Mahatma Gandhi's Contribution to Education Dinabandhu Dehury

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Orissa Review * September - October - 2006

India's recorded and unrecorded culture andcivilization are rare features in the course of worldhistory. Today, along with modernization, it is verymuch a part of our living culture, at every level ofthe society, as well as a documented testimonyto the greatest strength of education, whichcatapulted the Indian Civilisation to its zenith.Perhaps few other culturesand civilizations haveproduced such courageous,saintly and visionary rolemodels such asRadhakrishnan, SriAurobindo, SwamiVivekananda, Mira Bai, Raniof Jhansi, Netaji SubasChandra Bose, RabindraNath Tagore, Sant Kabir,Sant Ram Das, MahatmaGandhi, to name a few.

Gandhiji influenced the lives of ourcountrymen for more than half a century. Hisapproach to most issues was down-to-earth andholistic-be it social, cultural, economic, health oreducation. His philosophies were pragmatic andfarsighted. The villager was the centre of hiseconomic thought. His warnings against the BritishEducation system were prophetic. Today, whenIndian illiteracy rate stands at 34.62%, crime,

violence and corruption are at its zenith, and morethan one third of our population lives below thepoverty line, it is indeed tempting to muse overthe relevance of Gandhiji's contribution toeducation as well as his model of basic education,incorporating his philosophy, approach andstrategy.

His Contributions :

Gandhiji's model wasnot only holistic and practical,it was highly decentralizedand integrated, with ademonstrated capacity tomotivate the entirecommunity and placeresponsibility andaccountability at thecommunity level versus theState. To highlight just a fewof his contributions.

An Investment in Human Capital :

On economic, political and militarygrounds, India was of first rate importance to theBritish and education was the instrument by whichthey sought to maintain and strengthen theirdomination by experimenting with a unique modelof educating an elite through a foreign language.However, contrary to the popular belief, English

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education was not forced on the Indians (Basu,1978). Rich Indian citizens had actively comeforward in setting up the system as the only wayto modernize their society. So much time wasspent in mastering English language by the IndianSchool boys that the main purpose of educationwas missed. The premium on rate learning andexaminations was so high, that the growth ofinquisitiveness and an experimental bent of mind,so necessary for economic development, werenot cultivated. But more important was an invisibleand quite change in attitudes and values of viewingeducation as a social welfare activity for girls andan investment for boys (Dhawan, 1995; Naik,1982; Krishna Raj, 1982). As an outcome, thesystem concentrated on a centralized and uniformhigher education.

Since the system of education had little usefor the masses, there were inadequate facilitiesfor children aged between 6-11 years as well aspoor enrolment. In many ways the situation hurtthe girls more than the boys. Gandhiji, who viewededucation as an investment in human capital,warned against this system because it disorganizedvillagers, made them helpless and paralyzed andsteadily sunk them into poverty, unemploymentand despair (Gandhiji, 1937). Instead, productiveskills were the focus of his Nai Talim (BasicEducation), providing food, shelter and clothingas the three basic essentials for human survivaland security.

Given the impact of radical changes inSocieties the world over, brought about by theIndustrial Revolution, Gandhiji's Philosophy ofeducation was based on his findings derived fromscientific research of theories of economic,political and child development (both Western andOriental), and his successful experiments in SouthAfrica. One of those radical changes was theremoval of manufacture from households into

factories and shops. The work done at homeoffered lifelong educational, socialization,communication and vocational benefits to thefamily members. It kept unemployment and crimerates low. The spirit of cooperation and respectprevailed, which is what Gandhiji tried to revivein his model.Concrete Definition to Aims, Goals andObjectives of Education :

If education is the foundation of all growthand progress, then aims, goals and objectives arethe four interconnected and most significantcomponents that gives direction to educationaloutcomes through the curricular content, syllabusand evaluations. These four components are highlyinfluenced by four interconnected foundationblocks namely, epistemology (the nature ofknowledge), society/culture, the individual, andlearning theories (Zais, 1976). But since aims,goals, and objectives, collectively as a componentof curriculum provide direction and focus for theentire education programme, they are particularlysensitive to these four fundamental forces.

