Assignment - 1

DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION SYSTEM IN INDIA

Vedic period Buddhist period Medieval period

1. Introduction The term ‘Veda ‘comes from the verbal root ‘Vid’ which means to know. Thus the meaning of the term ‘Veda’ is the knowledge of the ways and means of achieving spiritual progress in life.

Brahmans deprived the common people of their right to education and hence the emergence of Buddhism granted the people to obtain education and practice their religion themselves. Thus the Buddhist system of education was evolved as a reaction against the bra manic system.

Medieval period begins with the incoming of Muslim invaders and extend rights upto the fall of the mighty mughal empire. So it may be Conveniently called the Mohammedan period.

2. Ultimate objective ‘Moksha’ was the ultimate objective of Vedic period. Moksha is a state when man is free from the circle of birth and rebirth and his free to unite with the almighty.

‘Nirvana’ was the ultimate objective of Buddhism .

‘Nijat’ was the ultimate of of the Muslim period.

3. Subject matter Dharma and Brahma are the subject Matter of Vedic period. Dharma :- is something which prevents us from going down and making , progress and uplift in life .Brahma :- on the other hand is considered as the cause of creation .

The 4 noble truths are the subject matter of Buddhism.

1) Suffering2) Cause of suffering3) Elimination of suffering4) Ways of elimination of

suffering

Expansion of Islamic kingdom and spread of Islam was the subject matter of Islamic education.

4. Salient feature 1) Source of light 2) Knowledge ,the third eye 3) Agency of improvement 4) Not merely book learning

Buddha formulated Eight fold path or Ashtang Marg for eradication of ignorance.The following are the eight steps of Ashtang Marg :-

1) Right knowledge 2) Right will 3) Right speech4) Right actions or conduct 5) Right vocation6) Right exercise7) Right memory8) Right concentration

1) Destruction of ancient education al institutions

2) Supremacy of Persian3) Education at the directions

of the rulers4) Importance of education

was recognized 5) The construction of

Mosques, Maktabs and Madarsas

6) Educational expansion through learned assemblies

7) Facilities for poor students8) Materialism9) Religious bias in education

5. Objectives 1) Physical and intellectual development

2) Religious and spiritual development

3) Emphasis upon knowledge and experience

4) Sublimation of instincts5) Inculcation of civic and social

virtues6) Preservation and spread of

culture 7) Development of character and

personality

1) Moral and spiritual development

2) Transmission of culture3) Development of total

personality

1) Propagation of Islam 2) Spread of knowledge3) Expansion of Islamic

kingdom 4) Development of morality

and character5) Material progress6) Political stability7) Development of literature8) Preparation of future life 9) Technical and vocational

education

6. Role of teacher Role of a teacher in Vedic India was to assist the student in:

1) Physical and intellectual development

2) Religious and spiritual development

3) Assimilation of knowledge

4) Promotion of social efficiency.

5) Preservation and spread of culture

6) Best development of personality

The role of teacher during Buddhist period was to help the Bhikshus in :

1) Developing: Right knowledge Right will Right speech Right actions or conduct Right vocation Right exercise Right memory Right concentration

2) Moral and spiritual development

3) Transmission of culture4) Development of total

personality

Role of teacher was to help in achieving the aims of education :

1) To propagate Islam by acquainting the pupil with fundamental principles of Islam, Islamic history, literature and philosophy.

2) To spread the light of knowledge especially among the followers of mohammedans .

3) To develop a particular type of morality based on Islamic doctrines and to Islamic laws.

4) To teach human values and develop character of the pupil.

5) To prepare the pupil for practical life and achievement of material life.

7. System of admission Upanayana ceremony : In this ceremony the student has to be in the gurukul which was marked by a ritual upanayana which means “ going near the guru”. This ceremony was per formed by the actual initiation of child to student ship . it was considered as the second birth or the child. Upanayana ceremony was also known

Pababja ritual : In this ceremony According to Vinay pitak :- the student had his head shaved, dressed himself in yellow clothes ,placed his forehead at the feet of the monks living in his monastery and then sat crossed legged on the floor to repeat the following words thrice:Budham sharnam gachami

Bismillah khani ( for boys) :- The education among the muslims use to commence with the formal observance of a ceremony known as bismillah khani. To begin education with god’s blessing. When a child is 4yrs,4months,4days an auspicious day was fixed for the ceremony , friends and family

as “sacred thread ceremony”.The age group considered for this ceremony was 8 to 12 years.

