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·THE
LATEST FAD
BASIC EDUCATION
By
Acharya J B Kapalanı
费
VORA & CO, PUBLISHERS LTD
1. ROOXD NTLDYQ, KALLI ROAD ON

·Second Edition January 1946
Published by ATINGINAŁ bits
HINDUSTHANI TALDI SANGH
ARDIA
Prier: Pure One & dorst Licht od's

·RESOLUTIONS PASSED AT THE WARDHA
NATIONAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE
2nd 23rd October 1937
1 That in the opinion of this Conference free
and compulsory education be provided for keven
yars on i nation-wide sale.
2 That the medrum of instruction be the
mother tongue
3 That the Conference endorses the proposal
made by Mahatma Gandhi that the process of educa
tton throughout this period bould centre around
some form of manual and productive work, and that
all tbe other abilities to be developed or training to
be given should us for us possible, be integrally
related the control handicraft choren with due
regard to the environment of the child
4. That the Conference aspects that thus system
of aduation will be tradually able to
corer the
I mancration of the teachers

·Acharya
latest fait that
too mo the domain
q concatron'
Kupen who has
apent
many years
'nowncorecatronead
han tried the show
that this fand has
a sorendhation to
it
an du kan
6-7-39 mkesho

·The plea PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION This booklet has grown out of 10 Article I was obliged to write for the magazine of the Tulimi Suogh The Secretary of the magagne committee, Shri Asba Deru, usted for a contribution and would take no refual Tbo plea of work u bruisbed aside that I was no writer had a little effect. Personally I find nothing more distasteful than to bo obliged to under cake a job for which I have sot the requinte capacity Writing us Dot one of the ricey I am addicted to I have not the fening for it I bold that writing like poetry music and painting us one of the fine arts. Words are the most precious matul that an artist i This fine materul must not be handled by tbon bo have not the decorry ability I believe that the best work in writin, us in other uts, an be done by those who have tome natural gearus for it. It is not something that an be lamt merely by thining and education. In my cax there is nettbet natural nor acquired skill. I suffer from yet another handicap An alle from My native Province, I have not learnt the language of the province of my domicile I am thercore oblined to write in the foreya tongue through which I acquired the little education I have. I was not a student of licera turo por bare I learnt tbe English language in in native serting I therefore lack the bill to control my material Ya another difficulty-1 bare not to write my own thought. I have to interpret Gaadhijf's Haas. loter preting the thought of apotbar person is along difficult, especbally when the person is living; more so ben the thinker is dynamic and grosing personality Ideas an be communicated only through their erternal form and fact Their finer shades are therefote, oftet. texttop ·by the medium through which they pon. However I believe that if nature has not made one in oricios! thinket the next best thing for one u to appreciate the great thoucho of other. To bare dethet of the two capacities is to be doubly unfortunate, I believe I have the latter apacity and I am not usbaned to be a mere follova and an interpreter It is because of this that in fpite of con ay bundkupy I succumbed to the insistence cod persuasion of Shri Asba Derr However I did not know that this ua mare. At one of the metund of the Tulimi Sanso it was anno- Upcod but I would contribute brochure to the series to be pablisbed by the Sangh. In the meeting of the august I could not contradict the fair one who trated me unfairly So I had to ima slent and momehow to make good what I had never promised. The following page are the result of thu combiration of advere circumstances I have been constantly helped by Shri Asha Devi and my companion Shri Suchaita Der They have gooe through these pages and made appropriate saucestioni Eret tince the cheme of Basic Education was announced it has been the specual target of some mem bers of the fratetolty of the lamed Vice-Chancellort of our Universities. I have made no effort to reply to their Criciste. I believe they belong to IA te which, though 16 has left totne cutous fpecimens, has already pared Those worthles are the Rip Van Winkles who went into moelectual Homber m the days of our beloved Quren Victoria of blessed and happy tremory Nors that their Kleep has been rodels and receremoniosly shaken by the mandarine of the trolutionary done we live in. they are table to adpost themselva to the changed ·3 arcumstances and cootequently tet angry To ahumaa their latellectual bodies for direction, from the debris of the past, is not my job Therefore wherever I have offered some addictsm I have confroed myself to the living tboaght, of today Imout however my that Gandhig hus not yet placed before the country his idaus on higher education beyond saying that those wbo want tbe lurty must pay for it und must not ablico che toiling and half arred MAC to foot the bill