Chapter Three
COMMUNITY - ORIENTED EDUCATION IN INDIA
A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
School and community were closely related entities in ancient
India. Other social institutions such as joint family and kinship
group collaborated with the school, and together they
accomplished the broad objectives of education. These included
the inculcation of the norms and values of society, skills for life,
culture and refinement, in addition to reading, writing and
arithmetic. The gurukulas, the viharas, and the madrasas were
the standard institutions which carried out this mission under
different religious/political influences. Cutting across all these
differing influences, there was the underlying community-
orientation which always characterized India's educational
system.
With the British came the twist. They, deliberately and
calculatedly, gave an orientation to Indian education to suit their
political and economic agenda in this colony. Behind the so-
called 'liberal', 'modem' English educatim, they had such
malignant intentions as should have kindled indignation in any
lndian citizen. Unfortunately the lndian elite of those days did not
care to see through these designs, because they had personal
ga'ins from the British system.
It was Gandhi who, along with the struggle for political freedom,
questioned the British system. He developed the basic
education model to counter the British model. Unfortunately, in
spite of a dozen or so experiments in basic education along the
Wtardha pattern, it stands a stunted model.
In the independent lndia we have seen a series of educational
reforms trying to put the derailed bogies of Indian education back
on the rails. UGC's role is mentioned in this chapter also with
due emphasis. The effort is still on; and the present study is part
of the ongoing struggle to regain the community orientation of
lndian education, without neglecting its need to keep abreast of
advancements in the field in these days of globalization.
Detailed Contents
1.3.1 Ancient lndian Tradition
1.3.1.1 Schools in Ancient India
1.3.1.2 Socialization through Schools
1.3.1.3 The Ciunrkulas
1.3.1.4 Growing Relationship between School and Community During Buddhist Period
1.3.1.5 School Community Relations in Medieval lndia
1.3.1.6 Bhakti Movement and the Element of Extension Education
1.3.1.7 Education for the Elite
1.3.1.8 Concept of Knowledge and Education
1.3.2 The British Twist
1.3.2.1 Objectives of British Education in India
1.3.2.2 Macaulay's Speech in the House of Commons
1.3.2.3 The Minutes of Macaulay CI
1.3.2.4 The Filtration theory of Education
1.3.2.5 Other Important Landmarks of Education in British India
1.3.3 The Gandhian Re-orientation
1.3.3.1 Gandhian Critique of British.Education
1.3.3.2 Basic Education
1.3.3.3 Genesis of Adult Education in India
1.3.3.4 Other Experiments in Gandhian Education
1.3.4 The Post-Independence Scene
1.3.4.1 University Education Commission
1.3.4.2 The Origin of University Grants Commission (UGC)
1.3.4.3 The Kothari Commission
1.3.4 4 National Adult Education Programme (NAEP)
1.3.4.5 National Literacy Mission
1.3.5 ~oncjusion
Notes and References
1.3.1 ANCIENT INDIAN TRADITION
1.3.1.1 Schools in Ancient India
In ancient India, education formed an integral part of social structure
and schools operated as a part of the total social system. The educational
processes reflected the dominant cultural patterns. The keenly felt need to
educate the younger generations to acquire the cultural heritage had given
rise to social institutions like Ashram, Gurukula, Pathasala, Vihara.
Vidyapeeth, etc. The all-round cultural development of the person, and
formation of integrated moral character were the aims and objectives of
educational processes. The nature of closely integrated relations of the
school and the community in India can be seen in the jointly shared
educational activities conducted by various other social institutions like joint
family, the kinship group, the temple and the rural community. For it was
implicitly recognized that it was not only the school, but also the joint
family, the kinship groups, the temple and the entire community which
shared the responsibilities for educating the young.
