NAME – ANUSHA NAG

ROLL NO – 920

SUBJECT – VAC

COURSE – BA POLITICAL
SCIENCE HONOURS

TOPIC – MAHATMA
GANDHI AND BASIC
EDUCATION
ABSTRACT
The present system of education has not been able to give
right direction to the youths and it does not provide them
affluent opportunities for their all round development to make
them self reliant. Now-a-days the students are passing
examinations and earning their degrees with first or higher
divisions, but most of them are unable to become self reliant
and incapable to face the challenges. So to overcome this
condition there is a need of such education which was
predicted by Mahatma Gandhi like ‘Basic Education’ or ‘Nai-
Talim’.

Gandhi realized that the basic education was an essential

component to the structural and socio-economic imbalances
that were badly affected. It was the treatment for all the ills and
evils of the society in India. His idea on basic education not only
changed the educational system of India but also led a social
revolution.

INTRODUCTION
Education is the process of acquisition of knowledge, skills,
beliefs and moral habits. The main aim of education is to make
the people better and to let them develop their own skills and
confidence which are needed for their life. It reduces the
challenges faced by individuals in their life and helps them to
learn how to earn. The more knowledge one gains, the more
opportunities open for the individuals to achieve better
possibilities in career and in personal growth. It opens the mind
for different situations, which help to solve problems of life
effectively and to think critically about the world.
Basic education is the most empowering force in the world
which creates knowledge, builds confidence and opens the door
of opportunity eliminating all obstacles. For children, it is their
key to open the door to a better life. A child gets the first
education from his own family, learns from the own
environment and gather learning experiences from the school.
It is a social process which occurs only in social environment
and without it no one can acquire experiences. The role of basic
education is to socialise individuals and to keep society smooth
and stable. It teaches a child to observe, understand and
realize. It teaches to act decently, to be creative, to develop
skills and to learn more things about life so that when the child
grows up, he/she uses the basic education to build a better
quality of life.

However, the modern educational system of India is incapable

to achieve humanitarian and peaceful social life. The present
system of education is unable to contribute much to the
individual as well as social development. In order to bring
some social changes, proper and quality education is very
much required for all. In this context, Mahatma Gandhi’s
scheme of basic education is an alternative measure to
establish a new social order. Gandhiji’s principle on basic
education would be able to inspire the whole world with his
ideas of truth, nonviolence, peace and love. His idea on
handicraft is very important as it represents the culture and
tradition of any country. It promotes the heritage of a country through the
use of indigenous materials. Anyone can spend their free time to learn the
various techniques related to handicrafts and can earn money by utilising
the skills. It preserves traditional knowledge and talents. It encourages
self-employment which is the best method to fight against current
unemployment situations.

BASIC EDUCATION ACCORDING TO MAHATMA GANDHI

At Round Table Conference in London (1931) Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi, also known as Mahatma Gandhi pointed
out the ineffectiveness of the primary education system of India
and the low percentage of literacy rate among Indian people.
He blamed the policy of the British Government responsible for
the pathetic situation in the field of mass education. Gandhiji
described the main defects of the system of education as, “I am
fully convinced that present system of education is not only
wasteful but positively harmful. They would pickup evil habits.
English has created a permanent bar between the highly
educated few and the uneducated many.” He further said, “let
us now cry a halt and concentrate on educating the child
properly through manual work not as a side activity but as a
prime means of intellectual activity”. Mahatma Gandhi
proposed his scheme of Basic Education (Nai Talim) in a well
formulated approach to education in 1937 in his news paper
‘Harijan’. In order to discuss different aspects of the scheme of
education, an All India education conference was held in
Wardha on 22nd and 23rd October, 1937. The conference is
called Wardha Educational Conference and Gandhiji himself
presided over the conference. After serious discussions, the
following four resolutions were passed in the conference

1) Free and compulsory education is to be provided for

seven years on a nation- wide scale.

2) Mother tongue should be the medium of instruction.

3) The process of education throughout this period should

have some manual and

productive work and ability should be developed to

engage them with

handicraft work according to the environment of the child.

4) The proposed system of education would gradually be

able to generate

remuneration of the teachers.

Basic education or Nai Talim was based on the fundamental

principle of “learning by doing”. Gandhiji believed on action and
hence his concepts of basic education can be classified as
activity method or practical method. It was mainly a method of
co-relation between book learning and doing activity through
craft like gardening, weaving, spinning, carpentry, etc.
According to him, a realistic scheme of education must be
closely integrated with the physical and social environment of
the student. He said, “It is called the new method of education,
for it is not a foreign importation or imposition, but is consistent
with the environment in India which is predominantly made up
of villages. It believes in establishing equilibrium between the
body, the mind and the spirit of which man is made. It is unlike
the Western type which is predominantly militarist, in which the
mind and the body are the primary care of education to the
subordination of the spirit. This is best done when education is
given through handicrafts. The other specialty is that it is
designed to be wholly self-supporting. It does not, therefore,
demand an expenditure of millions on education.”

