A Discourse on Ancient and Modern System of Learning
I switched on a Bhakti
channel (devoted to devotional music) and serendipitously listened to a lecture
by a professor of a leading Institute of Management on the value of ancient
learning in India. His simple and straightforward lecture without any soaring
after Management terminology held the audience in his thrall –because of its
simplicity that goes with one-to one talk but more so because it was a
panegyric on ancient Indian wisdom and learning. He echoed the famous line from
the Mahabharata: “What is here is found elsewhere
What is not here is
found nowhere”
It raised the comfort
level of the listeners and made them feel that Indians are far superior to the rest of the world,
having inherited the legacy of the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita
– three in a row, that contain the quintessential essence of what life is and
how it is to be lived.
As a teacher of more
than five decades, brought up on the Macalayan system of education, I was
rudely jolted out of my smugness and made to look foolish for adhering to the
Western pedagogics which according to the Management Professor was not only at
variance with our ancient system of education, but also grossly inferior with
its emphasis on the phenomenon to the exclusion of the noumenon. This seemed a
tailor-made lecture( though not intentional) to gladden the hearts and souls of
the new policy makers with their sworn allegiance to Indianisation of
education.
The criticism against
Western system of education is its large emphasis on analytical thinking and
the premium it places on STEM education- Science, Technology, Engineering and
Management and to that extent its constriction of Liberal education- though there
is already a strong move in the West to bring back Liberal education centre
stage and employ it as means to enhance inter-disciplinary studies. Our famous ancient
universities of the first millennium and those of a few centuries preceding it
like Nalanda,Takshila, Ujjain and Vikramashila had conceived of Liberal
education by having blended courses
comprising Art, Architecture, Painting, Logic, Mathematics, Grammar,
Philosophy, Astronomy, Literature, Buddhism, Hinduism, Arthashastra (Economics
& Politics), Law, and Medicine. This is at the core, a fusion of broad
learning and analytical thinking that incorporates both the binaries in
learning- inductive reasoning and analytical thinking. Inductive reasoning places specific
information from which broad probabilistic generalizations can be made. Analytic
thinking is putting main point up front and supporting it with more specific
details. The first one is more tuned to passive learning where learning starts
from an unquestionable “given”( i.e. established knowledge)and proceeds to
deduce causal inferences. inductive reasoning
is the basis for
most of what we know
and seeks to make future predictions based upon
observed phenomena. For example, our knowledge
that the sun
will rise tomorrow
is based upon inductive
reasoning. Inductive reasoning consists of inferring general
principles or rules from specific factsad
therefore, to a large extent encourages rote learning as against
analytic reasoning which encourages deeper engagement and involvement with the
process of learning. Analytic thinking is active learning where a proposition
is not taken as an unchallenged one and the onus is to prove it through
analysis and understanding. In the
Introduction to her book Cultivating
Humanity, Martha Nussbaum has cited Aristophanes’ great comedy The
Clouds where a young man eager for new learning is directed to a debate in
a Think-Academy. The debate is about the contrasting merits of traditional
education and the new Socratic form of learning. The Old Education favoured
lots of memorization and not much room for questioning. Opposed to it was the
new form of learning that makes the student think critically about “the origins
of apparently timeless moral norms and learn to construct arguments on his own,
heedless of authority.” Twenty-five years later, Socrates was put on trial for
corrupting the young!
Indian education system
is today at the crossroads. The entire examination has till now been more on
the student’s ability to memorize than his/her power to analyze. This is
prevalent in all the three tiers of education- the primary, the higher
secondary and the post secondary or higher education. The decline in Indian
higher education is perceptible as students have failed to learn the art of
critical thinking. Most of the learning are at the surface level and stop short
of going deep into any subject of study. A majority-if not all our educational
institutions are teacher-centred and therefore they fall short of independent
and in-depth thinking. The question before us is how to bridge the binaries and
make education a holistic one.
I write this from my
experience as an academic of more than five decades. I have been reasonably
successful both as a student and a teacher because I had the benefit of
experiencing both systems of learning in my 20 year long period as a student.
As a young child of four, I used to attend Sanskrit classes in a house opposite
ours where we were taught Amarakosha , an authoritative Thesaurus of
Sanskrit and which every Indian child in
his/her early years memorized . The text is in three parts- the first deals
with Gods and Heaven, the second with earth and humans, animals and towns and
the third with words related to grammar, prayer and activities. Without
understanding the meaning we were made to repeat the texts after the teacher.