for them. He has merely elaborate a cheme of univerzal Banc Eduation. Why are our Vice Chancellors angry then? Their preurve of University education, whatever its nalue in India, is not invaded ! It will be time for them to take ap cudgels when Gandhifu who never had the privilete of entering the sacred portals of Valvernty Indian or foreign pretines to advise the napon on & rubject of which, by profesion, the Vice Chancellors must be considered as specialisti Lo discussing Gandhiji's scheme I have not confined myself to education alone. I bere documed it against the background of Gandulfi's catre philosophy of life. No ryttern of education and be properly apprained ind apprecated unlew it is sodied in connection with the Ideas and ideals wirch it represents. For fostance, to understand Sovat education properly it will be nocetary to study is backgrouod in the Soviet revolution and the Soviet social order Gandhiji s scheme of ducation an Likewise be bett understood and appreciated only bea mudled na Its proper wetting with the rest of his thought und phlloopby I tberefore make no apolod for the lux section of the book, which deals with Gandhips 1000-political ideas, nor for its leagth. ALL HALID October 4, 1938 J & KRIPALANI ·PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION The Hindustan Talimi Sangh propose to bring out second edition of the book It is now nearly seven yan that it was written. Its purpose is to try to show that the priciples lald down by Gandhiji for hus Aus scheme of univernl Basic Eduation verc sound and Kere in consonance with the most epproved of up to date and scientific thought, in tbe educadonal world. Since the Book Fus ritten experiments in the new method have been carried on to some lodan provinces and state The xbole course of seven yar have not been worked out anywhere, yet sufficient has been donc is trying umas and under difficult politraal circumscances, to give the public rome ada of the possibilities of the DC scheme. The scheme was introduced by Confreu ministries In the provinces onder that control in 1999 as an experimental masure. Soon after the Congress minutrics had to relinquish office as a protest against the war policy the Brausb Governmeat, followed in India. Thu natur ally made a great deal of difference 10 the program of cbe xbeme eren us an experimental measure. Asbene asocated with tbe name of Goodbiji and the Congress *s not likely to be encouraged under the new political dispeoption that the experiment wus nor altogether snapped ras due to the fact that the Central Advisory Board on Eduation of the Government of India had accepted its broud prinaples Also because some of the Provinces were officially consulted to its prosecution. The scbeme, however could not be worked with the enthusiasm and vigour which alone can ensure success for a Aer und unted aperiment whose very basic principles ire not generally accepted or appreciated A Ner scherpes like a tender plant whxb is to be care fully guarded against the bot breese of active opposidon and the cold brece of indifference Inspite of the bande ap of officnl oppoutiga uod indifference the arenment ·$ has been making bad ny It has where courientoily Forked, shown results which wer well for ia future adoption lo z free India Inspite of fencal official apathy and opponton, u the annual report of the Hindusthani Talla Sangh for the yar 1944 records in the province of Bihar carnest attempt is being made to work out rykterna tically the esperiment in all its aspects according to the main outline lad down in the syllabus A seven years programme has been planned ind is being worked out faithfully without any uncertainty vecillation of change of policy what have been the results ? We goota u fcw pamutes from the report of the Board of Inspectod appoioted by the Bihar Governinent wbo ached the repilo of the work in March 1913. "The first attention of the Board was given to the study of cleanliness of the children. We were pleased to find that the standard of personal cleanliness in the pupila showed a drmat improvement over that of the previous years. It is probable that there was a specnl effort in the direction on account of the capected whit. It was, however credent that doc attention was being pard to the perronal cleanliness of the pupils u an important part of Silabus, and thut it has been recognised that the first coalification of a child is Basic school should be that it 13 clean child." We nest pand our attendon to the general phyuical development of the pupil. The compact arca clected for the crement one proverbial for the la barrie habits of the people, iod there everything to the atmospbers of their homes and villaga to counteract uod very little to belp the influence of the schools. Consider ing all this, we aan Afcly affirm that that a definite troprovement in the physical developtoent and habits of rupila u a repult of Bark Education. The children are prompt. mctirc and energetic and their trovement in play and work are purposeful and hartoonious, they wear their closbes nantly arty themschra Aright o compared to tbc Intlos children outside school..

