startling banals
24 March 2006
Out of the straitjacket into the pocket
Santosh and I had made plans of meeting Yashpal the guy who wrote the "Yashpal Committee Report on Educational reform (1992)" - the guy who used to answer people's questions in "Turning Point". He is one of India's greatest creative thinkers on a liberal education and he was the Chairman of the University Grants Commission (he was sidelined by the NDA govt. and made the Chancellor of Nagaland University for his "secular" views).
His report which was written in 1992 talked about the need for reducing he unnecessary and unproductive pressures on a child in the school system in India and the unhealthy encouragement given to rote learning. (I remember once I was passing time bunking lectures in 10th standard reading books in my school library and some kid's father came there and asked for some past years' question papers for his kid. The librarian asked him what std his son is in, he said, "1st standard" :-o)
In this interview, he is both humble and bold enough to say,
But on the other hand even the IITs are ultimately trying to fit each student into categories of a particular engineer/scientist. Like so and so is a Mechanical or Civil or say Electrical Engineer.
And this can be very bad for students who think and care about what their true interests are, especially in an authoritarian and vindictive system that some people have turned it into. If he/she doesn't comply to its requirements, he is thrown out and labelled as a misfit. No one is allowed to make any choices, once you have entered a particular branch, the choice has been made and it is final. There is no scope for discovering your potentials and developing as a human being. It is not a continuous process but just a discrete yes/no.
We wanted to talk to Yash Pal about the possibility of an alternative. If not disturb the status quo at least why not start a new place for real learning in the spirit of a true university where the aim is not just satisfying the market's need for software or call center professionals. Or else we will just continue to be launched "out of the straitjacket into the pocket".
Just came across a speech given by Yash Pal.
His report which was written in 1992 talked about the need for reducing he unnecessary and unproductive pressures on a child in the school system in India and the unhealthy encouragement given to rote learning. (I remember once I was passing time bunking lectures in 10th standard reading books in my school library and some kid's father came there and asked for some past years' question papers for his kid. The librarian asked him what std his son is in, he said, "1st standard" :-o)
In this interview, he is both humble and bold enough to say,
We emphasise a lot in certification and degrees and, in the process, destroy a lot of people.While going through the websites of European Universities, we had come across some universities where the students were given a free go at choosing what courses they want to take in the first two years after which they can decide which stream they would like to pursue. This was something we could only dream of. To which people give the argument that a developing country like India cannot afford to have such luxuries. But is a free choice too much to ask for? Nehru could have said that developing IITs and other national institutes is something that can be deferred till the day India becomes "developed". Although he had many faults (who doesn't) but the man had a vision of a free and modern India. In today's postmodern age we laugh at people for being too idealistic.
But on the other hand even the IITs are ultimately trying to fit each student into categories of a particular engineer/scientist. Like so and so is a Mechanical or Civil or say Electrical Engineer.
And this can be very bad for students who think and care about what their true interests are, especially in an authoritarian and vindictive system that some people have turned it into. If he/she doesn't comply to its requirements, he is thrown out and labelled as a misfit. No one is allowed to make any choices, once you have entered a particular branch, the choice has been made and it is final. There is no scope for discovering your potentials and developing as a human being. It is not a continuous process but just a discrete yes/no.
We wanted to talk to Yash Pal about the possibility of an alternative. If not disturb the status quo at least why not start a new place for real learning in the spirit of a true university where the aim is not just satisfying the market's need for software or call center professionals. Or else we will just continue to be launched "out of the straitjacket into the pocket".
Just came across a speech given by Yash Pal.
2 Comments:
Anish, can something be done about this? At 15 one is supposed to choose between Science / Commerce / Arts. At 15, when you are just beginning to discover yourself and your interests. I wanted to be a vet, a teacher, an artist, a journalist at different times. Mumbai University is no place for me.
Do they really think we are such goddamn focussed children when we are 15?! I lost a year shifting from the best commerce college to a science college. Commerce was so dreary, i felt suffocated. I felt suffocated in Engineering too, when I was around 19 years old, but I had come too far to go back again.
And when we are old enough to decide, to make our choices, they ban movies like Kill Bill.
I am so happy to be going to elsewhere to study now. I can atleast choose the courses I really want. But I don't want to escape. I want to implement the same freedom here. The right to choose, the right to go back whenever you want to.
Do they really think we are such goddamn focussed children when we are 15?! I lost a year shifting from the best commerce college to a science college. Commerce was so dreary, i felt suffocated. I felt suffocated in Engineering too, when I was around 19 years old, but I had come too far to go back again.
And when we are old enough to decide, to make our choices, they ban movies like Kill Bill.
I am so happy to be going to elsewhere to study now. I can atleast choose the courses I really want. But I don't want to escape. I want to implement the same freedom here. The right to choose, the right to go back whenever you want to.
evenstar, as a kid i wanted to be a phalwala (so that i can eat as many fruits as I want). later i was fascinated by the idea of opening a fruit juice shop, where the brilliantly colourful juices will be in huge transparent glass cylinders with a small metal tap at the bottom. :D
after 12th i wanted to quit education as I was not sure what I wanted to become. but i carried on. I came to understand that parents however liberal they may be, are ultimately a part of society and they are always under direct/ indirect pressure. Because one's parents are "educated", it is a kind of compulsion on you to at least graduate. but i could meet various interesting people in the midst of my eduactional angst and also read about diff views on education.
along with a friend from TISS and some other people, i want to open an alternative school for the children from the Katkari and Thakar tribes and a friend has offered some land near Panvel-Pen road (near Karnala bird sanctuary) and we are trying to find some money for construction.
I will be very happy if we can create a truly open university in the future.
santo and i are thinking of starting a website on this theme.
i agree with what you have written. its really very hard on kids - maybe we can make things better for tomorrows kids. its great that now you are getting to do what u want. best of luck!
after 12th i wanted to quit education as I was not sure what I wanted to become. but i carried on. I came to understand that parents however liberal they may be, are ultimately a part of society and they are always under direct/ indirect pressure. Because one's parents are "educated", it is a kind of compulsion on you to at least graduate. but i could meet various interesting people in the midst of my eduactional angst and also read about diff views on education.
along with a friend from TISS and some other people, i want to open an alternative school for the children from the Katkari and Thakar tribes and a friend has offered some land near Panvel-Pen road (near Karnala bird sanctuary) and we are trying to find some money for construction.
I will be very happy if we can create a truly open university in the future.
santo and i are thinking of starting a website on this theme.
i agree with what you have written. its really very hard on kids - maybe we can make things better for tomorrows kids. its great that now you are getting to do what u want. best of luck!