1.3.1.2 Socialization through Schools
Education was not merely a formal process of teaching lessons. It
meant living in Guru's ashram under a strict code of conduct and rendering
all possible services. It was a broad-based process of formation of character
and also the acquisition of knowledge of Vedas, philosophy and classical
literature. The school along with other social institutions like the family
participated in the process of 'socialisation" of the growing child, e.g., in
the task of transmitting the culture of the society from one generation to
another. In its ordinary sense the word 'culture', which carries much the
same idea as cultivation refers to a process by which a person acquires
knowledge, skills, ideas, beliefs, and attitudes through his contacts with
other persons or from such h g s as books or works of art. In times of
Ramayana and Mahabharata , pupils lived in Guru Ashrams and learnt not
only reading, writing, grammar, vedas, philosophy, etc. but also archery
and such other skills which were needed in their future social roles.
1.3.1.3 The Gurukulas
The prukulas were single-teacher schools, conducted by brahmins or
pandirs who had taken up teaching as a profession. Many of the gurukulas
were residential schools. Ofien they were situated in natural and pastoral
surroundings away from the din and bustle of towns and cities. After
upanayanam (initiation ceremony), which generally took place at the age
between 8 to 12, boys were sent to gurukulas for their studies. They stayed ff
with the guru at his hermitage. The guru treated his students as his own
sons. The whole institution functioned as a joint family as the name
indicated, viz. guru is the teacher and kula means extended family. The
students stayed together as brothers and respected the teacher as a father and
served him to the best of their abilities. For all practical purposes ancient
Indian schools functioned as community schools. Much of the teaching was
done by word of mouth. The oral tradition remained strong in the ancient
system of Indian education.
The guru was not only respected but also sought for and consulted by
community leaders as also the kings and princes in important state matters
and community problems. Guru acted like a friend, philosopher and guide
to the community. For the illiterate masses who craved for enlightenment
he organized discourses where large number of rural people came to listen
and to learn.
1.3.1.4 Growing Relationship between School and Community during
Buddhist Period
The inter-relations between the school and the community developed
further during the centuries when Buddhism flourished in India. During this
period educational activities were carried on in the Buddhist monasteries
called viharas. The whole educational establishment in viharas functioned
under the supervision of the Chief Abbot called bhikshu. From jataka
stories it is clear that the viharas conducted elementary schools for novices.
They also had centres of higher leaming. During the reign of emperor
Asoka some vrharas had been developing into famous universities of
learning. Some of the famous universities described in Buddhist literature
were Nalanda, Takshila, Vallabhi, Vikramasila, Jagadala, Odantpuri,
Mithila and Nadia. V
During this time viharas not only provided the education of the
young, but they also provided ample opportunities for popular and social
education. The scholarly bhikshus went round the countryside and
organized discourses where large masses of illiterate peasants came to
listen, to learn and to ask questions. By the time the famous Chinese
traveller Fa Hien (399-414 A.D.) visited India, Buddhist viharas were
already imparting mass education even to those who had not joined the
Buddhist religious order sangha. The syllabus taught in viharas included
many other subjects besides the religious textbooks. The subjects taught for
higher learning included five vidyas which means disciplines: (1) shabda-
vidya or grammar ( 2 ) shilpa vidya or arts and crafts (3) chikifsa vidya or
medicine ( 4 ) hefu vidya or logic; and (5) adhyafma-vidya or philosophy.
When Hiuen Tsang visited India in 7'h century A.D. there were 5,000
monasteries spread all over the country.
1.3.1.5 School Community Relations in Medieval India
During the medieval period of Indian history, with the advent of
muslim rule in India the traditional system of education received severe
blows. Some of the muslim rulers took a narrow view of education. They
used their power not only to change the Indian society but also to destroy
the system of education that existed. Pafhasala.~ and vlharas were replaced
by maktabs and madrasas. Maktabs were single-teacher primary schools
under the charge of a maulavi while madrasas were centres of higher
learning. Later on there were some enlightened muslim rulers who took a
liberal view of education. Rulers like Muhummad Tughaalaq, Akbar and
Shah Jehan tried to liberalize education.