·"We bert tried to find out the effect of the expert meat on the intellectual growth of the children. This assement made from two polots of vier one attunment in the different subjects of the syllabus and the labus Be whole second the formation of mennl attitudes and babies. - As regards the fire point, an alertness of mind and methodial work were clearly not Leable in the pupils. Their power of obscrration bad also been developed. Their spirit of enquiry however did not seem to have been pufficiently stimulated. We do ve two project of cooperative craft work to croups of children in two bare schools The planning and execution of the plan w utfactory according to the age and attainment of the children Apothet text on a larger scale was taken with thirty porils of grade IV The result of thrt work was assetsed by the pupils themselves and according to their own alculauon they has acbreved 57 of tbeur own planning. * We not come to the far more subtle question of het kabits nad attituda were being correed ia pupils at A natural consequence of craft cente docation There no doubt that rundard of personal bonetty s slowly nang among the children bot only arc personal belonging respected but there are instances of cbing lout being restoral by children of one Bastic scboo! to another Thos noteworthy fact in an area well Enorm for poverty The report furtber adds As far u xchool life is concerned we had ample opportunities of natching the pupils and teachers at work and are mufied that the school programuoto organised as to give children training in co-operative work and sturing of responsibility lodepadeat outside opinyong about the periment un has worked in Bihar root the same way The Rn Mother Clame Mother Superior Women College Pana, in educator THE Iriarted 13 Bxx schools in tbe Champaran compact ara wus treatly improved by what I uw The ·7 spo stancow activity displayed by all the gudents wu. Furprod to be. The all roand development of faculties through the medium of Kose truning har been a grant fuccess Self confidence, relf a pression, adaptability to changed circumstances were some of the main fatures of the training The 3 R of aduatre vert abo Alfactorily mastered. There is no crioging fear at our approach to false shame, but a joyous plapre in all types of work and labour and healthy pardo in the toil of their hands Co-operative work and readings to fall 10 with the ideas and commends of fellow leader stre remarkable. Inacerely feel that the salration of Indan villages and the key to man intensy lies in Basic educa troa. Gire every village enmilar school and within m few yun the results are bound to speak for themselver" Evidence of this kind about the experimcat arried oa in the compact area of the most poverty Briken part of Bihar Champanan n plontiful. Similar evidence available from the Kashmir Sate bere the experiment is arried on under the fortering care of the Director of Public Instruction, Profesor KG Şayldala. He is a keen educationbt and know what be about. The Kashmir report reviewing the work of five years (1938-19-13) among other thind my “Reports received from the teachers and inspecting officer indicate that the Basic schools have generally found it posible to cover intelligently the prescribed tyllabas of co-ordinated studies in the mandards ittised by the cbildren in Yumrod grada, in respect of skill in crafts us well as sederal docton, ure quite encouraging Sereal decernit und well-known du tools and other distinguished intots to Banc schools bare borde te elmony to the fact that the children who have beco ducated according to the scheme, have shown far frater meatal letter and educational areness than pupils of ordinary schools. La come out, Gyen the more Un obliging papili bare progressed befood. tbt portal standards of ency lo ports of ·8 czpreston and anthmetic, these audents have, tenerally speaking proved superior to those in ordinary schools. Craft vort bich is beter interpreted narrorly in our Basic kebool has succeeded in stimuladng and antalong their interest to degree which could not be ponible in an atmospbere of purely bookush educarson Durina Labout Week Bisic school boys have contructed new roads and reparred old ones, cleansed ells, springs, and bowlers and dog out druns for the outlet of hot chold artc rater and roof drippings." So far us the tachen working in Bagc schools ar concerned it may be stated that the new xhemde of Banc education is barlog a healthy reaction on their professional outlook They are on the wbols, porc active, thought ful and social and more conscous of their responsibilities than before and are trying to bring education into closer relation web life and with the interests of children. Porfessionally they are getting better equipped and repon received in response to a fairly long questionnaire which U recently arculated among the Basic schools bavc donc a fair amount of general and technial reading and have prepared reading matenal for the ase of childrca to the best of the capacity The attitude of tbe publie towards this new ciper CDt in cdocation bas ceased to be hostile, or apathetic and it can be safely remarked that the scheme has cmerfed unatbed out of the controversial stage The Department o coastantly receiving representations from anows quantes for the converioon