Education and Nation Building

            Education is believed to be the base of everything. We require education to live on this planet. By education, I do not mean only the kind of education one gets in schools or colleges. Everything and anything a man learns is education. We cannot live our lives like the flat characters described in novels by Oscar Wilde. We need changes. And hence, we need to learn. Education is the base or foundation of our life. The history of education dates back to the times of our myths. The initial system of education was believed to be in the gurukuls, where students would stay with their gurus and learn everything about life. These were the kings and princes. They learnt about various things that would, later in life, help them rule their father’s kingdom. They were educated in the arts and sciences related to government such as, politics (danda-nıti), economics (vartta), philosophy (anvıksiki), and historical traditions (itihasa). And there was also education based on one’s caste and the Varna he had to perform. Thus, this kind of education taught them the dos and don’ts in their lives. The earliest education began with the teaching of traditional elements such as Indian religions, Indian mathematics, Indian logic at early Hindu and Buddhist centre of learning such as Taxila and Nalanda. 

            The roots of education in India had actually sprouted long ago, about 2250 years ago. This was during the Mauryan Dynasty. Chandragupta Maurya and his well-learned adviser Vishnugupta, popularly known as Kautilya or Chanakya formed this empire. Kautilya was a very intelligent and well-read person. He wrote the famous work, Arthashastra, which when literally translated means, “the science of wealth”[1]. “This book, the Arthashastra, deals with so many subjects and discusses such a variety of matters that is not possible for me to tell you much about it. It deals with the duties of the King, of his ministers and counselors, of council meetings, of departments of government, of trade and commerce, of the government of towns and villages, of law and law courts, of social customs, of the rights of the women, of the maintenance of the old and helpless, of marriage and divorce, of taxation, of the army and navy, of war and peace, of diplomacy, of agriculture, of spinning and weaving, of artisans, of passports, and even of goals! I could go on adding to this list….”[2] To be precise, this book spoke about everything from how one should lead his/her life to how a nation should be governed. If the ideas suggested by Kautilya are followed today, the government would have not been such a mess. Kautilya’s ideas were also tested practically, and they proved successful in Chandragupta Maurya’s empire. Kautilya’s wit and knowledge had helped Chandragupta build up an empire and rule it, for years.

            The next phase of education began in the middle ages. The system of education witnessed drastic changes during this period. This was the time of Islamic invasions. The Muslims, who came from Central-Asia, caused a lot of destruction. And they started everything afresh. They educated the Indians on Persian texts, grammar, mathematics, etc, which they felt, every human being had to know. The system of education was more religious now. More importance was given to religion and other related issues. They also brought about a connection between science and humanities. By the time Akbar’s rule had come, education’s standard had improved and people were educated on everything we learn today.

            The massive and big transformation of education system in India took place during colonialism. The Indian education system took shape and formed into one of the best ones during this period. With every invasion, we Indians learnt new methodologies of education. And when colonialism took place, we had the Western influence. Indians started following the Western system of education. The British Empire appointed many committees and people to frame and construct an education system in India. They wanted to educate the Indians, hence make them work for the British. They thought of appointing a number of Indians in the Administrative services and hence making their rule here easier. Though their intentions were not good, their actions helped our country a lot. If not for this, Indians were going abroad for higher studies (which only a few could afford). Once these reforms took place, education became easily accessible. Many Indians came forward and started taking up initiatives. The British set up Colleges in every Presidency. The educational reforms went about strong with many Indian social reformers backing it up. With education also came social changes and reforms in the country. And another notable inclusion of this period was women education. There was education of women even earlier, but it was for a very brief period and very limited. But, the British took separate and special efforts for women education. They set-up many educational institutions like Madras Medical College in Madras Presidency and Women’s Christian Medical College in Ludhiana, Punjab. This was basically initiated so that many women would have women doctors to examine them and hence the number of deaths would decrease. The main reason why British did all these were because they though they would stay in India for ever and hence it was necessary to educate them. This education would help the Indians serve the British better. The need for education to administer the country was very well understood then itself.

             The most important person, who set-up the education system was Thomas Macaulay. Macaulay brought about many reforms in the Indian educational system. He came into power in the year 1835. He suggested that the medium of higher education must only be English. This formed the foundation for English education in India. Many Christian missionaries also went about spreading English education all across the nation. Macaulay was believed to be the architect of Britain’s Educational Policies in India.