U
1.3.1.6 Bhakti Movement and the Element of Extension Education
Between 13' and 17" Century A.D. Bhakti movement flourished in
different linguistic groups in India. This reformation movement started
from unusual quarters of Indian society. Great bhaktas arose from all
different walks of life and strata of society. Among them were shudras,
petty traders, artisans, farmers and even women like Meerabai.
Bhaktas established truly popular vehicles of mass education
variously known as harikatha, keertan, parayana, katha, akhyan, etc.
During this mass upsurge the bhaktas preached and sung in the respective
language of the people of the region. Their melodious songs, aphorisms,
proverbs and sayings were written in vernacular languages. The literary
activities in modem Indian vernaculars may be said to have made a
begming with the writings, preachings and songs of the bhaktas. The
bhaktas re-interpreted the scriptures in the language of the masses and their
day-to-day life and problems. Rural masses walked miles to have a glimpse
(darshan) of the bhaktas and hear their discourses. Though the original
inspiration of the bhaktas was religious in character, they touched upon
many socio-economic problems of their times. Hindu-Muslim unity became
the moving theme of the songs of Kabir, Nanak and many others.
Untouchability was condemned by Narasinh Mehta - a great poet and bhakta
in Gujarat who went to the quarters of the untouchables to conduct Hari-
Keertran. Meerabai, the Rajput princess, deplored the royal pomp and
distinction of high and low and she freely conducted bhajans sitting side by
side with ordinary persons. Bhaktas gave liberal solutions of the burning
socio-economic problems of their times and re-interpreted scriptures in the
context of changing political and social life. They made a deep and abiding
impact on the minds of the people.
v
1.3.1.7 Education for the &lite
White Bhakti movement provided a sort of mass-education for the
inculcation of the norms and values of the society, it is also clear that formal
and institutionalized education was not provided for all sections and strata
of society at this time of Indian history. Formal education was generally
acquired by the members of high-caste groups and elites of the society. The
Brahmins, the Rajputs and wealthy merchants made special artgngements
for the education of their sons. It was not customaxy for lower-caste
familics to send their children to schools. Actually women and shudras
were debarred from reading or reciting of scriptures. The norms and
customs of 'varna-shram-dhanna', forbade women and shudras from
acquiring formal education.
1.3.1.8 Concept of Knowledge and Education
Knowledge in Indian culture was conceived as the light which
dispelled the darkness of ignorance and liberated human mind from the
oppressive realities of here and now. Education and knowledge were also
synonymous with culture and refinement. An educated man was a refined
person. He was cultured and had highly developed moral character. For
him discipline was self-discipline which he imposed on himself as a
penance to be performed for the higher status and prestige which he
received from society. He was respected and consulted by community
leaders. Kings and princes paid homage to him.
This overview of education in ancient India reveals that extension
was a definite dimension of education in our tradition in spite of dogmatic
discriminations against women and shudras.
THE BRITISH TWIST
1.3.2.1 Objectives of British Education in India
We have historical evidence to prove that the British rulers of India
promoted education unwillingly. At a time when continuous territorial
Gictories necessitated elaborate network, they needed men and women of
certain kind of education to manage the system. There was also a political
motivation behind the education they introduced. This was based on the
calculation that people educated in English would be more loyal to the
British rule in India. There was some demand also from the people, mostly
based on the utilitarian aspects of English education in the prevailing
English environment.
In 1792 when the House of Commons debated the renewal of the East
India Company's charter, Wilberforce, the leader of the Evangelical Party,
sponsored a well-meaning resolution to make arrangements to send school-
masters fiom England to teach in India. Wilberforce's move met with
severe opposition. One of the members who opposed the move is reported to
have observed that they "had just lost America fiom the folly of having
allowed the establishment of schools and colleges, and it would not do for
them to repeat the same act of folly in regard to ~ndia'?