of ordinary primary schools into new Daire Kcbools." Professor Sudan in one of his articles on Basic educaton contributed to the "Tribune of Labore" in 1914 ways One interesting by product of the basic cortiment has been the gradual infiltration of the ideas of activity method ocul approach to teaching and craft work in many ordinary Primary schools. I have recently visited (teral ruch schools orth a roll of about 100 students and tso teachers of bagre qualifications in each but the ·9 tacbers had the natural gift of taching and they wert infined with the new des And bat a plapurt it us to xe the boy wire, alert und happy occupied m dmple forms of coft work, yorlange in the chools garden, was small drums, making Ahort speeches running a Panchayat for settlog mutoul disputes and deciding common problemSome of the students tbemselre take the vuitors rouad plang what they are doing while tbe tercber u politely shunted to tbc beck ground la tbe schools I am thinking of all these thinps werc bang actually done it mus Dot nodow-drement which, o happens in some cases--while the bok vilage whose interest in this new type of school had been quckened, good by und watched all this activity with admiradon. The school had become the centre of the village and the teacher the natural and trusted leader of the parents. Of course, that is so only in a comparatively small number of schools yet, but the great thing that the edition of aloofpes between the Scbool and Society between Education and Life has been broken, and tbe now learen a beginning to work in many apected as well u Uncipected forms Tbexcretuloare de poc acluttrely but largely to the spirit and the mctbodology of Basic Education, kloh rand Mo longer be regarded asjad or complacenil, tolerated u an cspermont It has come to any and I wantinel to Irens form the sheponos educato In Inda (Iaalios out) All copert cvidence confirms the view ciperensed by tbc Icarded Professor Educationally the asperimenta has succeeded. Let us now ratkthe results that bave been achtered in the directon of economic self sufficiency which accord ing to Godbuff is an important principle of the new We must assets it in placa bere careful craft work bas been done under spert guldanec. Economic self-sufficiency according to Godhuift to cover, from the arngs of araft work done by a class, the Alary of the teacher The annual report of Talini Sangh for the year 1914 from which we have cagrely quoted griot a tat ·10 average camins per pupil per trade in Seagram Bauc school rud directly by the Sanch, where aretul records have been made ind kept sams up the position thus EARNING PER PUPIL GRADES I TO V FOR TEN MONTHS Joly 43 to Apl 44 (220 vorline day) Ilary work Arr rrulat Nurhan untuk Grudet 2 boan 2-10 2 r. 30 MIL 3m- 6-10-D III 2 br 30 mtr 5--0 -12 3 bas 16--0 1 3 ore IS- 18-90 The implications of these flures can be fully realised of we work them out on the basis of five grade school with 30 pupils 19 each grade. The cool proceeds from craft work in such a scbool would be Rs 1218-120 in ten months, or Rs. 121 14-0 per month Calculating the plary of a Banc school teacher u Rs. 23 month, the Buuc school within a very close margin of being all supporting 13 in the terms of the resoluton of the Wardha Education Conference That the Conference pects that this system of education will be gradually able to cover tbe remuneraron of the teacher Thus the actual results both from the point of The of duanot ind economic xlf puffichary conclusively pture that wherever the taperiment has been faithfully and carefully worked ebe retulus have been useisfactory The expectinas of Gandhist and those bo on hbo hutanre bare rorted the experiment have been fully borte out Gandhins Later Fad 15 to-day no more fod but & skott ind prximal plan of universL, Dacopal education mited to the cconomic and practical require ments of the country lu umretul adoption can only be Cipected in a free india ·INTRODUCTION OF THE SCHEME The old man at Sepon periodically shocks the country by placiog before it potel and untried schema. His ideas take the public by surprise. They run counter to past crpertence and are not in accord with tbe usual Dodes of thooght and secon. The shock to the greatest to the educated. They with tbelr book learning. degrees and diplomes murally feel that they know everything there to be koow about the new scheme The so-called specialists set perticularly annoyed. They feel that they at lean ought to know all about their specal sabjects which the old man proposes to disposo of in his novel and analler fashion Even tbore bo conulder themselves, revolutionaries fet confused. Their revolutionery Ideas ure sarcely tbe zult of their native tenlus or personal experience. They are derived u tbe rest of their knowledge, from books, Not belog med to inttuate or to think out theme for themselves, they proceed by analogia, When, therefore, a new Ida fails to quare with their acquired knowledge tbcy dispose it of, with an uncomplimentary adjective. Gandhijf, Weas meet with this frte at the hands of the claw of hoorttia, The der das are styled reactionary and revolutionary medical unpractical, faddest, spiritual Wby thu riat of understanding on the part of the duated? Is it became Gandhiji's scheme aro bord and daprattal or is there may