by The following excerpt that addresses education in the Indian context has been adopted from Dr. Vidyut Joshi’s research paper ‘A Century of Basic Education in Gujarat: Shifting Paradigm and Crisis Management’ published in the Journal of Educational Planning and Administration, Volume XXVII No. 3 July 2013.
First of all, let us not be complacent and accept the fact that the basic education system has problems. Not only that it is not doing well, but it is losing grip. We will have to accept that education can bring desired social change only if other and larger contexts are congenial. Let us also accept that we can bring about only ideational change. In absolute terms, we cannot become a social reform agency. Having done this, we will have to deal with the tensions (or diseases) and revitalize basic education again. How can this be done?
1. Let us have a national-level commission on basic education. Not the one of Ram Murti type, but of Kothari commission type. Let great educationalists, and not only non-academic Gandhian workers, be the members of this commission.
2. Let us accept the principles of basic education as valid even today. Craft or vocation as a nucleus of course structure, education for knowledge, education to become complete human beings, education to live community life (co-operation), education for citizenship, and education to become self-reliant, are such principles.
Surprisingly, the four pillars of education mentioned in the UNESCO report (1996:97) corroborate the principles of basic education. They are:
- Learning to know, by combining a sufficiently broad general knowledge with the opportunity to work in-depth on a small number of subjects. This also means learning to learn, so as to benefit from the opportunities education provides throughout life.
- Learning to do, in order to acquire not only an occupational skill but also, more broadly, the competence to deal with many situations and work in teams. It also means learning to do in the context of young people’s various social and work experiences, which may be informal, as a result of the local or national contact, or formal, involving courses, alternating study, and work.
- Learning to live together, by developing an understanding of other people and an appreciation of inter-dependence―carrying out joint projects and learning to manage conflicts―in a spirit of respect for the values of pluralism, mutual understanding, and peace.
- Learning to be, as better to develop one’s personality and be able to act with ever greater autonomy, judgment, and personal responsibility. In that connection, education must not disregard any aspect of a person’s potential: memory, reasoning, aesthetic sense, physical capacities, and communication skills.
Formal education systems tend to emphasize the acquisition of knowledge to the detriment of other types of learning; but it is vital now to conceive education in a more encompassing manner. Such a vision should inform and guide future educational reforms and policy, in relation to both contents and methods.
Thus, if you consider the principles of basic education, they are capable of guiding future education. This being so, let us work out a new structure of basic education based on these principles.
3. We will have to convince policy-makers on two things and see that both these points are implemented, at least at the primary level. The medium of instruction has to be the mother tongue, at least at the primary level. The government concerned will give recognition to a school only when this condition is fulfilled. Education, at primary and secondary levels, must be craft-based. It is not a case of some productive activity as an optional subject, but the courses will have to be restructured based on some productive activities. Crafts like agriculture, smithy, carpentry, food-making, and many others will have to be accepted. Primary level crafts will be different from the crafts at secondary levels. Considering the changed conditions and levels of crafts, we will have to give up some old methods.
4. Basic education will have to come out of ‘rural studies’ syndrome. It is not one of the many faculties of mainstream education system. It is a full-fledged system itself. We should work out structures of liberal arts, humanities, social sciences, pure sciences, technologies (including agricultural technology or organic farming), food technology (vegetarianism and organic-tradition food items), management (including water and soil management), Medical (Naturopathy), Pharmacy (Ayurved), Textile technology (including khadi), and other such facilities.
5. In order to give up rural studies syndrome, we will have to give up the artificial classification of rural versus urban. Habitat is a continuum right from caveman (food gatherers and hunters) to megapolis. There is nothing like static ideal type of a village. The real ideal type is ‘community’. We will have to design our education system keeping different communities in mind.
6. While keeping principles, we will have to let go some behavioural norms and some institutional arrangements. In fact, some such behavioural norms are part of nostalgia that sometimes create irritation among those who are otherwise sympathetic to the principles of basic education. We may, jointly and participatively, decide on this point.
7. We will have to do a lot of research and reinterpretation of some of our programmes. Khadi is one such programme (khadi is a programme and not a thought. The thought behind this programme is decentralization of production and ‘Swadeshi’ (made in my country). The biggest questions are two: (A) Research to improve quality of khadi, and (B) marketing. The production of khadi requires much research to make it affordable. This research can be carried out by our textile technology faculty. Khadi will sell these days in three ways – it is a designer cloth, it is a health-friendly cloth and it is an eco-friendly cloth. Our management departments can take up the marketing issue.
8. Ashram schools have less utility when we have day-schools in every village. Each ashram school is equipped with 10 acres of land and many equipments. They need to be converted into technical schools.
9. When we oppose atomic energy, we will have to do research and develop a workable system of energy. People will accept our thoughts and programmes only if we can provide a viable alternative.
The system of basic education has changed less to meet the changing needs of people. As a result, we are facing several types of structural tensions. Let us come out of complacency, analyze the scenario in the context of the 21st century and change contextual norms, methods, subjects, rules, and institutional arrangements, while keeping the philosophy of basic education intact.
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