1.3.2.2 Macaulay's Speech in the House of Commons
The charter acts of 1813 and 1833 encouraged missionaries to run
educational institutions in India. This, however, led to the sprouting of local
initiatives also, as is evidenced by establishment of Hindu Colleges in
Bengal promoting English education. The act of 1833 also declared that any
educated person, irrespective of caste and creed, will be eligible for
employment in government. This acted as an incentive for education. W
Education thus became a passport to a job in India as early as 1833. It did
not have anything to do with preparing people for life, nor with making
them know more about their own culture. How calculatedly the British
played their cards is evident from the ideas embodied in a speech which
Macaulay, the then Law Member of the Governor General's Executive +
Council in India, made in the House of Commons.
Are we to keep the people of India ignorant in order that we
may keep them submissive? Or do we mean to awaken
ambition and to provide it with no legitimate vent? It may be
that the pitblic mind of India may expand under our system
until it has outgrown that system, that by good government we
may educate our subjects into a capacity for better
government, that having become instructed in European
knowledge, they may in some future age demand European
institutions. Whether such a day will ever come, I know not.
Whenever it comes it will be the proudest day in English
history. The sceptre may pass fiom us. Victory may be
inconstant to our arms. But there are triumphs which are
followed by no reverses. There is an empire exempt from all
natural causes of decay. These triumphs are the pacific
triumphs of reason over barbarism3.
1.3.2.3 The Minutes of Macaulay
Macaulay, profound scholar, successful writer and eloquent speaker,
is sufficiently notorious in India ever since, as the person responsible for
implementing the educational policies detrimental to our national interests.
Based on the famous Minutes which he presented to Lord William
Bentinck, Governor General in 1835, a resolution was passed y i t h
following points:4
1. "That the great object of the British Government ought to be the
promotion of European literature and science amongst the natives of
India and that all finds appropriated for the purpose of education
would be best employed on English Education alone."
2. "That, while the colleges of oriental learning were not to be
abolished, the practice supporting their students during their period
of education was to be discontinued."
3. "That Government Funds were not to be spent on the printing of
oriental works."
4. "That all the funds at the disposal of the Government would
henceforth be spent in imparting to the Indians a knowledge of
English literature and science."
1.3.2.4 The Filtration theory of Education
A major harm which the British did while designing an educational
system for India is known as "The Filtration Theory of Education" - that is
to say, educate the top few, education will filter down (percolate) in due
course! On July 3 1, 1937 Macaulay wrote:
We do not at present aim at giving education directly to the
lower classes of the people of this country. We aim at raising
up an educated class who will thereafter, as we hope, difise
among their countrymen some portion of the knowledge we
have imparted to them5.
The real purpose of the Filtration Theory of Education can be
summed up in these words;
Education was to permeate the masses from above. Drop by
drop from the Himalayas of Indian life, useful information
was to trickle downwards, forming in time a broad and stately
stream to irrigate the thirsty plains6.
And then we have the most notorious of the statements in Macaulay's
Minutes:
We must at presenl'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
tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect7.
1.3.2.5 Other Important Landmarks of Education in British India
Important landmarks in the next few years are the Wood's Despatch
(1 854) which introduced grant-in-aid, and the Indian Education Commission
(1885) which strongly recommended steps for gearing up primary,
secondary and collegiate education. Then came Indian Universities
Commission (1902), Gokhale's Bill (1910), the Educational Resolution
(1913) and the Calcutta Education Commission (1917). In 1920s Gandhi's
basic education was enunciated and with it there was a strong popular
demand for the introduction of universal, free and compulsory education.
This overview of British education reveaIs that the foreigners saw
education as a tool for the furtherance of their political and economic goals
in India. It was more of their intention to prepare people for life nor to make
them appreciate the native culture from which alone real development can
spring.
