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Education |
An education which does not teach us to discriminate between good and bad, to assimilate the one and eschew the other, is a misnomer. Education should be so revolutionized as to answer the wants of the poorest villager, instead of answering those of an imperial exploiter. Education in the understanding of citizenship is a short-term affair if we are honest and earnest. Basic education links the children, whether of cities or the villages, to all that is best and lasting in India. Is not education the art of drawing out full manhood of the children under training? Literacy in itself is no education. Literacy is not the end of education nor even the beginning. Literacy education should follow the education of the hand - the one gift that visibly distinguishes man from beast. Real education has to draw out the best from the boys and girls to be educated. True education must correspond to the surrounding circumstances or it is not a healthy growth. What is really needed to make democracy function is not knowledge of facts, but right education. National education to be truly national must reflect the national condition for the time being. The function of Nayee-Talim is not to teach an occupation, but through it to develop the whole man. I believe that religious education must be the sole concern of religious associations. By education I mean an all-round drawing out of the best in the child and man-body, mind and spirit. By spiritual training I mean education of the heart. Experience gained in two schools under my control has taught me that punishment does not purify, if anything, it hardens children. I consider writing as a fine art. We kill it by imposing the alphabet on little children and making it the beginning of learning. I do regard spinning and weaving as a necessary part of any national system of education. The aim of university education should be to turn out true servants of the people who will live and die for the country's freedom. A balanced intellect presupposes a harmonious growth of body, mind and soul. Love requires that true education should be easily accessible to all and should be of use to every villager in this daily life. The notion of education through handicrafts rises from the contemplation of truth and love permeating life's activities. The fees that you pay do not cover even a fraction of the amount that is spent on your education from the public exchanger. Persistent questioning and healthy inquisitiveness are the first requisite for acquiring learning of any kind. If we want to impart education best suited to the needs of the villagers, we should take the vidyapith to the villages. In a democratic scheme, money invested in the promotion of learning gives a tenfold return to the people even as a seed sown in good soil returns a luxuriant crop. All education in a country has got to be demonstrably in promotion of the progress of the country in which it is given. The schools and colleges are really a factory for turning out clerks for Government. The canker has so eaten into the society that in many cases the only meaning of education is a knowledge of English. The emphasis laid on the principle of spending every minute of one's life usefully is the best education for citizenship. |