“It is impossible for us, with our limited means, to attempt to educate the body of the people. We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature, and to render them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to the great mass of the population.”[3]

            There were many Indians who had their own views on education. A few of them tried it out in real life too. One such man was Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore started a new style or rather wave of education. Tagore came from a family with great cultural richness and heritage. This had in many ways helped him look at education, the way he does now. His family atmosphere allowed him to learn everything in a sub-conscious state at his own speed. He was exposed to an extremely open model of education, which he later tried in Shantiniketan. Tagore introduced the importance of freedom in education. He believed that nothing must be done in an authoritarian manner or be forced upon. Education must be given its space and time to grow. He stressed on the importance sub-conscious learning and open-mindedness. He wanted one to be broad or open minded and look at everything in life in an open, unprejudiced manner. “I was brought up in an atmosphere of aspiration, aspiration for the expansion of the human spirit.  We in our home sought freedom of power in our language, freedom of imagination in our literature, freedom of soul in our religious creeds and that of mind in our social environment.  Such an opportunity has given me confidence in the power of education which is one with life and only which can give us real freedom, the highest that is claimed for man, his freedom of moral communion in the human world.... I try to assert in my words and works that education has its only meaning and object in freedom–freedom from ignorance about the laws of the universe, and freedom from passion and prejudice in our communication with the human world.  In my institution I have attempted to create an atmosphere of naturalness in our relationship with strangers, and the spirit of hospitality which is the first virtue in men that made civilization possible.

I invited thinkers and scholars from foreign lands to let our boys know how easy it is to realise our common fellowship, when we deal with those who are great, and that it is the puny who with their petty vanities set up barriers between man and man.”[4]

By 1901, Rabindranath Tagore started a school in his father’s ashram. He called it Shantiniketan. In his school he included both Indian culture and Western concepts. Shantiniketan didn’t have anything like a set syllabus. Tagore believed life is to be learnt through experience. He got faculty from all over the world to guide the students of Shantiniketan. And in Shantiniketan, Tagore made it a point that even the rural, under privileged students are given equal education. He wanted to bridge the gap between the city’s elite and villages’ poor. And he did this with education as a tool. There were many discussions in Shantiniketan, and all kinds of learning and evaluation were based on this. The students were expected to be open, frank and free. Tagore believed that education was not just about books, formulae or derivations. According to Tagore, education was something big, which should not be limited into a book or an exam. The education at Shantiniketan was based on day-to-day chores and activities. Tagore’s style and methodologies were very useful for everyone as it mould a person into a human being. It not only gave them knowledge, but the power to use it and think about it too. “We have come to this world, to accept it and not merely to know it. We may become powerful by knowledge, but we attain fullness by sympathy. The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence.”[5] Tagore had later composed a poem expressing his wish on how education everywhere must be,

Where the mind is without fear

   and the head is held high,

   Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken 

up into fragments by narrow domestic

walls;

 Where words come out from the

depth of truth;

 Where tireless striving

       stretches its arms towards

  perfection;  

 Where the clear stream of reason

      has not lost its way into the

 dreary desert sand of dead habit;

    Where the mind is led forward

 by thee into ever-widening

      thought and action–

 into that heaven of freedom,

   My Father,

Let my country awake.[6]

Another trend that arose during the freedom struggle was the starting of National Schools by the Indian National Congress. In 1921, when the non-cooperation movement began, the Indian National Congress called for the boycott of all British institutions, including British schools. At that time, they saw the need for modern education, to educate the youngsters of the nation. They realized that it was necessary to educate the people of the nation or else we would end up wit such similar fate. The necessity of education forced them to the setting-up of educational institutions. But this time, they did not adopt the traditional methodologies of teaching. They opened schools across the nation. At these schools, they followed the British system of secular and democratic education. They did not show any differentiation and thus good education for building a better future was born.

In the modern times, everyone knows the importance of education and its value in the world. One is considered as a human being only if he is educated. But the definition of education has changed drastically over the years. From a spiritual and respected ceremony, education has now become something like more of a mechanical customary or statement.

