Education for Tomorrow - REPORT ON THE WORKSHOP ON EDUCATION FOR TOMORROW

REPORT ON THE WORKSHOP ON "EDUCATION FOR TOMORROW"

The Workshop on "Education for Tomorrow" was organized by Sri Aurobindo Research Foundation on September 7-8, 1996 at Baroda, and it was conducted by Kireet Joshi (KJ), President, Dharam Hinduja International Centre of India Research. Ms. Kosha Shah, Director, Sri Aurobindo Research Foundation, Baroda, coordinated the workshop.

List of participants is at ANNEXURE-I.

At the outset, Ms. Kosha Shah welcomed the participants and made an introductory statement.

Thereafter, KJ explained that it was thought preferable to have a small group of educationists, teachers and experts who could reflect on the innovations in education which are being experimented upon in different parts of the world and to consider not only the implications of these innovations but also to visualise what kind of education is required to meet the highest needs of building a new world order. He said that the tasks that are normally given to educational committees and Com missions are limited to the immediate concerns. He added that the situation has, however, become so acutely difficult that there is an urgent need to think of the fundamentals and to visualise education for tomorrow.

He said that the main questions that need to be discussed are: What is education? What is to be done if the higher ideals of education are to be implemented? What are the practical problems in carrying out this task? He also felt that one of the important tasks is to prepare a new programme of studies and total learning process. For that purpose, he said, we need to prepare new types of learning material corresponding to new types of curricula. He added that the programme of reconstruction could take a long time, but needs to be started as soon as possible.

Kireet Joshi then presented a paper entitled "Education for Tomorrow".

During the discussion that followed, PR said that everyone has a role to play in conceiving and implementing a programme of education for tomorrow. She said that there are in any society three circles: whereas outer circle is related to the sphere of influence that one can have on the society, media, etc., the innermost circle concerns the individual himself or herself. The intermediate circle is concerned with the interrelationship between the individual and the society. She felt that the internal activity can be conducted at the inmost circle. She added that each one of us needs to discover oneself by inner activity and that the task of self- discovery could be the best starting-point.

VNK said that "Education for Tomorrow" has to be integral in character and that a great emphasis should be laid upon the study of the mother tongue. He said that teaching children through a foreign tongue is cruelty.

GM deplored the onslaught by the media which are dehumanising our children and adults. She underlined the need for New Education, but she wondered whether a new curriculum could be formulated which would promote humanising influence. She said that the direct human contact is diminishing at every level. Even in the field of music, she said, instead of listening to live performances, we prefer to hear recordings on cassettes.

RV referred to Sri Aurobindo's view that instead of mechanisation of life, natural growth and spontaneity should be promoted. She stressed that education should be a living process. She added that education should underline the need of the concrete experience and that even the abstract ideas should be so communicated through stories and other dynamic processes that abstractions are clothed with concreteness.

BD pointed out that while during earlier periods of history, the human being was oriented towards collectivity, in the post-industrial era, there is greater and greater emphasis on egoism and competition based upon narrow concerns of individuality. She said that the problems of today are problems of the dichotomy between individual and the collectivity. How to reconcile the growth of the individual and growth of collectivity is the central problem, she added. She also referred to the concept of integral education and asked how integral education could promote the growth of gnostic society where the needs of the individuals and needs of collectivity can be perfectly synchronized.

PKSP stated that unless the present human consciousness undergoes a change, we cannot bring about any real change in the society. He felt that there is a need of total revolution, both individual and collective. He asked whether such a total change is possible.

KJ explained that the human being is basically angelic in character, because there is a soul in every human being. He added that if this angel in the human being can be affirmed, then the change will be possible and will even become inevitable.

KB observed that the present situation in the field of education is deplorable and that the values in the society and consequently the values that are influencing our children are going haywire. She remarked that materialism is on the ascendancy. She underlined the need to awaken the inner soul and said that a new syllabus should be framed which would have as its objective the awakening of the inner soul. She added that at present, our education is nurturing individuals to become competitive, mechanistic, materialistic; she added that the present system of education is manufacturing robot -like individuals. She stressed that radical innovations are essential.

