FULFILLING MAHATMA'S VISION

IT IS THE NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 2020 (NEP), UNVEILED BY THE MODI GOVERNMENT, THAT HAS LAID THE FOUNDATION OF AN EDUCATION SYSTEM THAT MAHATMA GANDHI ENVISIONED

- AJAY KASHYAP

One thing that the Mahatma wanted to effectively change post-Independence, apart from the disbanding of the Indian National Congress, was the state of education in India. He wished for a complete overhaul of our education, which he was convinced that it was thrust down upon us, to make things easier for the British to keep ruling over India. After all the years gone by, the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) has laid the foundation of an education system that Mahatma Gandhi envisioned.

Gandhi wrote in Gujarati about the changes he wanted to see in our education system, this was translated by VG Desai into English and appeared in Harijan on July 15 and August 5, 1950.

Gandhi knew that teachers must recognize the talent of each student from an early age, as encouraging the students to pursue their talents will reap great benefits for the country. He says "The special aptitudes of each child should be recognized in determining the kind of work he (or she) should do."

The NEP also recognizes this need and focuses on critical thinking, inquiry, and analysis-based teaching, which will help identify the talents of students from a young age itself. Many students and parents complain that some subjects or teaching patterns are carried out only for the sake of the curriculum, without providing any rationale for its inclusion and the future prospects of studying such subjects. Gandhi, however, was firm, he wrote "The reasons for every process should be explained when the process is being carried on."

INCULCATING SCIENTIFIC TEMPER AMONG STUDENTS