Prof (Dr) Vijay Kumar Mehta, Dr Neha Hariyani
Education system proposed by Mahatma Gandhi, if we perceive deeply emphasized “Basic Education.” Fundamentally, Gandhiji proposed that the education needs to be delivered in mother tongue. What is observed that he emphasized for activity centred education to make the children skilled and independent. On a larger scale, Gandhiji wanted to construct small, self-reliant communities with its ideal citizens, being all industrious, self-respecting and generous individuals living in a small cooperative community. Gandhiji basically desired that some local craft should be made as a medium of education for children, so that they develop their mind, body and soul in a harmonious manner, as ‘Education, like family, marriage, religion, law and politics is one of the important institutions of society which play pivotal role in maintaining and developing social system’ (Tandon, 2016).
Gandhiji’s contribution to education is unique in this sense that he made the first attempt to develop an indigenous scheme of education in British India. With the advent of British colonial rule in India, an alien system of imperial education was introduced which was in contradiction with the age-old, unique and all-inclusive holistic educational system of India. It has not only caused irreparable damage to Indian education system in the long run, but also created numbers of all kinds of differences, class-consciousness, ever increasing crave for western materialistic life style, etc. Most of Gandhiji’s important writings on education have been compiled and edited by Bharatan Kumarappa in two books, Basic Education (1951) and Towards New Education (1953). These writings are mostly miscellaneous consisting of letters, speeches, extracts from books, and soon, but together they may be taken to constitute a coherent philosophy of education according to Gandhiji.
Gandhi basically desired that some local craft should be made a medium of education for children so that they develop their mind, body and soul in a harmonious manner and also meet the needs of their future life. This grand vision of Gandhian educational structure is relevant for development and providing solutions of the current problems like unemployment, poverty, corruption and many others. His philosophy of education is a harmonious blending of Idealism, Naturalism and Pragmatism. Idealism is the base of Gandhiji’s philosophy whereas Naturalism and Pragmatism are the helpers in translating that philosophy into practice. Therefore he is known as practical- idealist. His nation was “…education for life, education through life, and education throughout life.” His philosophy of life has four elements namely- (1) Truth, (2) Non-Violence (3) Fearlessness and (4) Satyagraha (Saxena, 2003).
Gandhiji’s philosophy to life is based upon the philosophy of Idealism. He advocated the ideals of truth, non-violence and moral values to achieve the ultimate truth of self-realization. All these lead to an integration, so essential to effective education and development of the total personality. (Saxena, 2003). According to him non-violence does not mean meek submission to the will of the evil doer. It is the soul force or truth force. (Vijayalakshmi, 2016).
As per Gandhiji’s view, education should develop all the capacities of the child so that he becomes a complete human being. In this way, fully and harmoniously developed personality is able to realize the ultimate aim of life which is Truth or God. Gandhiji has himself explained – “By education I mean all-round drawing out of the best in child’s and man’s body, mind and spirit. Literacy is neither the beginning nor the end of education. This is only a means through which man or woman can be educated.” His Basic Principles of Education includes: –
* From seven to fourteen years of age, education of each child should be free, compulsory and universal.
* The medium of instruction should be mother-tongue.
* Mere literacy cannot be equated with education. Education should employ some craft as a medium of education so that the child gains economic self-reliance for his life.
* Education should develop human values in the child.
* Education should create useful, responsible and dynamic citizens. By education all the hidden powers of child should develop according to the community of which he is an integral part.
* Education should achieve the harmonious development of child’s body, mind, heart and soul.
* All education should be imparted through some productive craft or industry and a useful correlation should be established with that industry. The industry should be such that the child is able to achieve gainful work experience through practical work.
* Education should be made self-supporting through some productive work. Education should lead to economic independence and self-reliance for livelihood.
Thus, in Gandhiji’s educational thoughts, the development of the personality of child, is more important than mere literacy or knowledge of different subjects. Besides learning of three R’s Reading, Writing and Arithmetic in school, he insisted on development of these H’s Hand, Heart and Head. Thus, the aim of Education should be of developing the integrated personality of the child. Gandhiji was clear that the basic principles of education is that work and knowledge must never be separated. Separation of learning from labour results in social injustices. In dynamic societies, education has to equip individuals with the skills and attitudes necessary for them to adapt to changing conditions, and for constructive participation in the task of social change. This can prove helpful in solving the problems of frustration, depression, anxiety and feeling of committing suicide among youth.
According to Gandhiji through education a child must be able to learn a productive craft to meet his future needs of life by adopting some industry or business. Hence, he advocated education for self-reliance and capacity to earn one’s livelihood as the main aim of education. By this aim he did mean to make the child a labourer but wished that each child should earn while engaged in learning and gain some learning as he is busy with earning. He advocated that together with vocational education cultural advancement should also be achieved. The two aspects of development should go together side by side. Gandhiji’s ‘Basic Education’ was job oriented, value based and mass oriented. Here it is important to note that these are still the important requirements of education in our country. In his scheme of education, knowledge must be related to activity and practical experiences.
When we understand Gandhi Ji as a theorist, we under his policy or theory easily. His education policy includes Truth, Transparency, Humility and Firmness. This is the main objective in the policy of education as envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi. It is surprising that without any official position and power, he remained an unchallenged and unmatched leader who controlled the psyche of millions of people from all the rungs of the society, soliciting their unflinching support for about half a century. After all, plans are not made in a huff and success is not achieved in a jiffy. It takes decades to build a society and centuries to stabilize nation. Since his struggle was against the imperialism and the abuse of the imperial powers, it was simply impossible for anybody to mark a beginning or perceive an end. He envisioned a policy of education to make the countrymen free and developing to match the developed nations.
As such, the cumulative aim of this education was to prepare the child for practical work, conduct experiments and do research so that he is able to develop himself physically, mentally and spiritually and become a useful member of society. In this activity-centred curriculum, Gandhiji included Mother-tongue, Basic Craft, Arithmetic, Sociology, General Science, Art, Music and other like subjects. He further advocated that curriculum for boys and girls from classes 1 to 5 should be the same. After that boys should be taught some Craft and girls should study Home-Science. It should be noted that Gandhiji’s scheme of Basic Education is limited to primary and junior stages only. Gandhiji also insisted that his scheme for primary education would include “the elementary principles of sanitation, hygiene, nutrition,” besides “compulsory physical training through musical drill. Gandhiji argues that his scheme would make students strong, confident and useful to their parents and their country. Gandhiji adds that his system would lead to communal harmony because it would be the same for all; it would this be “practical religion, the religion of self-help”.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