JCD pointed out that the major defects of our system of education are connected with the present examination system and the present syllabus.

PR said that the entire system of education is to be changed. In regard to examinations, she said that various new forms of examination should be conceived, such as examinations with open books.

Examination papers should be devised with imaginative questions that would really test the intelligence of the students instead of the power of memory, she added. She also favoured questions which would be both theoretical and objective. She further suggested the methods of learning which would underline learning by discovery and learning by doing.

AK commented that examinations are a big bugbear for children. She wondered whether a new system of education would be able to remove this fear from students. She also raised questions about experimentation in education. She wondered whether human beings should be used as guinea pigs.

BD expressed the view that education at all levels, lower or higher, should be that of self-development. She, however, added that other aspects of development also need to be kept in mind. She also made a distinction between education as a technique of teaching and education as a discipline and said that when this distinction becomes blurred as it has become today, unwanted consequences arise. She also underlined the dimension of value-education.

KJ agreed with BD and said that value education is very important and added that true education is inherently value-oriented. He, however, pointed out that there is a need to give to children enough facilities that would respect the pace and rhythm of each individual's process of development.

HMJ spoke of different theories of human personality. He made a distinction between the existential approach, the psychoanalytical approach

and approach of Realism. He said that all these different approaches have behind them some basic truths; these basic truths, he added, need to be synthesized. He pleaded for the integral view of the human being. In the integral view, he said, development of integral consciousness is underlined. And if this view is applied to education, he said, the most important question is as to how to devise teachinglearning processes by which this consciousness can be developed. He said that there are two keys to the growth of awareness, namely, self-knowledge and self-discipline. He said that there is in everyone a psychic entity, antaratman of the Upanishad or Chaitaya Purusha. He said that education must aim at the awakening of the psychic entity because it is by the help of the psychic entity that narrowness, selfishness and egoism of the individual can be progressively eliminated and a complete harmony of the body, life and mind can be established. He, therefore, favoured the enlargement of the horizons of education. He said that we must raise the question whether the human nature can be changed and whether we should not plan new education which would aim at the change of human nature.

PR stated that very important experiments in education are currently being conducted in the West and that these experiments aim at creative development of talents of children. She said that it is by emphasising creativity that human nature can be changed in the right direction. In some of the experiments, she added, class system where children are divided into lower and higher divisions have been greatly modified. She added that there are many

educational situations where all children belonging to different levels are placed in one class and this promotes greater interaction among children. She said that innovations in methodology of education need to be promoted. She underlined the need for creative education.

On the conclusion of this discussion, KJ presented his second paper entitled "The Concept of Integral Education".

He also circulated for self-study his third paper entitled "Methods and Practical Applications".

The fourth paper written by Kireet Joshi on "Personality Development" was next presented.

Thereafter, KJ circulated for self-study his next paper on "A model framework for teaching- learning suitable to integral education."

At the outset of discussion on the paper on "Personality Development", and other papers, JCD said that while many good ideas were presented, the question remains as to how one can implement them.

KJ observed said that none of these ideas can be implemented unless we have teachers, who first of all, understand quite well the implications of these ideas. Secondly, he added, they must themselves develop into new kinds of human beings. He said that teachers must have great interest in children and their development, and they should be able to interweave their own personal lives with the lives of the children. He said that unless this interweaving takes place, the kind of education that is proposed will remain impracticable. He also underlined the need for new kinds of learning material new contents

of education, new methods of education and new kinds of books. He said that since none of these are immediately available, we have to think of a programme of education where, gradually, all that is required for implementation is sufficiently prepared, first on a small scale and later on a growing scale.

JCD said that there is a group of parents and management who would like to do something in the field of education. She said that parents are ready to pay higher fees if the school provides something more than what is commonly done in the ordinary schools. She, however, felt that the main difficulty comes from the governmental departments of education. She said that the department does not give financial assistance if innovative experimentations are proposed.

