One of India’s most passionate and widely loved teachers, former Vice-President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, rightly said, “The end-product of education should be a free creative man, who can battle against historical circumstances and adversities of nature.” But when we look around us today , have we created a nation of thinkers, or that of mere followers?
We come from a land that venerates educators. That worships them and credits them for our successes and accomplishments. But just as we admire Eklavya’s dedication to his teacher, a dedication that leads him to unflinchingly sacrifice his thumb as gurudakshina, do we also acknowledge Drona’s oversight in rejecting him as a pupil? Our educator’s, with the massive impact they have on young impressionable minds, are only as good as the lessons they impart and the tools in their hand. One of the most impactful tools, apart from their own nurturing countenance, is the content of what they teach us- the syllabus.
The academic curriculum and it’s critical reflection isn’t just limited to what we are taught, what is left out plays a crucial role too. Because what we teach our nation’s children, how we teach it, and what we neglect to tell them exists within a larger socio-political discourse. The popular question of teaching critical race theory in schools across America is the global manifestation of this base dilemma. We question the lack of indegenous or colonial history in the textbooks of the west, we point out how detrimental misrepresentation or false glorification of history is, but do we heed the same lessons? It appears not.
Most recently, the removal of Mahasweta Devi’s empowering short story Draupadi from the syllabus of BA Hons. English Courses across DU sparked criticism. A powerful piece of Feminist writing contextualised in the Naxal Movement of West Bengal, the story reimagined narratives of shame and reclaimed women’s agency through it’s titular character Dopdi. However, it’s easy to see why it might have offended the sensitivities of a dominant section of society that holds in high regard its mythologies in the name of culture but spares only utmost disdain for the political Left and the ‘woke modern woman’. This isn’t an isolated incident either.
Several syllabi changes across boards and disciplines over the past couple years have invited allegations of a Hindu Bias. These additions have been sold in the name of valuable cultural history. In fact, this reintroduction is being painted as an attempt to undo the conscious anti-Hindu agenda. The major problem with this argument is not that it wants to introduce Hindu history, but its narrow and narcissistic consideration of what it includes. And the manner in which this is being implemented. When inclusion of certain narratives comes at the cost of removing or undermining others, especially those belonging to social, regional, gender or religious minorities, it begs the question- What purpose does it fulfill?
Policy makers are well aware of the larger social, economic, political and philosophical implications of both, forgetting and being forgotten. Of what unquestioned veneration of one and removal of another can lead to. The problem isn’t of ignorance, but of wilful ignorance. The narratives that are gradually being erased from popular imagination are part of a larger socio-political project representative of what Gramsci called an ideological hegemony. It intends for a certain end goal and that end goal for sure isn’t inclusivity. Because our supposedly inclusive and tolerant education has not translated into an inclusive and tolerant society by any means.
It is true that the syllabus is limited by the academic calendar. But maintaining the right balance on what to teach and how much, to ensure optimum representation and inclusivity is the most crucial task of any revisions in a secular democratic country. It needs to be cognizant that if the Sultanate and the Mughals were invaders, then the Guptas and the Mauryas were expansionists too. If the former were intolerants, then the latter too allowed the caste system to flourish, and they are both false generalisations to a degree. The lows and highlights of both hold value for education. Because the reality is that the society and culture that we today call India was informed by both. Thus criticism should be equal opportunity, well deserved and encourage critical thinking. Celebrating the past has its place in society and identity building. Not in a classroom where taking everything with a pinch of salt is a necessary prerequisite for an optimal learning environment.
Moreover, it is equally important that our education system expands its horizons, moves on from venerating the past and focuses on other crucial subjects. We still live in a nation where even the prospect of proper sex education invites baklash from conservatives, where rote learning as opposed to skill-building has become the norm, and where a futuristic vision is desperately needed to propel young leadership.
Only then will our educators be equipped with the right tools to nurture future leaders. And only then will we move on from our fixation with producing perfect textbook geniuses that play into the typical asian student stereotypes.
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