On Education - Articles - Education: India and the World

Education: India and the World

The complexity that human civilization has reached, in terms of advancement of science & technology, fusion of cultures and lifestyles, globalization of trade and commerce, tensions between faiths & religions, demands of societal and individual change & flexibility, supply of goods & services, dissemination of information & misinformation, pillage of weapons of mass destruction, environmental pollution and hazards of all kinds... has been unprecedented in the whole history of human kind.

But this is just the beginning.

Today perhaps none of us is capable enough to fully predict the level and kind of complexity that we are moving towards. But what we can safely predict are the challenges which will have to be successfully met so that human societies can survive their own burdens.

The challenges abound- Global Climate Change (Global Warming), uprising of new economic and national powers changing the present world order and generating new regional tensions, disposal of nuclear waste and the ever increasing possibility of nuclear catastrophe, cultural imperialism leading towards materialistic barbarism, eventual saturation and collapse of present capitalistic model of economics... and many others.

It is not that challenges similar to these were not encountered by humans in the past, for example, Saraswati River Civilization was destroyed because of natural calamities and its inhabitants had to move eastward towards the Ganges. The difference is that at that time calamities were local and mostly only natural but now calamities facing us are global and also man-made.

This makes issues all the more difficult and important. Especially so for a civilization a like ours which has sacrificed so much and labored so much for thousands and thousands of years to save its Cultural and Spiritual heritage in the wake of worst possible catastrophes ─ whether those which were thrown upon it by nature or those which it suffered under the rule of barbarians.

A deep enquiry into history of the world reveals to us that all survival and advancement of a particular culture or civilization is dependent upon the nature of one single element in any given society. And that element is its Educational System. Whether that system (in the Indian context) is informal/non-governmental/non-organized like the transmission of highest spiritual knowledge like that of the Upanishads or formal governmental like that of thousands of pathshalas run for hundreds of years before the reign of invaders, imperialists, and exploiters who destroyed them all with the aim of eliminating our culture entirely.

To develop and nurture the highest qualities of human beings through a very sound and visionary Educational System is the only way which guarantees not only a proper handling of the civilisational complexities but also their successful management and advancement towards greater levels of complexities and also (very importantly) survival in the wake of natural, cultural, economic, social, political, technological fallout and catastrophe.

The education system that we require today and in the future demands much, much more than the present model of education can provide us with.

Present Education System

The present education system has its roots in necessities of industrial revolution and attitudes of British colonization.

Now in the wake of the facts that the British colonization is long gone and American cultural colonization powerfully seeping in and that the industrial revolution which had promised liberation is leading us towards extinction because if its severe ills we need to radically rethink, reinvent, and revolutionize the system of Education of the entire world.

But first India...

We need a system that is capable of empowering Indians to be the leaders of the future humanity in all spheres of civilization: from the point of view of material growth to the visions of spiritual evolution. We need a system that not only uproots the evils of present industrial civilization but sustains and nurtures its positive aspects and also evolves and establishes new paradigms for the future — in all walks of life — both individually and integrally.

Our Aim:

To innovate our present system of education and establish an Alternative Board of Education parallel to the present boards like the CBSE, ICSE, IB Geneva, Cambridge International Examinations etc.

Our Formula:

Educational Innovations  

Futuristic Education +

Visions of India's Freedom Fighters & Revolutionaries of National Resurgence +

Elements of India's Cultural Heritage rooted in Experiential Realizations of the Eternal.

Futuristic Education: Futuristic Education would be the education that prepares individuals to collaborate and participate in the creation of a new-future. To develop this we can take into account the best and highest research done world over in the modern and present world related to the field of Education, Physical Sciences and Humanities.

1. Education — we can take in account the works of people like Maria Montessori, Howard Gardner, Pestalozzi... These people by their wide ranging and in-depth research have happened to revolutionize the way we look at Education in the modern world.
2. Sciences — we can take into account the awe inspiring researches done especially in the last 30 years in the field of brain & consciousness, psychology, astronomy, genetics etc. and consider the works of great researchers like V. Ramachandran, Amit Goswami, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi... These people have been instrumental in revolutionizing our notions of the Universe and understanding of the marvel that we are as human beings.
3. Humanities — we can consider great advances in the fields of social, political, economic, and management sciences and art, literature and music etc. and invite people like C. K. Prahalad, Mohammed Yunus... and consider the works of philosophers like Peter Druker, Peter Senge and many others. These people have been leaders in their own respective fields and have happened to give us new models of growth and empowerment.

Vision of India's Freedom Fighters & Revolutionaries of National Resurgence

Here we must make use of the visions, works, and experiments done in the field of education by our great and inspiring leaders like Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati, Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, and Sri Aurobindo. We owe our freedom to the sacrifices of these people but their spirits are still waiting to remould us: from animal-humans to true Human Beings, from a race of self-centered individuals to great patriots and from corrupt & hypocrite weaklings to individuals of nobility, character, and enterprise.

Elements of India's Cultural Heritage rooted in Experiential Realizations of the Eternal

In the present and future world it will be a world-wide necessity to incorporate the elements of universality and integrality as envisioned, realized and fostered by the seer-sages of India since the Vedic times to the times of the Upanishads, the Puranas, and then to the times of the emergence of great spiritual personalities like Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Sri Aurobindo and The Mother who were the very embodiments of the Eternal Wisdom of India.

There are many evidences now which show that the Vedas were composed almost 10 thousand years ago. And as early as then the Atharva Veda says
"This our Motherland gives equal shelter to peoples speaking different languages and following different religions and faiths.”

Isn't this magic!

 By soaking the True Spirit of our culture children will naturally grow up within them a great respect, deep love, immense adoration and a powerful feeling of servitude for India — the Mother of Civilizations and for her Eternal Message to the whole world. It is anyways necessary to implant a sense of strong patriotism, dignity, and faith in the Nation and its unique and indomitable Spirit and Values in its future citizens.

To inculcate the eternal spirit of Mother India in our children is as necessary as nourishing them with healthy food

The Path towards Future

A lot of research and experimentation has already been done in our country by many great personalities. And this more than 100 years of work is now ripe to be utilized by the willing leader. What our country requires today is just one visionary leader who is ready to understand and put at use these resources — and by doing so forever transform the spirit and body of the present educational system of the country.

This also has to be carefully understood that for our desired goal it is not the present educational system that has to be taken up to be changed. Firstly because it has its own utilities and secondly because it has a history of controversies which act as a huge mass of inertia for any positive spirited effort. The present system can continue with the installation of a spirit of continuous and incremental changes done as and when required.

What we need to work out is an alternative system of education. For this we need to set up —

1. National Commission for Educational Innovations &
2. State Commissions for Educational Innovations (in all the States).

While attempting the historic task we also need to remember that we have to publicize and foster the spirit of "No Politics in Education" as propagated by our leader

Shri L. K. Advani ji. For the education that we are envisioning is meant for a powerful India in whose vision and hands lie the future of humanity. Besides when we look at the field of education keeping in perspective the entire human civilization of past and present, it's great educationalists, and its sunlit future — debates could be and should be encouraged — but not narrow minded politics and mean spirited controversies which ultimately end up hurting the very future of our little ones which we are so laboriously trying to build up.