Dharnam sharnam gachamiSangam sharnam gachamThe student was then abstained from 10 things :-

i. Killingii. Stealing

iii. Telling a lieiv. Eating at improper timev. Taking any intoxication

vi. Speaking ill of anybodyvii. Taking interest in music and

danceviii. Using soft and comfortable

bedix. Setting objects of gold and

silver in armsx. Impurity of conduct

assembled and the child is dressed in his best clothes and seated on a cushion in the presence of all the child is made to pronounce the bismillah and from that his education is deemed to have commence.Zarifshani (for girls):-the ceremony in case of girls was slightly different it included a written blessing on coloured paper called zarifshani which means ‘sprinkling of gold’ .To give education to girls amounts to giving gold.

Upsampada ritual :- after attaining age of 20yrs and getting the education for 12yrs the student had to adopt upsampada it was like the validity function where the student was given certain instructions by the monks .after the ritual they were required to observe certain rules:

i. Living under a tree ii. Eating food obtained in the

Vedic bowelsiii. Wearing clothes begged from

othersiv. Drinking the urine of the cow

as a medicine

8. Age of admission 8 to 12 years 8 years 4 years ,4 months, 4 days

9. Place of study Gurukuls Monastery Maktabs for elementary educationMadarsahs for secondary educationMadarsah-i-alias for higher education

10. Medium of instruction Sanskrit was also taught and used as a medium of instruction in Vedic period.

In general palli , the language of the masses was medium of instruction .Sanskrit was also taught and used as a medium of instruction .

Though the script of alphabets was in Persian , Urdu was the medium of instruction in Muslim period .

11. Duties of pupil The following were the duties of pupil during the Vedic period :-

1) Begging alms2) Tending the sacred fire 3) Service to teacher 4) Learning and study5) Simple living and regulated life

While receiving education in the Buddhist period the pupil had to discharge the following duties :-

1) Render proper service to the teacher in vihar.

2) Chook food for teacher and clean the utensils.

3) To keep the building of the sangh neat, clean and tidy

4) To take lesson from the teacher and do self study

In Muslim period the student life was not as difficult as compared to the Vedic and Buddhist period.Pupil enjoyed certain comforts and were treated equal like the teacher.

1) Students had to life with their teacher in hermitage.

2) A number of students jointly lived together and carried on their studies .

3) They were forbidden from the use of luxuries

4) They lived in secular places and

arranged their living.

12. Education for girls In Vedic period women had access to education but they gradually lost this right. Women education in ancient India prevailed during the early Vedic period. In addition to that Indian scriptures Rig Veda and Upanishad mentioned about several women sagas and seers. Women enjoyed equivalent position and rights in the early Vedic era .

Buddha was opposed to the education of women. He held that women have great responsibilities at home . so women were not allowed admission in Buddhist monasteries . But later on due to the insistence of his dear pupil anand , Buddha agreed to the admission of women in sang .Separate monasteries were started for their education .But women education was not encouraged during this period . Higher education was limited only to girls belonging to higher strata of society.

Muslims laid a great stress on ‘purdah’ and so women education was not encouraged during this period. Inspite of the rigidity the arrangement of women education during the mughal period had improved much. Education of women was limited to cities and certain progressive families. The curriculum of the girls was mainly religious books and home science.

13. Military education In Vedic period only kshatriyas were given special training war fare ,politics and other related fields.

Students were required to observe non violence in Buddhism. They were not given any kind of formal military education.

In order to establish the supremacy over the Hindu kings, Muslim rulers had to wage constant wars. Therefore keeping this view this situation provision of military education was made compulsory.

