I
am distressed to note there was no mention of the work the Christian
Missionaries who gave their life to raise the standard of ,education and
providing education to all section of people irrespective of caste and creed in
the preamble of the draft of the new Education Policy 2016.
The
preamble to the Draft National Education Police says
“India has always accorded high
importance to education. The Education System which was evolved first in
ancient India is known as the Vedic system. The ultimate aim of education in
ancient India was not knowledge, as preparation for life in this world or for
life beyond, but for complete realization of the self. The Gurukul system
fostered a bond between the Guru & the Shishya and established a teacher
centric system in which the pupil was subjected to a rigid discipline and was
under certain obligations towards his/her teacher”. “During the freedom struggle, several
leaders like Gokhale, Ram Mohan Roy, Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya and Gandhiji
worked for better education for the people of India”.
Reproducing below an
extract of Mr.J.N.Manokaran’s article “Christianity's contribution to India “(appeared in the Christian Today Editorial
8th Aug 2016)
“Democratization
of education
Education in India was a privilege of elite upper
classes. It was limited to gurukuls where upper caste young boys would go to
study under the tutorship of a guru. Even women from the upper caste families
were not provided opportunity to learn. Common people were aliens to this elite
education system. When missionaries arrived they began to start schools for
common people, generally in the vernacular language. Moni Bagchee writes
critically about "Christian Missionaries in Bengal". Though, written
with the negative attitude, the author acknowledges the contribution of
missionaries in Bengal to the cause of mass education. Missionaries educated
children in local language, raised the standard of education, trained teachers
and improved methods of teaching.
Missionaries were ahead of their times. Women
empowerment would be possible only when women are educated. So, they began to
open schools for girls. Upper caste men used to ridicule missionaries
requesting them to educate their cows instead of girls. Some times missionaries
had to pay incentives to families for sending their girls to school. Modern
Indian women have entered in almost all fields in the nation should be grateful
to missionaries who created opportunities for their empowerment.
Education that was window to the world, key to
knowledge, wheels for progress was made available widely for all children
irrespective of their caste or economic status or sex. Today, India aspires for
a superpower status in the globalized world for which missionaries sowed the
seed more than two hundred years ago.”
Source:http://www.christiantoday.co.in/article/christianitys.contribution.to.india/3645.htm
The
intended omission of the above facts raises doubts on the vision and mission of
the new education policy. Interestingly, a part of the mission statement of the new
education policy is
“Ensure
that school and higher education as well as adult education programmes
inculcate an awareness among children, youth and adults of India’s rich
heritage, glorious past, great traditions and heterogeneous culture, and
promote acquisition by the learners at all levels of values that promote
responsible citizenship, peace, tolerance, secularism, national integration,
social cohesion and mutual respect for all
religions, as well as universal values that
help develop global citizenship and sustainable development”
This ‘omission of fact’ is being raised by
many in many forums and hope that the final New Education Policy 2016 reveals the
real picture of Indian Education history.
Paulraj Samuel