KJ stated that there is, first, the need to have increasing number of groups of teachers, parents, educational administrators ready to devote much of their time in thinking seriously on problems of education. This is to be supplemented by a number of seminars and workshops. There is also a further need to prepare learning material. He added that all these preliminary things have to be done as a prerequisite preparation before we could think of actual implementation.

JCD remarked that the great obstacle is that of political interference.

KJ pointed out that the difficulty is not merely that of politics, but even well meaning people are not prepared to understand that the kind of education

that is needed today has to be radically different. He added that a lot of experimentation is needed, and one should be prepared to spend a few years in preparing a new climate.

JCD explained that while experiments can be proposed, there is lack of proper leadership. She also added that new leaders of education should be able to explain proposals of innovations to the higher authorities in their right perspective.

KJ intervened to point out that it was in the context of this need that he had, at one stage, made a proposal for the establishment of an Education Commission, not like the University Grants Commission or National Council for Educational Research and Training, but as a permanent body which would encourage constant discussion among teachers, parents, educationists, administrators and the people at large.

GM asked the question as to whether the system of integral education was implemented by the Mother in Pondicherry.

In reply, KJ replied that by the year 1972, the implementation of New Education had reached a certain climax of perfection. He added that as a result of a long process of experimentation, a new system of education was invented.

GM lamented that a feeling of helplessness arises because one does not know what help is available in practical terms. She also wondered whether new system of education would require 1 : 1 student -teacher ratio and whether such a ratio is viable or not.

KJ explained that the question of studentteacher ratio can be solved if we have a different kind of grouping of students

He pointed out that in a new system, one could provide even eight teachers to one student, and at the same time, one would need only one teacher for hundreds of students. He observed that what is important is that different kinds of grouping of children can be conceived for different kinds of activities involved in the educational process.

GM remarked that in any case, we need a high quality of teaching staff. She wondered whether the needed staff is available.

KJ averred that if one wants to start a project of innovative education, we shall need to recruit fresh teachers and organise a programme of training .for them. He stressed that it was very important that new teachers receive training; children should be admitted to the new school only after the teachers are properly trained. He admitted that while problem of starting a new project is very difficult, it is not impossible.

AK said that while the ideas are all very good, we have to admit that they are very difficult to translate into practice. She added that we should have, in the first instance, a small number and also a kind of conviction.

RV suggested that we should have models of residential institutions, where children are placed in the hands of a team of dedicated teachers.

KJ commented that even residential institutions have certain limitations. The first limitation, he said,

is that syllabus is prepared by the Board of Examinations, teachers are not free to make experiments to introduce innovations in the syllabus. The second problem, he said, is related to examination system, because children know that all that ultimately counts is passing of the examinations. As a result, many good things which can be done in residential schools achieve only a marginal place in the total system. He also referred to the difficulty arising out of the pressure from parents. He said that many parents want true and good education for their children, but they have fear about the future of their children who are required to fit themselves into the framework of the present competitive society which is getting more and more dehumanised and mechanised. As a result, parents put a big pressure upon teachers and schools. He admitted that these are some of the problems which are being faced by all those who want to launch upon innovative experimentation. At the same time, he said there are several good private and public schools in the country. He, however, added that these schools cannot be expected to bring about radical changes in the system of education. He further added that if a new system has to be developed we should start with a limited clientele and develop a very good programme of training of teachers. He said that the country needs a band of people who are prepared to give their life-time to building up small nuclei of experimentation. It is only at a later stage that generalisation of a new system can be conceived.

CD referred to the Amrit Higher Secondary School which has 3,500 students. He said that the

teachers started this innovative new school with the cooperation of some like-minded parents. In this experiment, he pointed out, a different kind of evaluation system came to be developed, consisting of assignments, weekly evaluation, surprise tests, etc. He, however, regretted out that the difficulties came from the parents. He said that they could not accept the innovative system and wanted to have the same system of examinations as in some other ordinary schools. He also referred to the problem of financial constraints.