 The government of India has realized the importance of education. That only reflected in the deletion of compulsory education from the Directive State Principles and its inclusion in the Fundamental Rights. It is the right of every child to attain free and compulsory education till the age of 14. This primary education will help them live a better life and understand things better. They will know the good and bad in life. They will learn to say no, wherever it is required. And when the children learn things, they can be helpful to their elder generation, in which there are many illiterates. Till date, there are many places in India where poor people are fooled and money is got out of them. Many rich people lure the poor or mainly tribes who are illiterate, by giving them false promises and getting the land allotted to them by the government. They get them to sign false agreements and steal away all their properties. Sometimes, they even cheat them by paying very less amount. An example for this is the Coca-Cola plant in Plachimada, Palakkad (Palghat). The authorities of the company cheated the people and the got their land from them. But now, the ground water of the entire region in contaminated and has become unfit for drinking. If only they had been careful and aware of such disadvantages of plants, this would not have happen. Another example would be from the very present, the Jan Lokpal Bill. The protests grew strong only when more people were educated about all these. All these years corruption has been in existence, and so has the fight against it. But it is only now that the movement has gained some momentum and support all over the nation. It is only now that the government is forced to submit to the demands of the people. The most important reason for this is that all the people are educated about the atrocities of the corrupt ministers. The people are made to realize and hence, many measures are going to being taken against corruption. And if even a small amount of corruption is put to an end, our country will develop big time economically. It will help our country develop itself. We can stop depending on other sources like the World Bank any other foreign funding organisations for funds for anything and everything we do in our country.

Education, through any means is to be given to everyone. Another thing to be taken care is of the quality of education. Along with quality of education, equality of education is also should be taken care of. In India there are many types and categories of people. Hence, a common education throughout at primary level will be the most absurd thing to do. There are children who might be first generation learners; some might come from a good background. So, all these must be taken into consideration while primary education is given to students. I do not mean to form a differentiation between such children. But, there must be someone to take care of such children. All they need is an extra push and they will be equal to any other child. If such a system is followed we will have a bright tomorrow. If these under privileged children are given little extra care, a pat on their backs and adequate opportunities, they are sure to form the pillars of our nation in the future. But one big problem is that they are given any support and when they reach the level of higher education, they get something called the reservation. And at this level there are other frustrated students who create an unnecessary over reservation. If all these children are made equal at their primary level it all these can be avoided. It is true that we need quality and equality in education, but equality will only be possible if quality education is given to everyone.

Education develops our nation politically, economically and socially. We have one of the worlds best space research centers. We have one of the best education system, hence Indian teachers are respected and in demand all over the world. Our financial markets are one of the very few which didn’t get affected like other countries did during the recent market crashes in the United States. We shine in fields ranging from Science and Technology to literature. We have produced some of the worlds best literary giants like Rabindranath Tagore, Vikram Seth, Amitav Ghosh, Arundathi Roy, Aravind Adiga and many others. We also have equally important names in the fields of theatre and films. And one place where India stands apart from many other countries is the presence and raise of eminent women intellectuals, philosophers, icons and other leaders. Though there is lots of gender discrimination in our country, many women fought all odds to come up in life. They too have been a part in the building of our nation and its development. They must be given equal rights for education and over the past years they have proven that there is no such work that a man can do and a woman can’t. It also has a very vast cultural heritage to back all these.

But nowadays, a lot of Western concepts and culture has, and is still influencing our education systems. There is nothing wrong about it, but we must never get carried away by their world. We must always remember that we have one of the greatest culture and heritage in the world. Many great people like T.S.Eliot have adopted many things from our culture. Recently, the government of Bihar decided to make a world-class University at Nalanda (which is believed to be the site of the world’s first University). For this they called upon eminent people like Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and our former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to advice and guide them. Our history dates back to the period of the Indus Valley civilization. We have a lot to learn from our own culture and past. It will be better if we form an education system composing of a mixture of both Western concepts and Indian values. This was what Rabindranath Tagore had told during his times. We must always be proud of our nation and uphold it by forming a stronger tomorrow. This is only possible if education is given importance and treated above everything.

---

[1] Jawaharlal Nehru, Glimpses of World History, Pg.59

[2] Jawaharlal Nehru, Glimpses of World History, Pg.59

[3] Thomas Macaulay’s Minutes on Indian Education

[4] Rabindranath Tagore, 1929

[5] Rabindranath Tagore, 1926

[6] Mind Without Fear, Rabindranath Tagore, published in Gitanjali, 1912