peculiarity to the mannet of their announcement and presentation which props and irritates people? To me it would appear that it is Rot so much the matter u the manna of the introduc ·13 arena cas po papal per izde to Serapa Banc Kabool com direct by the $zah abart are records brre been crte tez soms op the poboa that EARNEIG PER PUPL GRADES I TOI FOR TEN VONTHS July +3 ta dand H (0 rorbeg days) local rort Armuthy Kuchan anato Grade 1 bacts br. 3 os. 6-10-0 111 50 8-12-0 3 las 11-10 16-0 3 bra 13-1-0 18- Thumplertxoos of tben Egures ao be fall real re cork them out on the bars of a fire grade school T:h 30 papils nach gab. The cal proceeds from at rook rasch a school would be Rs 1213-12-0 m tea conta o R 121 10 NT monch Calonlarini the ulury of a Bisc school tachet x Ri 25 per month the Bus schools who a rery close cartin of being "self surprise 21 to the times of the roolution of the Wardha Edama Conleece Tzat the Concrence apeco but they system of duston ll be gradually able to corette enneason the teacher That the scrol resous back from the point orie of daaron, o ecozomie xeli soffancy coadurels more tbr sterett be sent has been faghfully dareully rotted the results hart been Ausfactory Tbe accoons of Gabun ind ebote bo os ho mitt hart oted the open bare hero fully box OOR Gaotlin Lao Foduto-day no more a fad bua titi pupal plan of meel, wariowal czaron sorted to be contactkal require Diors of the county Is Beter i stortos asooly apeeted mate Lola ·13 The most revolutionary ideas and schemes on which hundreds of experts and philosopher working to the field bure written volume ut announced Itb the briefnt of Introductions. The introductions often reem to cload rather than explala Gandhijis idas and meaning Immedutely there is a chorus of digent from friends and opponents. The faithful few wait for further elucidation Tabs of course comes in due dimc. But Gandhui bas already taken ucdon, he xems almagin hurry for the practical He expects not uguments and learned Lathoritia but facts to any conviction and convert people. To the public the danger however arise from the fact that ben Gundbuji has whered in a plan, it means the Congress lod consequently the country must follow This brief, and one may uyuropant, handling of umportant problems that may make or mar pone essential and vital department of national life and activity annoying It is generally resented. But Gandhiji goes on unruffled, bent upon his objective. However his crypto explanation slowly penetrato i few brains and touches a sympathetic chord in their not too rigidly hide-bound Intcllect. Some of thes come to his help and fire shape to his ideas and clotbe them in the clamal arb which alone an be understood and appreciated by the educated. Parallels and analogies are discovered Learned argoments are brought forward to justify ind rapport bb Dorel and revoludonary deas. Equally learned counter argomenu are replied to und rebuted with all the necessary quoctions from known ind recogaled autborites Experimcat are tried by persons of undoubted ability in the particular branch of activity and some Port of working programme chalked out Some for tangible calAn ibor holding promue for the future.

·The new theme of donation called the Wardha Schewe or Bunc Education characterutially announcand rehematis opposed by the landed, is at present undergoing the process of babūstarxon. The schemens maddenly beralded witbacolutan ssd half of tatrodocton in the Harijan Inaritably the first reception accorded to i ri clic of protests and repadlations It war ald that the scheme was the most impossible of all the i es possible schera per proporcd by Gandhujl. The larned would not look at it. Eveta obe Socialists forfor that it bore furuly resemblance to what is being attcapred in Russis. The suse sensolubed or complete ertber witbaderlave smile or with the shrug of the aboulders, Gandhu u obliged to explain Thos brought have a few wpporters, or bad ke made to the converts a water before announcak kus plan 1 The rubtle old. sbening Bania 1 Anyway a conference of the lauraed was alled It was risely restricted to tbove who were kervous about the problem of education or *$ it restricted to make it look fastionable? The Edvaron Ministen in the provinces were joysted. They are of course officially interested in educaron. The trick of confining the Conference to a few mucceeded eroidently More people were incrous to attend than the imall town of Wardha could coarctantly caretain The Coafercakce ras presided over by Gandhist him selt lus proceedings kert bunnesslite, conducted in Hladurtant. Trodan sufficed. The general principlex, hich may mein raythuat or nothin' were laid down. They were so general that they were quite unerception able CON tee of the learned was appolated Anamast and cuatronally respectable president was Tu vois Xordtpansedat na putut ·15 discorered. And who could bave been more gritable than the modest, yet determined, bead of the Jamie Milla who, by hu ind his collagoes untiring and indefatigable activity and efforth, hus produced something out of pothing in Delbil The Committee put before the public a reasonably mtisfying report in terms that the educated could under stod and upprecut. On the basis of this report tbc Coagress sus persuaded to commit itelf. It pund an