Author: Sabith Khan is a visiting researcher at Georgetown University, Washington D.C. Views expressed are his own.
Model of education
It is true that we need to create more jobs for those who need them. To address this and have a more inclusive system where the country produces technically competent staff, we could potentially develop a more robust apprenticeship model, such as the one in Germany. But over and above the merely 'technocratic' model of education, the model that India needs is the one envisioned by Rabindranath Tagore. With the world becoming a proverbial village, the citizens of this village need a new vision. As Tagore wrote: "I try to assert in my words and works that education has its only meaning and object in freedom — freedom from ignorance about the laws of the universe, and freedom from passion and prejudice in our communication with the human world." We need to discover what it means to be free in today's India. Have we somehow become so enamoured of our past glories and imagined conquests that we forget how we got to be a great civilisation? As he argued, "the spirit of commonality with others and hospitality" is what makes civilisation possible and it is this fact that made India's civilisation as vibrant as it is today. We need to develop the kind of adventurous spirit that Tagore spoke of — one that explores, connects with the surrounding world and is open to possibilities, not one that is closed, parochial or conceited.
If Mahatma Gandhi had been trained as an engineer, perhaps we would all be riding better trains run by the British. There is a reason for most political leaders being trained in law or being educated in the liberal arts. The leaders who earned freedom from the British were critical thinkers and those who chose to challenge people in power. They examined the facts before forming their opinions. These are skills that are acquired through a good liberal arts education, which remains a need in contemporary India.
We need more liberal arts colleges, not fewer. JNU is a great institution that needs nurturing, not shaming. And as the largest democracy in the world, India ought to show the world how to conduct its affairs — by managing dissent and giving it scope to thrive. Without it, we will slide into an authoritarian morass. That would be a great tragedy for the entire world.
Source: The Hindu
The views expressed are individual and not necessarily MTC Global also share the same views.
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