this short essay, I endeavor to contrast Gandhiji's conception of education against what is described in NCERT's latest effort. - Worlds Apart: Gandhiji's Nai Talim vs. NCERT's National Curriculum Framework for School Education, Shilpa Jain, www.swaraj.org. [L./eldoc/n21_/gandhiji_vs_ncert.html]

 

Basic Ideas of Nai Talim pg 57. Part II. Thoughts on Education, Vinobha, Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan,
Principles of a Nai Talim Syllabus pg 89. Part III ibid  [B.N00.B15]

Back to the Sources - A Study of Gandhi's Basic Education, Fagg, Henry, National Book Trust, 2002. [ B.N00.F1]

Listening to Gandhi : Chapter 7 - What is Worth Teaching?, Kumar, Krishna, Orient Longman, pg 95,1992, B.N21 put CED code

 Namdev Tiwari goes back in time: the year Mahatma Gandhi visited Champaran and un-leashed the education revolution,
It began in the 1940s with the dream of one man and the aspirations of thousands. After his campaign to free the farmers from the oppression of indigo growers, the Mahatma raised the issue of setting up "basic schools," in Cham-paran. At the Wardha Edu-cation Conference in 1937 the concept of basic schools was formalised as the kind of education system the
country should have. "It was a simple concept. The bottom line was that all knowledge should emerge out of productive work by children. It was a pedagogic education system merging the world of work and the world of knowledge explains Professor Anil Sadgopal of the Department of Education of Delhi University.
The curriculum told teachers how to use the spinning wheel as a tool for teaching the rules of motion and thereby teach Physics. Similarly, it suggested using the cotton grown in the area to teach students about the economics of farming and trade laws. The concept of tensility was to be taught with the help of the thread spun on the charkha. "Till the late 80s the concept worked well," reminisces Tiwari. "But today parents would rather cough up money to give their children the kind of education we imparted in these schools," he says ruefully.

  While the government machinery insists that things are getting back on the right track, for Tiwari and Mishra, the good old days will never return in their lifetime. But for his grandson's sake, Mishra hopes that something as basic as education in a great institution like the basic school will be revived.- Lessons lost in Champaran, Indian Express, 17/12/2000, /eldoc/n21_/17dec00ie1.pdf

- Colonising the Child: Education as an Instrument of Prejudice, Chitra Padmanabhan, Times of India, 11/03/2005, /eldoc/n20_/11mar05toi1.pdf

- Recasting Education: Vision of Gandhi, Tagore Relevant for Rural India, KRISHNA KUMAR, Times of India, 16/10/2004, /eldoc/n00_/16oct04toi1.html 

Foundations of Living, Sykes, Marjorie, Parisar, 01/01/1988, R.N00.18

  "Youth for Social Transformation" Gandhiji's View, Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal, 1999, R.L24.8

 “Recreating the Environment Through Art” Ch. 3 Part 6 pg 141-144
- Education and Peace, Sahi, Jane, 01/01/2002, B.N24.S1

Kothari Commission, Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd, B.N00.B16  “Gandhian Values in Education” Ch 35 pg 292-298

 Back to the Sources - A Study of Gandhi's Basic Education, Fagg, Henry, National Book Trust, 01/01/2002, B.N00.F1

Unfolding Learning Societies: Deepending the Dialogues, Jain, Manish, Shikshantar Andolan, 01/04/2001, B.N00.J5, - “Rethinking Education and Development- A Gandhian View” Dayal Chandra Soni, pg 59-66

Education for the Millenium, Ed. Varghese Alengaden, Satprachar Press, 2000, BN00.A61, - “The Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi’s Educational Philosophy for the 21st Century” Dr. Makarand Paranjape, Ch1 pg. 15-28
- “The Soul of Nai Talim” Dr UN Jajoo Ch 2 pg. 29-34

Learning from Gandhi, Bandyopadhyaya, Anu, Other India Press, 2004, B.Q31a.B3

"Youth for Social Transformation" Gandhiji's View, 1999 Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal Mumbai Pg. 32  R.L24.8

Ch. 7 Listening to Gandhi p.g 95, What is Worth Teaching?, Kumar, Krishna, Orient Longman, 1992, B.N21 put CED code

Thoughts on Education, Vinobha, Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan, B.N00.B15
Part II- Basic Ideas of Nai Talim pg 57
Part III – Principles of a Nai Talim Syllabus pg 89