14. Pupil teacher relationship

Students lived in the house of the guru. Every student was required while residing in the gurukul, to serve his teacher compulsorily. Any violence of the guru’s instructions was regarded as a sin and subjected to punishment. The

In the Buddhist system of education, the whole pattern was democratic. After entering the monastery, the Bhikshu was always free to forward his views parallel to those of those of his teacher. In monastery the

Educational system of the Muslims was also based on mutual relationship between the teacher and pupil. The personal touch enabled the teacher to educate and guide the student fully according

student had to bear the responsibility of feeding both himself and his teacher.

difference between the teacher and the student was just that of knowledge.

to their own earnest desire.

15. Curriculum Important characteristics of curriculum of Vedic education are as follows :

1) Vedas and Vedic literaturei. The Rigveda

ii. The yajurvedaiii. The samvedaiv. The atharvaveda

2) Logic3) Shilpa -vidya (science of art and

craft)4) Physical education5) Theology(Mimamsa) 6) History and mythology

(puranas)7) Religion8) Meditation

Curriculum of the Buddhist period was divided into two parts :

1) Primary education2) Higher education : higher

education was further divided into two parts :

i. Religious curriculumii. Worldly curriculum

3) Logic games and sports

Curriculum of Muslim period was as follows:

1) At Primary stagei. 3’R i.e, reading,

writing and arithmetic

ii. Mode of conversation and correspondence

iii. Urduiv. Religious

instructionsv. Emphasis on good

pronunciation vi. Recitation of quran

2) At Secondary stage i. Grammar

ii. Natural sciences and liberal arts

iii. History, astronomy and metaphysics

iv. Military education3) Higher secondary

i. Religious curriculum

ii. Secular curriculum

16. Methods of teaching The following were the methods of teaching in the Vedic period :

1) Listening or ‘sarvana’ method2) Deliberation method 3) Meditation method4) Illustration method5) Individualized instruction6) Project method

Methods of teaching in Buddhist period :

1) Oral method2) Discussion and debate3) Group method4) Question answer method5) Extension lecture method6) Inductive method7) Logic method 8) Conference9) Evidence method10) Meditation method

Methods used for teaching in Muslim period :

1) Oral method2) Lecture method3) Method of consulting

books4) Practical and experimental

method5) Individual attention6) Monitor system7) Reading and writing8) Analytical and inductive

method 9) Self study method

17. Fees Vedic education was free. No fee in cash or kind was taken.

During Buddhist period a fee was payable in some form or the other.

In the education system of the Muslims the student did not have to pay any kind of fees .

18. Merits 1) It paid greatest attention to the child’s physical and mental development.

2) It was oriented to the development of the child’s character.

3) The study center’s were situated at a distance from inhabited areas. There was peace and good atmosphere for teaching learning.

4) The teacher imparted

1) Equality of opportunity2) Practical subjects3) Democratic set up4) Institutionalisation of

education5) Secular education6) Moral education7) Religious and

philosophical curriculum8) Spread of many

educational institutions and university

1) Compulsory nature of education

2) Personal contact3) Practical utility4) The combination of

religious and secular education

5) Progress of literature and history

6) Free education

education without discrimination

5) Education was free. No fee was charged.

19. Demerits The following were the demerits of Vedic education:

1) Dominance of religion2)Emphasis on philosophy3)Faith in shastras

The following were the demerits of Buddhist education:

1) Dominance by religion2) Enfeeblement of the nation3) Hatred for transient world4) Places for lecherous

indulgence5) Creation of a separate class6) Physical development

neglected

The following were the demerits of Muslim education:

1) Predominance of Arabic and Persian language

2) Too much emphasis on materialism

3) Short life of Madarasas and Maktabs

4) Education was not extensive

5) Severe corporal punishment

6) No emphasis on Integral development

20. Books Vedas v. The Rigveda

vi. The yajurvedavii. The samveda

viii. The atharvaveda

Triptika (written by the followers of Buddha after 100 years of his attainment of nirvana)The book had the following three forms known as the Pitak’s

I. Vinay pitakII. Sakta pitak

III. Abhidhamma pitak

Quran sharif