1.3.3 THE GANDHIAN RE-ORIENTATION
With Gandhi's appearance on the scene we find a positive turn in the
history of education in India? The following passage from the Harijan
brings out the prophetic, nationalist, humane and realistic vision which
Gandhi had in this regard:
As a nation we are so backward in education that we cannot
hope to fulfil our obligations in this respect in a given time
during our generation. I have, therefore, made bold, even at
the risk of losing reputation for constructive policy, to suggest
that education should be self-supporting. By education, I
mean an all-round drawing out of the best in the child and
man - body, mind and spirit. Literacy is not the end of
education, nor even the beginning. It is only one of the means
whereby men and women can be educated. Literacy in itself
is not education. I would, therefore, begin the child's
education by teaching it a useful handicraft, enabling it to
produce Grom the moment it begins its training. Thus, every
school can be made self-supporting, condition being that State
takes over the manufacture (products) of these schoolss.
1.3.3.1 Gandhian Critique of British Education
In his forthright manner Gandhi criticized Enghsh education for four
reasons: one, it is associated with the utterly unjust Government; two, it is
based upon a foreign culture to the almost entire exclusion of indigenous
culture; three, it ignores the culture of the heart and the hand and confines
itself simply to the head; and four, real education is impossible through a
foreign medium. A very small percentage of people could manage to
acquire English education. In the process they lost all their ties with
illiterate masses. Educational institutions worked in ivory towers
completely oblivious of the needs and problems of Indian Society. They
trained Indian youths in academic subjects which prepared them for
Government service or clerical jobs. The intellectuals and the educated lost
all their moorings in Indian culture and developed a sort of social blindness
towards the urgent problems and sderings of Indian masses. This is the
reason why Gandhi felt aggrieved to see what he called the "hard-
heartedness" of the educated in India. Gandhi deplored the yawning gap
between the educated and the vast illiterate masses of Indian people. In his
concept of education the basic values such as truthhlness, ahimsa, self-
control and service to the community were given high priority.
Gandhi deplored the tendencies of English Education to develop
intellect without inculcation of human values which are the very basis of a
good system of education. Though Gandhi did not minimise the value of
intellect and academic learning, he placed highest value on development of
character. High integrity of character was for him sine qua non of real
education.
For this vital process of building character Gandhi advocated close
integration of the process of education with the life and work in the
community. For such integration Gandhi sought to make education at
primary levels craft-centred so that the growing child may not only acquire
knowledge but also manual skills which are familiar to him and would be
immediately useful to his family. With that sense of practical wisdom so
characteristic of the Mahatma, he saw in such a scheme the means to relieve
the burden of organizing primary education for vast masses of Indian people
and what is even more important, a method of making education more
relevant to the needs of rural communities.
1.3.3.2 Basic Education
w Mahatma Gandhi had started his experiments in educational activities
in Wardha. In the Wardha Scheme it was made absolutely clear that
education has a close relation with life of the child, i.e. his home, his village,
crafts, industries and occupations of his village.
The basic education as it is accepted for primary schools emphasizes
close integration of school and community activities. It aims at educating
the children through the most important craft of the community. This means
a close relationship between the work done at the school and work done in
the community. Such a close relationship will also enable the children to
cany the outlook and attitudes acquired in the school environment into
wider world outside. This will augment their sense of personal worth,
dignity and efficiency and their desire for self-improvement and social
service.
The basic education teacher takes the activities which are being
canied out in the community as the basis to plan his lessons. He relates his
academic symbols to the day-to-day experiences of the pupils which they
bring to the class. For it is obvious that students learn more fiom life than
fiom books. Whatever experience they get in the community Me is the
starting point of their learning. The teacher assesses the available local
resources to make full use of them in planning lessons in the school.
Learning by doing is the accepted principle of basic education. When the
school develops activities on this principle, it naturally relates its activities
to the life of the community.
For developing basic education successllly in schools Gandhi
visualized a close co-operation of the school and the community and he
advocated that teachers should play a dynamic role in promoting rural
reconstruction and adult education.