This is known as repetitive learning where through repetition, we learn to
memorize. The student imbibes the words that later form into a knowledge web
when the organization of words reveals a connectivity with other words. The
knowledge implicit in Amarakosha becomes explicit as one slowly unravels the
relationship between the words. There were forty children of my age who were
taught Amarakosha through repetitive learning. The wonder of wonders is we
developed both memory power and retentive power at an early age. Similarly we
were made to learn multiplication tabIes from 1-16 ,each integer multiplied by numbers from 1-16.When
the Imperial unit measurement system was replaced by the Metric system, we had
no difficulty in switching over and calculating new measurements changing
inches into centimeters(1inch=2.54cms), miles into kilometers(1 mile=1.6 kms),as
we were well grounded in multiplication. I was fortunate to move to a school
that was truly catholic in teaching us the Hindu epics and the Upanishads as
well as stories from the Bible. The higher classes in science, mathematics, history
and geography in addition to English and classical Tamil helped us to integrate
different strands of culture and thought, modern science and ancient wisdom
that marked the beginning of analytical thinking. University education was a
step forward that enhanced our ability to think and analyze
critically but this was possible as the
foundation that had been laid in the formative years helped our generation of
learners to see the web of knowledge extending from the ancient “given” wisdom
to modern scientific knowledge. India’s
not too distinguished record today in Scientific and Humanities research is
attributable to the current educational system that relies heavily on bookish
and rote learning to the exclusion of critical thinking and
understanding of the web of knowledge.
The current thinking in
favour of Indianisation is done without a full understanding of what it stands
for. If one goes back in History, Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General
of India, unlike many of his successors respected and admired Indian culture. He
considered Indian culture as a basis for sound Indian administration and he
patronized the learning of Indian languages and arts. The Indainisation of
education began with him though this was disbanded later by Macaulay who
introduced English learning to train Indians to be clerks in the British
administration. The two types of education- the Sanskrit school and the English
school differed in that the former was focussed on knowledge of Indian culture
and arts, values and ideas, while the latter with its emphasis on English
language and analytic thinking based on the British System of education provided
the opportunity for employment. Macaulay and his introduction of the British system
of education are often blamed for the
rise of a new generation that has forgotten its distinct Indian heritage. So
now the criticism has reached a crescendo, seeking in academic study a
restoration of the uprooted traditional Indian modes of thought. In this high
octane clamour for all that is Indian, what has been forgotten is Indianisation
does not mean exclusivity and this is more true today as it has to factor in
globalization that calls for inclusiveness. In fact including Buddhism along
with Hinduism and other subjects, our ancient universities have set an example
of a liberal and catholic approach to learning. We ought to be proud of this rich
legacy of Indian thought that is characterized by syncretism and pluralism,
seeking to reconcile differing systems of beliefs and ideas. Hence it is
important in the 21stcentury when globalization has become an accepted
and desired way of life, students are given both inductive learning and
analytical reasoning and made to learn their mother tongue besides Sanskrit, English and any one foreign language(German/Chinese /French/
Italian/Russian) in order to become a global citizen. The three language formula
can be extended to include a fourth language because the early years of
learning are the best years to learn different languages with ease. A young
niece of mine from US, hardly five is able to speak four languages- English in
US, Hindi in Delhi, Tamil at home and German in school, switching from one
language to another with ease without confusion. The language training of our
indigenous system at an early stage (as in the case of Amarakosha ) is through
inductive learning that helps the student to see the connectivity of languages,
their expressibility and their symbolism. Sanskrit and German are close to each
other and the learning of English and one’s mother tongue will help the young
minds assimilate the catholicity and liberality needed to accommodate different
cultures, traditions and ideas of the world. What is more important is we need
English and western system of education to be employable in a globalised world.