PREACHING LIFE GIVING EDUCATION

 Non Violent resistance is the noblest and best education. It should come
in education before child learns alphabets. Child before learns worldly
knowledge should know what Soul is , what Truth is , What Love is.

 It should be an essential of real education that a child should learn that in

the struggle of life , he can easily conquer hate by love, untruth by truth,
violence by self suffering

 It is because I felt the force of this truth that during latter part of the
struggle, I endeavored as much as I could to train the children at Tolstoy
Farm and then at Phoenix along these lines.

 I hold that true education of intellect can only come through proper
exercise of the bodily organs, ie I want the whole education to be
imparted through some handicraft or industry.

SOME IMPORTANT FEATURES OF GANDHIJI’S

BASIC EDUCATION
According to Gandhiji and his philosophy, the important
features of basic education may be listed as below.

1. Free and compulsory education for all- Gandhiji

wanted the basic education should be free and
compulsory for all boys and girls between the ages of
seven to fourteen. According to Gandhiji, “I am a firm
believer in the principle of free and compulsory primary
 education for India. I also hold that we shall realize this
only by teaching the children a useful vocation and
utilizing it as a means for cultivating their mental, physical
and spiritual faculties. Let no one consider these economic
calculations in connection with education as sordid or out
of place. There is nothing essentially sordid about
economic calculations.”

2. Mother tongue as medium of instruction- Gandhiji,

believed that the medium of basic education should be the
mother tongue. Strong mother tongue foundation leads to
a much better understanding of the curriculum as well as
a more positive attitude towards school. Language and
mother tongue play an important role in the development
of personal, social and cultural identity of a child. Children
with a strong foundation in mother tongue can have
deeper understanding of the curriculum and develop
confidence to tackle any situation. When children develop
their mother tongue, they will develop other essential
skills, love towards mother tongue and incline towards
motherland.

3. Development of creativity and critical thinking-

Gandhiji emphasised on the principle of 'learning by doing'
which stimulates the individual's mind to think creatively
and critically. His great emphasis on work-culture to the
students from initial stage was to enable the students to
start producing while learning. So, his primary aim of basic
education was to utilise head, heart and hand rather than
concentrating on reading or writing only. In July 1937,
Ghandiji wrote in the Harijan, “By education I mean an all-
round drawing out of the best in child and man-body, mind
and spirit. Literacy is not the end of education nor even
the beginning. It is only one of the means whereby man
and woman can be educated. Literacy in itself is no
education. I would therefore begin the child’s education by
teaching it a useful handicraft and enabling it to produce
from moment it begins its training. Thus every school can
be made self-supporting, the condition being that the
State takes over the manufactures of these schools.”
4. Craft centred education- Gandhiji emphasised on craft-
centred education which had great importance in Indian
scenario. In Indian scenario, craft would make education
self-supportive as it is not possible to educate all citizens
and provide them government jobs. So, the craft centred
education would help to provide employment opportunity
to all citizens and make them self-sufficient. According to
Gandhiji, the method of training the mind through village
handicraft from the beginning would develop disciplined
mind. Such practical productive work in education would
to break down the existing barriers of discrimination
between manual and intellectual workers. The scheme
would increase the productive capacity and utilise their
leisure profitably also. According to Gandhiji “Craft, art,
health and education should all be integrated into one
scheme. Nai Talim is a beautiful blend of all the four and
covers the whole education of the individual from the time
of conception to the moment of death..... Instead of
regarding craft and industry as different from education, I
will regard the former as the medium for the latter.”

5. Emphasis on collaborative learning- True education is

a lifelong process which helps in cultivating the spirit of
co-operation, tolerance, collaboration and a sense of
responsibility. All these qualities are required for the
development of human personality which can create the
pleasant balance between the individuals and social aim
of education. Gandhiji always emphasised on collaborative
learning. Craft work helps a child to acquire collaborative
learning skills and to realize the value of honest labour.

6. Importance on moral education- Gandhiji thought that

the peace is essential for human life which can be attained
through education. Peace can be attained only through
morality and ethics. According to him, education must be
based on ethics and morality. Gandhiji advised to all
students to consider morality and honesty as essential
parts of their education. He said, “Our system of
education leads to the development of the mind, body and
soul. The ordinary system cares only for the mind.” “I
attach far more importance to the cultural aspect of
education than to the literary.”
7. Emphasis on character building- Education is the most
powerful weapon which helps to build genuine characters
of a student. The goal of education should consist of
character-building. The character-building includes the
moral, intellectual and social behaviour of a student under
all circumstances. A student should develop personality,
compassion, kindness, fair-mindedness and the spirit of
dedication by virtue of education. Gandhiji said, “When it
is remembered that the primary aim of all education is, or
should be, the moulding of the character of pupils, a
teacher who has a character to keep need not lose heart.”