Similarly, for implementing the programme of compulsory primary
education educationists have visualized a close cooperation of the school
and the community and advocated that school teachers should play a
dynamic role in community education and adult education. Educationists
have now realized that the problem of wastage and drop-outs in primary
education is closely linked up with the existence of mass illiteracy in the
country. It is the children of illiterate parents who do not go to schools or
drop out early. This also points to the need for school-community
interaction.
1.3.3.3 Genesis of Adult Education in India
The very genesis of the modem forms of adult education in India can
be traced in the national struggle for independence. Himself a born teacher,
Gandhi had brought about a great awakening among Indian masses through
his speeches, discussions and writings. For him the very struggle for
independence itself was a great process of adult education. For he reiterated
again and again that the freedom of a nation does not consist merely in
political emancipation, nor even in economic prosperity. The real freedom
of a nation begins with the liberation of the minds of its people, and
education is the process which liberates the minds of a people. One of the
passions of Gandhi's life was to see every man, woman and child in India
educated. He had started his own experiments in adult education in
Champaran of Bihar.
Gandhi was gravely concerned about the existence of mass illiteracy
in India. He even considered it as India's sin and shame and wanted it to be
liquidated at the earliest. He also said that Adult Education should not be
confined to literacy programmes alone, but should also aim at the
"emancipation of the masses from the squalor of superstition and the
tyranny of taboo^."^ During theairties, a large number of adult literacy
classes were started in many cities and towns under his inspiration. Later on
Gandhi had started his own experiments in Wardha. But he constantly
reminded the workers that India lived in villages. Therefore he asked them
to go to villages, settle down there and mix with the people there and serve
them. To the extent that he serves the people, he will also be educating ,
them. "The problems of social education or education for the people," said
he, discussing the matter with the teachers of Rastriya Pathashala of
Sathyagrahasram, "are even more difficult than that of children's education.
For the latter, we have example of how it has been carried out. But for the
education of our masses, we may say that not even that much guidance is
available to us. In this respect, we can learn only a little even from foreign
countries. Conditions in India are also different from those in other
co~ntries"'~.
1.3.3.4 Other Experiments in Gandhian Education
One of the most important problems which faced the workers in adult
literacy classes during those days as well as now is the problem of relapse
into illiteracy. Gandhl had thought about this problem and given his own
solution. Gandhi wrote, "The lapse is bound to occur after the short courses
that are given. The lapse can only be prevented by correlating the teaching
to the villagers' daily wants. The dry knowledge of three R's is not, and can
never be, a permanent part of villagers' life. They must have knowledge
given to them which they must use daily. It must not be thrust upon them.
They should have the appetite for it. What they have today is something
they neither want nor appreciate"".
Other than the Sevagram model, we have a few other significant
experiments such as Tagore's Srinikethan which tries to relate education to
rural development, Gijubhai Badheka's experiments in teacher education in
Gujarat, Gandhigram Rural Institute started by G. Ramachandran,
Avinashilingam Home Science College started by T.S. Avinashilingam.
To conclude this part of the discussion we may note that Gandhi's
influence on Indian education was to take it closer to the lives of the
learners and to Indian culture. His models of basic education and adult
education were attempts to link education with community.
1.3.4 THE POST-INDEPENDENCE SCENE
1.3.4.1 University Education Commission
A new era in the history of education was ushered in with the
attainment of independence in 1947. It naturally brought a new hope, a new
vision, a new future for the subcontinent, the like of which was not possible
in the past. These hopes and aims, many people felt, could be realized
tluough the instrument of education. Education was also considered to be
the chief weapon in facing and solving new problems. The University
Education Commission (1948) under the chairmanship of Dr. S.
Radhakrishnan explained the situation in the following words.