It was Gandhiji, who in 1937 firstrecognized the interconnectedness of the eightcurricular forces and questioned the futility of theBritish education system. Based on his wisdomand successful experiments with education inSouth Africa, he put forth a Basic Education Planwhich had the merit of achieving one aim of peaceand freedom, for which all mankind yearns today.Also, recognizing the futility of a centralized planand control in implementing programmes, he alsooutlined a comprehensive but decentralized modelto be implemented by the village Republics. Thevital objective of his model was to developproductive and social skills among the masses.To the centre, remained the overall responsibilitiesof coordinating and guiding the work of the statesso that national policies could evolve from thegrassroots.


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After two years of work on BasicEducation, a Conference was organized inJamianagar, Delhi, in the year 1941. Variousreports on the working of basic schools run bythe governments, local bodies, and by privateenterprise throughout the country were almostunanimous in their assesment that generalstandards of health and behaviour as well asintellectual attainment were very encouraging.Compared to the English Medium Schools, theChildren in Basic Schools were more active,cheerful, self-reliant, with well-developed powerof self-expression. They were found to beacquiring habits of co-operative work and socialprejudices were breaking down.

Five other equally significant contributionsto education include (1) an age appropriate andrealistic curriculum focusing on social, productiveand academic skills, (2) a highly adequate andeffective teacher training programme, (3) keepingthe financing of education at bay so that the localcommunity could raise and manage the financejudiciously, simultaneously providing forinternational standards in education; (4) leavinglittle or no scope for adult illiteracy, unemploymentor child labour; and (5) provide for internationalstandards in health and manageable levels ofpopulation, again by placing the responsibility andaccountability at the hands of the local community.All this and much more he achieved through hismodel.

The Eclectic Model :

The second focus of the paper is Gandhiji'sproposed and tested alternative for humansecurity which is tangible, attainable, inexpensive,indigenous and sustainable and an insulationagainst poverty, inequality and its allied problems.Since a compartmentalized approach does notaddress the cause, Gandhiji's alternative was mostcomprehensive and integrated to address the

cause. His eclectic model was proposed to serveas a guideline for formulating a new policy. Itsimplementation, management and finances wereto be entirely vested with the panchayats and localbodies.

The six main features of his eclectic modelincorporating his philosophy, approach andstrategy are : 1. Basic Philosophy, 2. Aims andGoals, 3. The Five Stages, 4. Programme ofWork, 5. Implementation Strategy, 6. Standardof Attainment.

The Basic Philosophy

(a) True education is all-round developmentof the faculties, best attained through action. Itbases itself on the fact that knowledge andunderstanding develop in relation to problems setright by action. Information thrust on the mind onlyburdens the memory and causes intellectualindigestion, casting learning into oblivion.

(b) Education must be concrete and interconnected, not abstract or given in isolatedsections. Concrete education allows the learnerto manipulate problems or sets of problems andstudy their relationships, character and artisticsense. It allows the mind, heart, hand and eyes towork simultaneously in a correlated manner,resulting in a harmonious and well-balancedpersonality.

(c) Education must be imparted in the child'smother tongue and organically connected with thechild's Social and Cultural environment.

Aims and Goals :

(a) All boys and girls in India should grow upto seek truth and peace.

(b) All children should grow up as citizens in anew social order, based on Co-operative workand with the understanding of their rights,responsibilities and obligations in such a society.


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(c) Every individual child should have fullopportunity for the balanced and harmoniousdevelopment of all his/her faculties and shouldacquire the capacity for self-reliance in everyaspect of a clean, healthy and cultured life, togetherwith an understanding of the social, political andmoral implications of such a life.

(d) Each individual must develop "a scientificattitude of mind". It means a clean intellectualcuriosity to know the "how" and "why" of things;the patience detachment to test all phenomena,all ideas and all traditions by the standards of truth;the courage and power to think for oneself; theintellectual and moral authority to abide by all thefacts.

The Five Stages :

(a) Adult Education - involvement ofeducated parents (with productive skills) and thecommunity for a happy, healthy, clean and self-reliant life. An educated adult's participation isclosely connected to the success of pre-school,primary and secondary education.