inoffensive resolution adorning the moocent looking pelacipla enunciated by Gandhiji and accepted by the Conference The resolution wu roved by Acharya Narendra Deco He rapported the general principler. By the time, the Socialists had realised that the principle of labour in education was not only sentific but wu also communistally respectable and formed the main principle of Soviet education. They baro yet to learn that tbc Idea of economially paying, cative work must also be accepted if the now theme to mucceed. Narenda Dey did not wholly approve of tbe kbeme but be federally supported it. The plannt task of record log the resolation had been missed to the present witter I had furnbbed myself with facts and figures properly scbooled by Dr Zakir Hoxun bimself. Dat Narendra Derita sdrocacy nis so cloquent, his disagree meat so volled and bos speech to well received that I did not like to spoll its effect by an inferior speech in Hindi I therefore formally seconded the resoluton u I have to econd may resolutions in my official capacity The resolution vu parted wnanimoinly The seal of Congress authority nas fired on the act scheme, By the relation. De zalar Hoain und Shri Arya Nankan, with the edukce ind under the

·16
of Gandhin, WeTC to bake steps to bring mto cilence A
Educagon Board to work out a consolidated manner :
programms of Basic Natural Education and to recomm
end it for acceptance to those who are la control and
shape puble and private education. The ume Board
shall bare portr to frame its own constitution cc
To the scheduled time under Gandbili. Rdvice &
board of experts mis appointed Wicks the exception of
Sbn Narendra Der and ebe present writer who may be
branded u politicians all wombers of the Baand are
respectable, and, what is mort, educationally respectable
The composick of the Committee is such as would
Sarify all 10terests and communities Nesther the
Musiima Law nor the most slicant sufragest couture
any quarrel with its pertoonCL The Board mct in Aptit
last ( 1938 ) and appointed several useful fab-committees
of experu in ach department, sanctioned. modert bud
ket and traducted other miscellaneous but highly useful
work
Thus the scheme that was thrown at the patron #o
abruptly and upceremonyously and chrch gave it a
powerful shock, ita a fair way to prosper and beas fruit
This is bor Gandhip works and succeeds His dear,
novel though they appet bon critically examined
nad analysd, arc serther so suvel corso revolucionary
as they sem at first sight What u upsetting bebe
manner of their armouncement

·ITS IMPLICATIONS What are the brood prodples of this now scheme? They are that (1) all education be Foren round a aft (ii) the produce of the craft be made economially remunerative to as to defry the recurring cost of eduation, namely the teachen ulary Let us set of these two idea ere, after all, us on pactical and us novel u they appeared at the dmc of their announcement. That the present system of education in India L thoroughly bod in admitted by all. It defects are legion. It violates all the known principles of tood and scientific eduation. It runs counter to the laws of pedagocy Psychology and public by ied. However it u not our purpose to discuss bere the whole of thu cuatronal syitem or its manufold defects. We xball confine our selves merely to its most paring drawback The system is formal and u ruch cut off from all life uod reality It w fotellectual in the carton sense of the tcrm It deals in symbols to the neglect of the objects that tho symbols sgally Things are verbally described and no concrete objects Illustrate them. As the medium of instruction is the written word, memory is its chief instrument. The system has little to do with actual facts and practical knowledge Scientific cxperiment and laboratory work ue conspicuous by their absence. It is possive descripture and abstract. It therefore lacks observation und Induction. It also physically lifelers, It provida po healthy activity for the ero mag chuld. It cramps him in a class room. It deprve him of frah ur fun and lucht. The partial knowledse it imparts to therefore neitbet unified por meinted. Falling ·3S Tks lata Fad develop all the facultia of the pupilspecially buis will It has per the trowth of his personality In spite of all ussbow of intellect, it encourages dubious orthodoxia The revalt of all tbu u that the inter produce proficient babblers Wher face to face with life they disappoint all expectations formed in the classroom Very often thoi ho neglect books and art condemned us bad material by the teacher show better results in afees life It would appear that the neglect of books makes them rely upon themxlves and develop their initiative Tous not only * portion of their brain but their other faculto also grow They often wiceed where their better at school Gail. Therefore for a long time, some jort of adjustment has been ſelt necessary In certaIS solated institutxons, mostly privately owned and managed, effort huve been mad to offer some correctic to the theoretical bas of thus education These efforts bare, however been confined to adding classes in fer handicrafts The underlying dat was to make the pupil. little more practical and to change bsn attitude to manual work and labour Physical labour had come to be looked down upon a degradsng