We are today faced with great problems, national and social,
the acquisition of economic independence, the increase of
general prosperity, attainment of an effective democracy
ovemding the distinctions of caste and creed, rich and poor,
and a rise in the level of culture. For the quick and effective
realization of these aims, education is a powehl weapon, if it
is organized efficiently and in the public interestI2.
India has today one of the largest education systems in the world with 69
a total enrollment exceeding 75 million. Teachers number over 2 million. In
higher education alone there are a little over 2 million students of whom
more than half a million are women.
1.3.4.2 The Origin of University Grants Commission (UGC)
The picture of the development of university education will remain
incomplete without a brief mention of University Grants Commission
(UGC). This was brought into being in 1953 through an executive order of
the Govt. of India. The UGC Act was passed by the Indian parliament in
1956. The main responsibility of UGC is to co-ordinate and maintain
standards. Ln addition to fulfilling this, it has created an appreciation of the
significance of higher education in the country as whole, and succeeded in
focusing attention on some of its urgent and important needs such as the
extension dimension. A gist of the guidelines on Adult Education and
Extension Programmes, issued by the UGC is included in the Annexures.
1.3.4.3 The Kothari Commission
Despite UGC's efforts and the rapid growth of higher education, there
was an air of dissatisfaction with education in the country, and consequently
a lot of criticism followed against its various aspects. It was in those
circumstances that under the chairmanship of Dr. D.S. Kothari, the Indian
Education Commission (1964) was appointed. Dr. Kothari's report is one of
the important landmarks in our on-going effort at renewing education in our
country. Perhaps no other commission has made a stronger plea for linking
education with the community.
The University Grants Commission has taken a number of steps to
promote and guide involvement of students and teachers in various agtivities
related to communitizing education.
These inc1udel3
Creation of departmentstcentres of Adult, Continuing Education and
Extension;
Assistance for various activities under the third dimension;
Promoting integration of extension in the curricula, and academic
incentives to students participating in such activities;
Provision for staff development for adult literacy and adult education
in the form of preparation of training manuals, short term training
courses, etc.;
Development of resource materials in print and audio visual formats;
Support to research methodology workshops, development-oriented
non-formal education etc.
Transforming Adult/Continuing Education movemei~t into a life
centred and life long learning process;
Promotion extension to permeate all disciplines of studies at all
levels;
An area based non-sectarian community approach extending access of
education to the door steps of all segments of people by promoting
micro-planning;
Encouraging students to opt for a semester to work in programmes for
preparing a project report in lieu of one of the optional papers in
every subject;
Mass campaigns by involving the entire student community along
with their teachers;
Transforming college-based area projects into community education
centres which should be run in the college premises on whole time
basis providing access to learners at their convenience and at their
own place; b,
Malung the programmes under the third dimension a part of the
larger national perspective on social development with eradication of
illiteracy as an entry point.
In spite of these guidelines and provisions for financial support fiom
UGC, adult education is yet to have the mass appeal which it naturally calls
for. The absence of an over all development perspective for adult education
is clearly visible in the style of functioning of the Departments of Adult
Education in most universities. Several review committees have submitted
their reports which contain progressive recommendations. Yet, these
departments or the general education machinery are yet to take steps which
will affect the social fabric in a significant manner.
1.3.4.4 National Adult Education Programme (NAEP)
On 2"* October 1978, the government of India launched a nation-wide
National Adult Eduaction Programme (NAEP) with the objective of literacy
for conscientization and formation of organizations of the poor to enable the
poor to rise to their own liberation through literacy, dialogue and action. In
1985, the Adult Education Programme, along with the entire education
system, was reviewed in a nation-wide open debate, and as on the basis of
discussion, a new National Policy on Education W E ) 1986 was formulated
and adopted by the Indian Parliament, adhering to the perspective that "the
role of education is to transform a static society into one vibrant with a
commitment to development and change".