KS said that when we speak of education, we normally talk about students, teachers and parents, .but we do not think of educating society at large.

She stressed the need to concentrate on how society can be educated. She said that we should go about educating the society so that it is able to accept innovations in education.

KJ said that this problem could be dealt with at three levels. Firstly, he said, we should create small nuclei in different parts of the country. He referred to the experiments which were made at Sri Aurobindo Ashram and at Auroville. He said that there is a proposal to create 20 or 30 such communities all over the country. He explained that Auroville is a place where individuals who are ready to make experiments are brought together under the canopy of a township, where all activities of human life are represented. He said that the main aim of this township is to foster the actualization of human unity. On the model of this idea, he said, innovative education can come to be developed by the voluntary effort. This voluntary effort, he explained, needs to

be supplemented by working on the government so that the government facilitates the voluntary effort. But even this is not enough, he added. He said that something has also been done at the international level so that the general climate becomes more and more favourable to innovative education. He acknowledged that there are no simple answers to various problems that are involved in this three-fold endeavour. He added that they have to be met, dealt with and they have to be resolved only gradually and progressively. He, however, emphasised that what is most important is to keep the fire of aspiration burning.

PR said that an important aspect that should not be forgotten is that of the cost factor. She stressed that financial management is also of prime importance. She also raised the question as to whether and how parents can be involved in carrying out innovations in education. She said that parents should become more and more aware of problems of education, particularly those problems which directly affect their children and the problems which are created by the children themselves

KS said that the parents know these problems but they do nothing about them.

KB remarked that one should not always criticise parents. Both teachers and parents should be prepared to cooperate in dealing with the problems.

SJ agreed with this suggestion and added that both parents and teachers should be involved in a cooperative manner.

KS said that it is not enough to involve parents, students, and teachers; the entire society needs to be prepared for a new system of education and a new way of life so that the society is receptive to the changes. But again, she added, the problem is as to how to prepare the society, how to make society accept the change and how to bring about the needed changes. She said that the problem is as to how we can make people think in a different fashion, so that when there are innovations in the education system, they are ready for them and willing to cooperate. She added that with the cooperation of the society, things could go much faster. She pointed out that we need to start by creating an atmosphere of influence, wherever we are, at every level in order to increase the receptivity of the society to the process of change.

PR said that if one can go at one's pace in one's own circle, we can create a world of excellence. She referred to the problem of sex education and the experiments done by the Baroda University. She said that Snehaben (SJ) has an experimental school under the department of teachers' education which prepares teachers for B.Ed. In that school, the problem of sex education was experimented upon. At the next stage, she said, we shall need to deal with academic council, which is normally very rigid. She added that everyone should try in his/her own sphere of influence to loosen the grip of rigidity. It is only when different bodies of the university get together and draft a plan of action that fruitful experiments can be conducted. She also referred to various innovative ideas that were put forward for Baroda

University. She said that she would like every student in the University to be computer literate. In addition, the ideal of academic excellence should be emphasised. She also underlined the need to develop the idea of interdisciplinary courses. She said that each teacher should chalk out one's own plan and endeavour to make it a plan of the department, which should further be developed as a plan of the faculty of the university. She added that what Kireet Joshi had suggested was being tried in her university. She, however, added that the University plan should also become the plan of every teacher.

HMJ raised the question as to whether education for excellence does not result in elitistic education which induces development of ivory towers. He said that what is important is collective development, and that while ideal of excellence is important, we should avoid the evils of elitism.

KJ said that one of the definitions of excellence refers to a situation where every individual is encouraged to work on his/her limitations to over-come them so that each one moves towards the excellence that one is capable of. He explained that if the ideal of excellence is pursued in this manner, evils of elitism can be avoided.

PR said that one must be encouraged to develop one's potentialities up to one's maximum possibilities.