8. Development of self reliance and patriotism- The

main purpose of basic education was to achieve an
integral development of children and to create a sense of
patriotism though practice of handicraft. Gandhiji desired
that the basic education system should be self-supporting
for every child by learning a craft or occupational skill for
livelihood. He wanted education to ensure employment.
He told “My Nai Talim is not dependent on money. The
running expenses should come from the educational
process itself. Whatever the criticisms may be, I know that
the only education is that which is 'self-supporting'.” He
also said, “The teachers earn what they take. It stands for
the art of living. Therefore, both the teacher and the pupil
have to produce in the very act of teaching and learning. It
enriches life from the commencement. It makes the nation
independent of the search for employment”.

9. Development of faith on Truth & Non-violence-

Gandhiji was always considered that non-violence is an
important and essential part of education. Truth & Non-
violence was the fundamental formula of Gandhiji’s
philosophy. Basic education too was also based upon the
principle of truth and Non-violence. As he said “I want to
see God face to face. God, I know, is Truth. For me the
only certain means of knowing God is non-violence-
ahimsa-love. I live for India’s freedom and would die for it,
because it is part of Truth. Only a free India can worship
the true God. But my patriotism is not exclusive; it is
 calculated not only not to hurt any other nation, but to
benefit all in the true sense of the word. India’s freedom
as conceived by me can never be a menace to the world.”

10. Awareness on Social Services- Students should

be involved in different community services to develop
responsibility and create awareness on social services.
Education must be based on social good, welfare for all
and must uplift the human aspect. The basic education by
Gandhi aimed at encouraging the spirit of service and self-
sacrifice. Addressing the college students once he said
“Your education, if it is a vital thing, must shed its
fragrance in your surroundings. You must devote a certain
portion of your time daily to serving the people around in
a practical manner. You must therefore, be prepared to
take the spade, the broomstick and the basket. You must
become voluntary scavengers of this holy place. That
would be the richest part of your education, not learning
by heart literary thesis.” Mahatma Gandhi was a true
social worker fighting against the evils of society. He
always said, if we want to do social work, we should start
it by ourselves.

[Link] on Cleanliness and Untouchability-

Students should be sensitised on merits and demerits of
cleanliness and the evils of untouchability. Gandhiji had
been opposing untouchablity and caste system from very
beginning and putting relentless efforts to eradicate. He
was arguing that Brahmins and untouchables were equal
in his eyes. He was publicly rejecting the notion of high
and low caste feeling. At the age of twelve, Gandhiji had
disagreed his mother’s warnings on not to touch an
untouchable who used to clean their latrines in their
house. He tried his best to break the centuries- old caste
system and to remove the mark of untouchability from
Hinduism.

INDIA AND HIS DREAMS

True democracy cannot be worked by twenty men sitting at the centre. It has to
be worked from below by the people of every village. There must be labor
unions right from agriculture, masons, carpentery to all types, union for
children, youths, women, retired people, in every village to ensure active
participation of themselves in Governing the state. Only then Self Rule could be
established. In other words, all must know of their duty to make Self Rule
happen. Duties First , Rights follow there with.

 Gandhi wanted WOMEN empowerment through family discipline.

Women should withheld her respect by not allowing men to use her for
Indulgence. Women community should demand men their rights for
education, politics, village management , and government policies
towards women empowerment.
 Physical work labors should not get dominated by capital land lords.
Instead form unions and demand good education , food, clothing, shelter,
for their children. Else all labors shall abandon work leaving capital
investor to do physical work for themselves ,Labor must be a powerful
force in society.
 Labors must work continuously and enthusiastically to upgrade their
techniques, skills, to give better product at lesser resource expenses.

CONCLUSIONS
Basic education is related to the basic needs and interest of
the education for the development of a child. The aim of
Gandhiji’s basic education was to educate the students on
crafts which would enable them to solve the problems of
their livelihood and at the same time develop qualities of
good citizenship. In Gandhiji’s view, sound education must
be rooted through the culture and moral value also. At
present various educational committees are emphasising to
make education job oriented and productive for self-
employment. With the serious problem of educated
unemployment situation among young men and women, the
present educational system should be reformed on the spirit
of Gandhiji’s concept of basic education. Gandhiji’s idea of
basic education is valid and fruitful which may also be used
as guiding principles in the present scenario. The modern
education system needs to be reformed at elementary stage
keeping in view of the moral value and employability
features of the Gandhiji’s basic education.