1.3.4.5 National Literacy Mission
In May 1988 the National Literacy Mission (NLM) was launched w
with the objective of imparting functional literacy to 80 million adult
literates in the 15-30 age group by 1995. According to NLM, "functional
literacy among other elements, implies becoming aware of the causes of
their deprivation and moving towards amelioration of their condition
through organization and participation in the process of devel~~ment" '~. But
it is seen that when it comes to actual implementation, NLM's radical and
comprehensive definition of functional literacy gets reduced to teaching of
alphabets. The dominant strategy of NLM is campaign approach which is
area specific, time-bound, volunteer based and cost-effective". The
dynamism of NLM is definitely impressive. Acharya Ramamurthy has put
this issue in proper perspective in his report.
The content and process of adult education, as distinct from
adult literacy, is to be reorganized. The questions of survival,
development and justice are to be interwoven into the content,
pedagogy and learning situation of the adult, letting literacy
come organically in the process when, and if, it becomes the
felt need of the adult learners. This understanding would help
in avoiding the disproportionate emphasis on literacy
campaigns. A major objective of this campaign should be to
enthuse the adult illiterates to send their children for school
education. Other objectives may include education for
democracy and panchayatraj and eschewing violence,
casteism, communalism, gender bias and all other forms of
di~crimination'~.
1.3.5 Conclusion
What has been attempted in this chapter is an overview of education
in India from ancient times to modem times, with a search for community-
orientation. The overview reveals that in ancient India the school was
embedded in society and was an integral part of the social fabric. Families,
worship groups and temples participated in, and re-inforced the schooling
process. The gurus, bhikshus and bhaktas went out to the people to teach
them in the genuine spirit of what is today called "extension". - The chapter also reviews the manner in which this beautill system
was undone for political / commercial reasons by the foreign rulers of India.
The third part of the chapter traces the history of Indian education from
post-independence years. In the campaign for national freedom, in the basic
education model in the recommendations of Dr. S Radhakrishnan, in the
vision of UGC, in the establishment of NAEP and later NLM everywhere it
is seen that our national perspective on education is one that calls for a
creative linking of the campuses with the communities around them.
Notes and References
I In the sociology of education, the objective of education is usually
described as 'socialization' of the child as a functioning and responsible
member society. It was the publication of John Dewey's ideas on 'School
and Commhity' which created widespread interest in the role of school as
an agency of socialization.
Quoted by Laksmanaswami A Mudaliar : Education in India.
(Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1960) 2 1-22.
3 Laksmanaswarni A Mudaliar. op. cit. 22.
4 Quoted by Shiv Kumar Saine, Development of Education in India:
Socio-economic and Political Perspectives, (New Delhi: Cosmo
Publications. 1980) 41.
5 Macaulay's Minutes. Quoted in S.K Saine, Development of
education in 1ndia:Socio-economic and Political Perspectives, (New Delhi:
Cosmo Publications, 1980) 43. LI
6 Macaulay, quoted in S.K Saine. op. cit. 43.
7 Macaulay, quoted in S.K Saine. op. cit. 42.
8 Ahmedabad: The Harijan, July 10,1937
9 Gandhi, op. cit. July 10, 1937
10 From V~nimaya: A handwritten Periodical conducted by teachers of
Rashtriya Pathasala of Satyagrahaashram, Vol. 2 (3)
11 Harijan , June 12,1940
l2 Govt. of India, NCERT: Report of University Education
Commission, Delhi, 1948
l3 UGC: New Guidelines on Adult, Continuing Eduaction and
Extension Programmes in the Universities and Colleges (New Delhi,
1988) 1 .
14 Govt. of India, National Literacy Mission: Annual Report 1993-94:
Literacy andpost Literacy Campaigns in India (New Delhi, 1995) 1.
15 Govt. of India National Literacy Mission: op. cit. 2.
l 6 Acharya Ramamurti: Towards an Enlightened and ~ i m a n e
Society: A Perspective on Education, Report of Committee for Review of
National Policy on Education (NPE)1986 (New Delhi, 1990)
Top Related