GM said that there are innovative institutions which turn out better students.

PR said that one of the reasons why some of these institutions succeed is because they follow a

particular philosophy. It makes them stick to certain ideas and enables them to look up to someone.

SJ observed that one of the reasons of the present deplorable condition in the country is that not only the students but even the teachers do not have the sense of belonging or commitment. She underlined the need to prepare teachers and to educate them properly. She said that commitment needs to be emphasised in our educational institutions.

RV stressed that no single individual can change a society; since it is individuals who make a society, individuals need to meet in a group and create the required environment or facility to create new environment.

KS commented that while it is true that society takes very long to change, the process is both individual and collective. She referred to Sri Aurobindo's concept of Collective Evolution and said that because Nature itself is evolving, we are also evolving collectively. She remarked that while individuals can make individual contributions, there is also need for the collectivity to make its own contribution. She said that there is something like massive action by massive awareness.

PR said that the first step is that of individual growth.

KS agreed but stated that collective growth is also necessary and as simultaneous step.

KJ referred to two methods of progress of which Sri Aurobindo has spoken:

(i) Method of Revolutionary Individual Progression;

(ii) Method of Collective Evolutionary Progression.

He explained that in the first method, the emphasis on the individual is much greater, while in the latter method the emphasis is upon collective effort. He said that one has to lay emphasis on both methods and employ one or other or both according to the possibilities of the given stage of development.

KS observed that people have apprehension about socalled philosophers who are very eager to distribute their knowledge; most people feel that knowledge is only in the head and not in the heart, and yet they apply it to everyone. She said that many difficult problems arise in the society because a number of people preach what they do not practise. She added that one should avoid prescriptions which are not backed by sufficient experimentation and practical application.

The programme of the second day began with a discussion on various aspects of education. JCT wanted to know how vital and mental education are different from each other and how these two aspects of education can be implemented in schools.

KS commented that there is a wide-spread misconception about psychic and spiritual education. A distinction was sought to be made between psychic and spiritual education on the one hand and moral and religious education on the other. It was pointed out that psychic and spiritual education cannot be equated with a kind of education in moral science since the two stand on different planes. She added that psychic and spiritual education emphasize a higher orientation of life which is much superior to orientation that is involved in moral education.

RV pointed out that the concept of methods of teaching evokes the sense of some kind of mechanisation. She said that in higher education, teachers are oriented only to their subjects of specialization. She underlined the need for the teachers to undergo special courses of training.

GM said that while physical, vital, and mental education deal with shaping of an individual out of an amorphous substance, in psychic education, she added, we deal with the true motive of life. She pointed out that the subject of motive or purpose of life is very controversial, since teachers may differ from each other in regard to this very important subject. She, therefore, felt that we need to keep psychic education out of any ordinary school programme.

KJ said that integral education should not mean juxtaposition of education of different elements of personality. Integral education is not education of the body, plus education of the vital plus education of mental, but education of underlying personality of which physical, vital and mental are instrumental"

manifestations. The real entity which is manifested is what is called the psychic being. Therefore, he added, the education of the psychic is already involved when we attempt to educate the instrumental personality consisting of the body, life and mind.

KJ stressed that the necessity of psychic education is paramount in the context of the present circumstances through which humanity is passing today. He pointed out that at different stages of civilisation, different goals of education could have been conceived, and quite legitimately, but the necessity of psychic education in the present stage of historical development of humanity is demonstrated by the fact that the gravitational pull which modern civilisatiion has intensified ties down humanity to lower impulses of violence, division, etc. This can be counteracted only if the nobler elements of human personality are fostered with special insistence.

KJ traced the main stages of human history and pointed out that it has become inevitable in the present stage of history to face the crisis which consists of an acute conflict between the higher aspiration of humanity and pulls of the lower life which are being greatly supported and nourished by the enormous structures of modern technological civilisation. He pointed out that human being is essentially evolutionary in character, and evolution implies an upward urge to exceed oneself. Human beings have, therefore, a natural tendency to exceed their own limitations. And yet, the present civilisation has provided such means to human beings that they feel disinclined to raise themselves from their limits.

