Sunday 13 August 2017

Independence Day 2017: Educating India for true freedom

For this Independence Day, I have written a long 7000-word essay on Thomas Macaulay as the reigning influence on Indian education 70 years after the British left. 

http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reviews-essays/biography-macaulay-unwritten-tell-us

2 comments:

  1. Many thanks for this article. I am a strong proponent of non-macaulay methods. It is the purpose we educate for, that needs to be examined. Everyone likes buzz words like leadership, freedom, creativity and so on. But do we really want people who are free thinking, creative leaders? I don’t think so. If we had them, the situation like we find ourselves in at present, wouldn’t be possible. The powers that be, don’t want that at all. That is why unless we examine why we teach and what we hope to achieve, we will never be able to really access the genius within each child.

    Having mentioned Tagore and Shantiniketan (I taught a course there in 2000), one must ask, ‘What happened to those who graduated? What has their impact on Indian and global society?’ And then examine the reasons.

    So also about all the other schools including Krishnamurthy’s (I have read all his books and am a great fan of his) like the one in Rishi Valley and elsewhere. What happens to their graduates and what is their impact?

    We need to examine the reasons and take steps to carry on the good work and not allow it to be relegated to the realm of pleasant curiosities.

    Yawar Baig

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  2. I have read the essay and have written separately to you by email about my appreciation for its contents. I have also shared a link to the essay on the web with a number of my friends and family who will be interested. I have copied one of the mails to you too and I request you to address Masani's rejoinder in perhaps a blog post. I have subscribed to your posts by email as I find this blog quite fascinating.

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