for Arions with a minimum of literary training such us the prejudice that crea #gricultural or commercial activity at & discount, compared to the poorly paid work of . ritare teacher of clerk in a big city This attitud bas more or less continu d till today but ** 19:30 sort of taaaual work at handicraft however defcc rrely utcbt und learnt, u done by the pupil, the stigma artached to manual is boor bas progressively diminubed. Houtlet what tbek aray classes in handicrafts fuled to achieve in the directwo Was hatier done by OT Production of educated labour cusing economic ·Ils lapitations 19 depresnon and unemployment Yar after year the wchools and collega have kept on adding to the pomber of those reeking employment, but ovios to the peculur polical conditzons of the country the demand has remamed pretty Rationary This has led to vacang pressure being brought upon schools, to provide some remunerative handicrafts along witb purcly lucrary knowledge There salon demand for reparate technical institutions. Something in both the directions has been done. Nevertheless it is plain that this does not and annot oven partlally solve tbe problam of unemployment Those who have mechanically learnt an art or craft for * period or tro every day at school, are no match for thc hereditary morken apprenticed from childhood to their parents and relatives. The latter produco more and do better work and are content with comparatively less remuneration. They have learnt no apensive habits, either at home or at school Even then, the progredir factcase of foreign manufactured imports and the partial deyclopment of factory products in India itself, hare hardened the economic conditions for the hereditary workers, many of whom have to sect Irvelibood abroad or work in the cities as hired Labourers. How can tbc educated araluman be accommodated in thu cyer shrinking field ? It is not posable Thc economk und un employment problems have tberefore remainc i unsolved. It paanse this background that the acm kcheme of Gandhifi - proport los um is not merely to make monal work und Labour respectabl or to provide a hundienſt mechanlally larpt for the purpose of livellbood. As for making manual labour respectable Gandhiji and his movement of Satyagraha hare donc more to take away the stina ettuching to it, cban any, ·0 The Laiot Fad ont TSON of any are moremcat ia modern timp \Vith be charku and Xhıdı, bu ipsuutence on acnfice. simplicity and identification with the masses and with hu new ideas of hygies and personal carliest inde pendent of the strong, the inccpct and the abobi Gandhij hus rehabilitated manual labour in its proper place of dignity more cffcctircly than any indiatrul classes to choois could ever hope to do He therefore sueda so educatronal Kheme for thu purpose hors 5 the intcation of the proporc new type of education merely to ensure economic independence of the pupil by means of a craft mechanically and defectively Larnt What is proposed bere is something different and revolucionary -buch, while according proper digany to Izbour and ensuring a modest an conest livelbood, cos further and artcompts what has rarely been attempted before What Gandhi}i propose u to change the medson of a truCTIO He xcks to alter the characters and language through which clucation is imparted and acqwre. Ito a chans dot merely in the curriculum and the rubyects caught but a change ia picthodology Labour in huscben doc not scand merely for kell hein or school rork. It becomes a unifying and integrating factor It helps to combine otellectual, artistic sountific and possical development of tbe pupil Books and the written word are not however dispensed with but they art to be re thought, TC-150ited and te written by tbe pomnls dosag creative work to Cooperaton with the teacher and one toober This re tasakas. re-creating and re *TED 11 hat Gandhis calls truc education Edoton here follows e muutural evolution of tbe iadsyidual and the race the crolution of all knowledge art science pasiosophy and religion,

·MARCH OF CIVILIZATION AND
BASIC EDUCATION
In the dawn of human hixoty hen man nu almost
auwling, how did be raise hus bead und stand erect?
How did he by gloo degrees come to Lequire tho
characteristia that distinguish him from more animals?
There has been double process of education, by
observatbn and by experiment. He observed iad then
tried his hand on material mature. Having learnt from
its ways he began fashxoning things. He used tba snien
above all, those marvellous bands of hu which sbape
thing so cunningly and delica Even u be worked
on ternal nature ho uequired otac knowledge of its
way and qualitter. He requintioned to his services
intuition Imagination and reason The mechanlal
devices be invented enabled him to overcome hus difficul
tres and obstacles. From being a plaything of whimsical
natural forces be aume progresavely to dominate them.
By slow degrees he discovered rudimentary general la
that governed parure and the process of his work. These
lald tbc foundation of his sciences. From being a mecha
nical worker he became a sclentlfic rorker The general
Law ho thus dixcovered while working with his hands
and with his rudo tools and machines werC further
Generalled thas creating pbilosophy The most hidden
recrets of the universe were to revcaled to him.