He referred to the statement of Sri Aurobindo that the humanity is passing through an evolutionary crisis because while, on the one hand, there are favourable factors which would facilitate the development of humanity towards higher evolution into super-humanity, there are also powerful obstructions which tie down humanity to its present state of limitations.

KJ, therefore, underlined the need for human beings to free themselves from the gravitational pulls of various limitations which have at present become acute. At the same time, he said that humanity has to have freedom of choice, and it is, therefore, left to humanity to decide whether it wants to move towards higher levels which evolutionary urge implies or whether it wants to remain arrested where it is at present. Under these circumstances, he said, if we limit our education only to physical, vital and mental education, then the chances of children receiving the appropriate education to be the instruments of higher evolutionary progression will necessarily be much more limited.

GM said that one could only prepare the ground and the child will have to be free to make a choice.

KS said that this kind of work requires infinite patience.

KJ said that physical, vital and mental education can be fully integrated only if we give chance to the psychic and spiritual education. He added that the main problem for implementing the psychic and spiritual education is related to the teachers

CD pointed out that by emphasising psychic and spiritual education as the only method of integral education, we are not limiting the available alternative possibilities.

KJ said that while he would avoid using the word "exclusive" and while philosophically, one could always think of a number of alternatives to deal with any given problem, a stage is reached in the process of experimentation, where, having thought of all sorts of possibilities, one is obliged to eliminate various hypotheses when they are found unworkable.

In the present situation, he added, we have arrived at a point where one is scientifically obliged to conclude that there is no alternative left for mankind except to develop psychic and spiritual education.

MD said that the evolutionary concept of Sri Aurobindo needs to be clarified.

KJ said that there are many theories of evolution. He pointed out that, basically, the idea was put forward by Darwin in the modern times although the Upanishads speak of evolution and there was also the original Vedic idea of evolution. He also referred to the modern thinkers like Bergson, Samuel Alexander, Smutts and Whitehead. He also referred to Tiellhard de Chardin. He said that while there are many theories of evolution, the question is to find out certain crucial facts which will enable us to decide as to which one of these theories of evolution can answer those crucial facts. In this connection, he traced the experiment in the evolution that was proposed and carried out by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. He said that if we were

to study this entire account of evolutionary experiment, then one could see the enormous relevance and inevitability of the programme of evolution presented by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. He added that it was in the context of that great programme that he could speak confidently of necessity of psychic and spiritual education.

After the above discussion, KJ presented the next paper entitled "Contents of Education".

While introducing the above paper, KJ had said that through that paper, he wanted to share with the participants a curriculum related to self-knowledge and self-control which seems to emerge as a very important ingredient of integral education. He added that the curriculum was tentative and it needed to be enriched by a discussion with educationists, who are interested in essential and higher aims of education. He explained that corresponding to that curriculum, there is also a need to think of contents of education in a new light and also to think of preparing suitable books which would be needed to implement the proposed curriculum. He also explained that as an annexure to that paper, he had appended the following three stories: (1) Story of Initiation--an Indian (Gujrati) Story; (2) A Cap for Steve by Morley Callaghan--an American Story; and (3) A Secret for Two-- also an American Story. He said that those stories were a kind of samples to explain what kind of stories we need to collect from the East and the West so that under the influence of such stories a sense of universality can be cultivated. He said that the children who are

to be citizens of the world should be free from the sense of division between the East and the West; they should be able to swim in the vast ocean of the universe. In this context, he said, stories play a great role in the growth of synthetic elements of personality. He explained that the stories that he wanted to collect should illustrate the themes of illumination, love and heroism. He referred to a question which was raised during the course of discussion as to what was the method of vital education. He said that his basic answer was that one of the most important instruments of vital education is that of good stories. He invited the participants to the task of collecting good stories from the world literature. He, however, explained that stories should have been written in chaste language and that they should be of deep human interest, and that they should vibrate with the uplifting atmosphere.