Indianisation with its
inductive reasoning has certainly the advantage of giving young minds a solid
foundation in Indian literature, culture and arts and to that extent it is
welcome but it should not be at the cost of western system of learning that
develops critical thinking and analysis. The two are not contraries, but they
are co-existent varieties of learning. The best of both have to be
incorporated. What is puzzling and distressing is our policy makers plan only for
‘either’ / ‘or’ and not ‘and’. Even more distressing is that we
seem to take only failed ideas rather than go in for the best and the noblest
systems of learning from the West. For example, we do not follow the tenure
system of employment as in the US which will ensure retention of faculty only of
high quality and scholarship. But the Indian universities are aping the Western
universities in calculating points for promotion under the CAS (Career
Advancement Scheme). A long drawn form has been introduced by the UGC for
calculating points under different categories to arrive at a magical minimum
score per year to qualify for promotion. This has resulted in the faculty going in for
a lot of feverish activities, one of which is to produce mediocre and
sub-standard papers as evidence of research and scholarship. No one is concerned
with the quality of research pursued, and the quality of articles, papers and
books published by the teachers. I know a young lady presenting the same paper
at ten different seminars with the title slightly altered to show her exemplary
scholarship. Numbers translated into points is the order of the day. Points for
a lot of co-curricular activities that are also listed as an essential category
for promotion are computed by stating that they are members of music or dance
society, theatre groups, debating clubs etc without any genuine participation
and contribution. One has to see the clamour of the staff to be members of
these societies that would help them add a few more points under the CAS. As for as evaluation and examination work is
concerned(which also is listed for totaling points), it is appalling to see teachers
valuing scripts at a rapid pace, sitting huddled in a crowded room without reading the answers
or evaluating their worth. Number crunching is the name of the game and faculty
members examine scripts at a feverish pace to show increased number of scripts
evaluated with no concern to decipher the worth and value of the scripts. The net gain is points for teachers for their
contribution to the university academic activities. Why can’t we have
evaluation of student scripts as in the past where papers are sent home to
select teachers known for their integrity and scholarship (and these teachers
alone will qualify for promotion) and not as is the case today making
evaluation mandatory and packing teachers like sardines in a room and mandating
them to evaluate so that the universities can get the results published on
time?
Why should we
incorporate this form of promotion from the Western universities to find out if
the teacher is eligible for promotion? Can’t we follow our own indigenous
system where promotions are based on the record of the teacher as evaluated by
The HOD/ Principal, students and peer groups besides the teacher’s scholarship
evidenced in the quality of papers presented? One of the greatest anomalies of
the academic profession is no CR(Confidential report) is written for them by
the Principal and HOD.
Learning comprises
content and method. With vast numbers entering colleges and schools for
admission, content and method of teaching have to be adapted to reach out to
this multitude coming from different strata of society and possessing different
levels of learning ability. Uniformity in syllabus can never be the answer as
different students at different colleges need diverse courses suited to their intellectual
level, their aptitude for learning and their future employability. The only
constant in post-secondary education at all levels should be to develop the
rational and critical faculty of the students, to give them broad learning with
specialized tools that are necessary for their employment. Instead of improving
on what we have and working on the changes that have to be adapted, the discussion today veers mostly around Indianisation
of education in place of the prevailing system which unfortunately in India, as
it exists is a mockery of the analytical reasoning that is
integral to the Western system of education.
Our ancient educational
system was built on the Gurukul school of learning where the teacher and the
taught lived together and the teacher handed the baton of traditional knowledge
to his student on what came to be known Guru-shishya parampara. The etymology
of Gurukul is Guru(teacher)+ Kula( extended family). In a Gurukula, students lived
together as equals, irrespective of their social standing, and learnt from the
guru. Today in our class-cum-caste ridden society, such living together as one
family is more in the Constitutional laws rather than in practice. Reservations
laid down in our Constitution is an enabling process to make education
available to all those castes that had
been deprived of their equal claims to education, employment and economic status in society. But the original
concept of Gurukula that worked without reservations is not possible today because
of the burgeoning population of reserved category and the lack of institutions
to accommodate them. Reservations over the last six decades have been of limited
success but not broad enough to erase casteism and class distinctions. If we
take a leaf out of the Gurukula system, it can be achieved by opening
residential schools and colleges where students and teachers irrespective of
their social standing live together, work together, eat together and mix with
one another in a common spirit of human bonding.
The curriculum should
be worked out as per the needs of regions that students belong to. Everyone is
not an Einstein or a Stephen Hawking, an Amartya Sen or a Ramakrishnan
Venkatraman to be educated in higher realms of Science and Technology, Physics
and Philosophy. Post secondary education has to be categorized into Skill
training centres, Professional institutes and Higher academic centres to cater
to different students with different aptitudes and abilities. The degree
certificate is not to be of a graded order but is a stamp endorsing the completion
of training. It will be naïve to bask in our ancient glory and claim that we
possess all the wisdom and we do not have to go beyond our shores and import
wisdom. Advanced technology, new discoveries in science, medicine and
engineering, new understanding of economic theories, sociological systems and
political concepts, new trends in arts, literature, media, music, theatre and
dance have to be a part of learning .
The formative years in inductive learning and repetitive learning will stand us
in good stead as it provides the foundation on which to build the new edifice
of learning.
Let not our new policy
makers have a Kiplingesque view of life and twist his famous lines: “East is East, West is West/ And never the
twain shall meet” and burst into a new anthem as in the film Judwaa
, in keeping with their newfound interest in cultural atavism :
East or West
India Iss The Best
North, South, East or
West
India iss the Best
The Land of Culture,
the Land of Green
This is the Land of U and Me
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