(b) Pre-School Education - for childrenunder-7, both boys and girls, to develop theirfaculties conducted by School teachers incooperation with the parents and the community.It includes physical nurture, medical care, personalcleanliness and health, community cleanliness andhealth, self-help, social training, creative activitiesin work and play for the acquisition of basicconcepts, speech training, development ofmathematical sense, nature study, art and musicand spiritual development.

(c) Primary Education - education for self-sufficiency, of eight years duration for children inthe age group of 7-15, with the same subjectsand curricular contents for both boys and girls,irrespective of their caste or class.

(d) Secondary Education - education throughself-sufficiency or vocational education of fouryears duration, with the same curricular contentsfor adolescent boys and girls in the age group of15-18, irrespective of their caste or class. It mustprovide for a great range of productive activitiesto support the community and provide the basisfor sound and well-organized knowledge.(e) Tertiary Education - It should either leadto the responsibilities of adult family life or someform of professional training in the university.Programme of Work

There are five fundamental activities aroundwhich the programme of work for adulteducation, pre-school education, primaryeducation and secondary education arerecommended.(a) Clean and Healthy Living to focus onpersonal and social habits and attitudes of health,cleanliness and hygiene towards self andcommunity; practical skills to carry out all typesof proper cleaning and sanitation work efficiently.(b) Self-Reliance to focus on economic self-support for its own sake and for charactertraining.(c) Productive Basic Crafts to focus on threemost suited crafts for children by age fordeveloping intelligence and general knowledge.The three basic crafts are the main centre ofcorrelation for the "core subjects" of language,mathematics, general science and social science.(d) Citizenship in Community to focus ondeveloping habits and attitudes of cooperationand neighbourliness at home, at school and in thecommunity.(e) Recreational and Cultural Activities tofocus on games, dance, music, drama, festivalsrelating to social, religious, historical and nationalsignificance.


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Implementation Strategy

(a) The Panchayat Samitis and local bodiesalongwith the teachers must decide the objectives,curriculum and syllabus. However, it must beaccording to age and developmental norms, aswell as gender sensitive.

(b) The curriculum materials and activities mustbe indigenous, inexpensive using common objectsof ordinary Indian life and people.

(c) The text books must be written byrenowned teachers themselves from the child'sview point both from the level of concepts andlanguage.

(d) Practical and theoretical training should begiven to the teachers, on the needs of the villages,in the villages itself. Use the same teachers foradult education as it saves on planning and capitaloutlay.

(e) The latest instructional technologies mustbe utilized for imparting training.

Standard of Attainment

Literacy is neither the beginning nor the endof life. The purpose of evaluation is to measurethe extent to which objectives have been achieved.Since the current examination system isinsignificant, seven standards of achievement wereproposed such as capacity to appreciate true art,

responsible citizenship, self-reliance, clean andhealthy living, self-sufficiency, sufficient masteryover tool subject and acquaintance withfundamental scientific, mathematical andmechanical principles.

References :1. Basic Education (1941)- two years of work.

Report of the Second Basic EducationConference. Jamianagar, Delhi, April, HindustanTalim Sangh, Sevagram, Wardha.

2. Basic National Education (1938) - CompleteSyllabus for Grades I to VIII. Hindustan TalimSangh, Sevagram, Wardha, 2nd Edition.

3. Dhawan, G. (1997) - prospects and challenges offinancing more and better education,Employment News, August Vol.XXII, No.21.

4. Dhawan, G and Bhat C.M. (1995), Education :The Harbinger of change for Women, Girl Childand the family : Action for Equality,Development and Peace. Centre for Social,Economic and Educational Evaluation, Researchand Development, Delhi.

5. Gandhi, M.K. (1937) - Basic Education, NavajivanPublishing House, Ahmedabad.

Dinabandhu Dehury is a Ph.D. Scholar in the P.G.Department of History, Utkal University, Vani Vihar,Bhubaneswar, Orissa.

Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik with themembers of Mumbai Oriya Association.


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Mahatma Gandhi's Contribution to Education Dinabandhu Dehury

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