During the discussion, KS referred to the theme of psychic and spiritual education. Commenting upon what was said earlier on that subject, she said that what is being offered in our life is a choice between the life of joy and sorrow and the life guided by the psychic and spiritual light. She said that the choice is always difficult, and even the path that has to be followed in regard to psychic and spiritual education is very difficult, but the results obtained in the long-run will be worthwhile.

HMJ said that the present system of education in India has certain basic ideals. He, however,

wondered whether the Government which is implementing the present system of education is fully aware of the cultural implications of that system. He also pointed out that there are several other demands in our system of education, which include those connected with the medium of instruction where the emphasis is upon the mother tongue of the child, priorities regarding removal of poverty, etc. He also referred to many schools which were established under the influence of Gandhi and Vinobha Bhave. In contrast, there is the ordinary system culminating in the system which is propagated by the University Grants Commission. He also pointed out that the Indian Government is a Federal Government and that different State Governments have their own special emphases on education. He also referred to the schools established by the Central Schools Organisation, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. He also referred to Convent Schools, which have their own unique goals. He said that all these different kinds of schools can be contrasted with the ideal of integral education which was being discussed in the Workshop. He pointed out that the ideal of integral education carries forward the Rigvedic and Upanishadic tradition. In his view, India has reached a point where any kind of patch-work would not help the promotion of the goals that have to be realized in India. He pleaded for a total transformation which can begin only with psychic and spiritual education. He, however, wondered as to what would be the role of teachers, administrators

and others who are engaged in the present system of education.

KJ said that he would advise that wherever one may be, one can always find enough room to explore and implement integral education. He added that when enough work is done by each one, circumstances will arise which would facilitate the opening of a major gate for implementation of integral education. He stated that he was confident that, sooner rather than later, humanity was bound to look for a system of education that could be conducive for integral education.

GM said that according to her, the time has already come when we must say : "No, no more of this present ordinary system." She, however, raised another question as to at which level students should be allowed to make a choice of subjects.

KJ said that free choice should be given right from the stage of Kindergarten education. He explained that Kindergarten education should be so organised that in a big hall, a number of things should be made available and each should be allowed to play with any article in which they may feel interested. He said that teachers should be present to watch the children and intervene only when they are likely to hurt themselves. At the primary level, he said, reading, writing and arithmetic are important and the learning material regarding these subjects should be made so interesting that children feel attracted to this learning material. Even then, he felt that none of these subjects should be made

compulsory. He said that over a short period, different children would take up one or two or all the three subjects; in the meantime, children should also be encouraged to learn music or art or clay work or things of that kind. He felt that over a period of four or five years of primary education, children could be expected to arrive at a certain competence in regard to reading, writing and calculating ordinary sums. In addition, children will have also indicated their interest in music, art, craft work, drama, recitation of poems, etc. He also referred to language and history and said that in a sense a study of every subject can be reduced to study of language and history. He felt that while history is important as a study of the past, care should be taken to see that children are enabled to cultivate visions of the future.

He also referred to the study of mathematics and said that while one aspect of mathematics is a theory of numbers, another aspect is the practical ability for calculations. He said that both these aspects are important, and even though calculations could be done by computers, one should not forget that mental calculations are vital for the development of the mental faculty.

MS pointed out that Vedic mathematics has been found by him to be of great help in developing the mental faculty. He also pointed out that psychic and spiritual education has now become a necessity. He, however, felt that teachers need to be helped in

conducting education for the development of psychic and spiritual potentialities.

MDV said that the greatest difficulty is that people get imprisoned within the walls of dogmas. He felt that there was a great need to liberate the people from dogmas. He also referred to the new idea of UGC to promote the "cafeteria approach". He also referred to Upanishadic concept of Sachchidananda and welcomed the idea of new contents of education.