Biographers record that Narendranath gave his first public speech at Alwar in Rajputana after leaving Dakshineswar as a wandering monk. His mind was captivated by the beauty of the snow-capped Himalayas, Haridwar the epitome of heritage, and Delhi the epitome of slavery. He was fascinated by the tall forts of Rajasthan and the heroic valour of the Rajaputras. Moreover, the Swami, who knew that there was a group of university students in Alwar, eagerly wanted to see and interact with them. In front of them he briefly presented his plan for the reconstruction of India. This is how historians record it. “The history of India today is fully distorted. There is no chronological precision in it. The history of our country is written by the English. The historical books they have written are meant to demoralize us! How can the history of a nation be written by foreigners, who cannot understand? There are many misconceptions, paradoxes and misconceptions inherent in it, yet the Europeans have shown the need for research in our ancient history and the way to do it. We must write the history of India, which is authentic, undisputed and inspiring. May all our endeavors be to reclaim our ancient historical treasures that have been lost in oblivion. Continue to strive until the past glory of India is awakened in the consciousness of the people and revived. That will be the National Education for the benefits of the people. With its spread, true national consciousness will be awakened in the people. ” (Life of swami Vivekanand,1974. Pg 214) It is still an obstacle for India to regain its place on the world map.
There have been many changes in thought and practice in the field of education in the last century. We have amended the Constitution to make education a fundamental right. The United Nations attaches great importance to universal education in its sustainable development goal as global mission of the 21st century. Swami Vivekanda had envisioned a social system with a new kind of human being. A human being who is harmoniously blending knowledge, action, skill, concentration and faith. Swamiji proposed a new type of education for achieving this.
Federico Mayor, former Director – General of UNESCO, said in a speech at UNESCO headquarters on October 8, 1993, evaluating Vivekananda’s educational outlook. “I am Indeed struck by the similarity of the constitution of the Ramakrishna Missions which Vivekananda established as early as 1897and that of UNESCO drawn up in 1945. Both place the human being at the centre of their efforts aimed at development, Both place tolerance at the top of the agenda for building peace and democracy. Both recognize the variety of human culture and societies as an essential aspect of the common heritage.” (Speech of Federico Mayor, Quoted by Dr. Kiran waha, My idea of education, pg15)
There is no aspect of education that Swamiji has not touched, such as mass education, social justice, language, women education, teacher Education, higher education, vocational and technical Education. Although Swamiji has not written a book on education, many of his speeches, essays, letters, poems and commentaries, he presents the philosophical vision, practical approaches and social dimensions. Seeing education as the basic means of ensuring identity and self-sufficiency, Swamiji reiterated that non-education was not fit for the term ‘education’ itself. Swamiji did not even see his concept of ‘the manifestation of the divinity inherent in the person as a personal affair. Explaining the term ‘manifestation’ the Swamiji quotes Patanjjali’s Yoga Sutra to say, “just as a farmer breaks the barriers to a course of water which thereafter flows by its own force to irrigate his field, so also a person’s inherent power will spontaneously manifest itself when external and internal obstacles, if any are removed at the proper time by the teacher or the education system.”(Quoted in My ideas of education, pg 20 ) Swamiji explains that social intervention in the educational process is the removal of any circumstance that impedes the natural flow of the individual’s innate ability. It can be internal and external. Unfair distributions of educational resources and opportunities, inequalities in economic development, social, and political upheavals and instabilities are all external factors. The child’s physical and mental health problems, the teacher-student relationship, the difficulty in adapting to the situation, and the artificially created alienation are all internal challenges of the child. Swamiji believes that education is meaningful only when the society and the system address such issues and provide opportunities for personality development. In short, Swamiji’s vision was to develop a society through education and thereby the creation of a world order.
It is in this context that the new national education policy needs to be evaluated. Since independence there have been two National Education Policies, several committee reports, projects, programes and legislations. The new National Education Policy is fundamentally different from all of them. The new policy is characterized by complete liberation from Eurocentric thinking. The new policy is tuned with swami Vivekananda and a U-turn from Lord Macaulay. It suggests solutions to the problems that Mahatmaji raised later at the Round Table Conference. Vision of the policy is stated in the introduction as, “This National Education Policy envisions an education system rooted in Indian ethos that contributes directly to transforming India, that is Bharat, sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, by providing high-quality education to all, and thereby making India a global knowledge superpower. The Policy envisages that the curriculum and pedagogy of our institutions must develop among the students a deep sense of respect towards the Fundamental Duties and Constitutional values, bonding with one’s country, and a conscious awareness of one’s roles and responsibilities in a changing world. The vision of the Policy is to instill among the learners a deep-rooted pride in being Indian, not only in thought, but also in spirit, intellect, and deeds, as well as to develop knowledge, skills, values, and dispositions that support responsible commitment to human rights, sustainable development and living, and global well-being, thereby reflecting a truly global citizen.”(NEP2020 page)
This statement is a firm declaration of India’s world vision and life for the 21st century. India officially accepted and endorsed Swamiji’s declaration at the World Parliament of Religions that, “I hope the bell that tolled may be the death knell of all fanaticism, of all persecution with sword or with pen, and of all uncharitable feeling between persons wending their way to the same goal.” The National Education Policy, presented in at least 27 chapters, is a roadmap to the creation of a self-reliant India based on the ideas and approaches introduced by Swami Vivekananda hundred years ago. The vision of the policy is to uphold the universal values, tolerance and active identifications with humanity as a whole that Swamiji puts forward. The approch is in favour of poor and destitude, to reduce poverty and to eliminate discrimination of all kinds, reaching to the unreached. The approach from the elementary level to research reflects the recognition of swamiji’s vision of Education, Science and culture as the essential instruments of human development. Here we see the adoption of the principle that education is a lifelong process. Moving away from rote learning, the key overall thrust of curriculum and pedagogy reform across all stages will be to move the education system towards real understanding and towards learning how to learn – and away from the culture of rote learning as is largely present today. NEP further states, curriculum content will be reduced in each subject to its core essentials, to make space for critical thinking and more holistic, inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based, and analysis-based learning. Content will focus only on key concepts, ideas, applications, and problem-solving. Teaching and learning will be more interactive, more fun, creative, collaborative, and exploratory activities for students for deeper and more experiential learning.
Implementation of the National Education Policy without losing its meaning and spirit will enable India, with its huge young population, to embrace transformation at an astonishing pace. The change it will make in the world will also be astonishing. The future of India and the world will belong to the youth through new education.
A.Vinod karuvarakundu is Member National Monitoring Committee for Education, Govt. of India
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