Haring introduced some order in the chaos of ori
gnal nod vannal mature, he pururally tumed his faze
on himsell. He one of u almal could fashion und
lavent. What was he then, udbune from hu perround

·22 The Latest Fad 199* animate and animate? He turned bis 20 inwand and discovered the laws that regulate the inner working of hu bring thus creating psychology the sence of his kul and religion. On the other hand having to work al ne on nature he discovered that as an indsvidual h Kas mor equal to the task of the conqact of bus surround ing. Ho therefore had to rock the cooperation of all those who acre working in the side field. Slowly buc created clans, cara, classes and nations thus introducing Crnic life and corcm ment. He made rules appropriate to a locut being who wants to Ime in amicy sbal coopera tron with others. In order o EXCITIE hu rights o cr mature he must to modify them as not to come in conflict and in crfere with similar night of others. Thus he creates his social and political nehts, duties, oblige urons and loyalesen, introducing in bus personal Life and in the life of Soxiety practical and theoretical ethics las and politics This has been the process by which the wild and volesu map of the jungle ASOCC Os 13 deatif u with simuls, has ta med and raised himself and professicly become cirstined. Mor char bu has reached some height H has conveniendly forgoten the laddy by which be Sometimes be tries to remove it, thinking that hus *ore u done But u hy kork really completc? Has fue not gyet to consolidare hus Lains and carry on fresh conquesta? 1 obr cfforts must again and again involve him in the old proxes or he is likely to be ai tokea by decadence hicks cleic ar formas and words but lack Creative thought and activity Such d cadence lus always been, in bntory the precursor of the dinategration of a croisaison low the child ani nova begin to function us the IOH.

·Harok of Civilisation and Basic Education 23 wild primitive man, the bertarman. He bou got to be ruised and chvilized by cduation. The present system of education, however taka him to be an inimal und treats him us such. La hu taining hou made to repeat purrot like words and phrases. He repeat them uod sooner or later comes to be in apert at auch repetition Periodically this little animal u brought to give demons tration before friends and neighbours of his landing and proficiency in the use of words Succesful performance u awarded with appropriate remurds, degrees ind diplomas. Then ngun, like a puppy or a monkey he 15 taught certain practical tricke He performs them mecbanically without onderstanding and appreciting the process or the meaning underlying them. That he is not smochered by thu procas, miscalled education, u no fault of th yttem. It due to his being in reality a buman being and not an animal He jumps over the edua tool hurdles placed in bus path and gets fome kind of knowledge in spite of tbc handicaps of the rystem. It s bowever certain that if the system of bu education follow the natural course of crolution of the individual and tbe race he will be educated better and quicker All his capacities and not hus brun alone, will be crercised and consequently attentbened and crolved Hos oyes, hands and otber kenser ill be trained. They will be alert. Hus imagination and his intentive capacity will florer forth in fruitful activity He ill not ruffer from the various inbibitions and repressions from which be suffers today By doing rork with a derlen he will develop hus will and become a unified and integrated personality Paychologically too, thu ducatoa Decesory for tbc growing child. His nature needs a good deal of ·14 Tis Latest Rad phytal vetvrty for t apremod ind unfoldment. His bruin can be active only through work and play In orthodox schools the cbild's restless and eruberant ezerty finding op uwful and appropriate field for munifestation, runs mito destructive channel and assume the form of rowdyim and muchief. Hucreativecorig stead of being trained and suded k poubed and repressed and thwallowed to run to raste By the new method the pupils of recepcirt and passive capacities who in after life prove them hrey unequal to tbo struggle of We in a rough Ketcilar world will be energised and trained to use their other facalties m Addition to their memory and therr brain, While the active the energetic, the refractory the machucrows and the turbulent, the bad material of tbc school of today those who are constantly subject to the rebuke and the lush, will under this mystem o educ cron, come to cher ora and carich fociety with cher pecular Rifts. When a bandicraft became the trethod. media and the language of uitruction, not only will the child's apacities be brought out, but be will find joy sa bus work, his school, his coma panxons and teachers which he lacks today The teacher will so more be the harsh task muster that be u, but an elder playmate frund, fuxle and Itedet The otural process of learning and development for buttanity has, however beeo slov ind tortuou Kaowledge bas been farbed through trual and failure. Success as Dot been the rule brut the aception. Stall the child in his edocetion undergo the same alor sad torttaus proceu of l asd flare? Stul success come to him only as the fisel frult af. series of fara ? Can be chos las mocb id the few years at his dipos before be enters life and chooses trude or a profesion?

·Jarck of Citiration and Basic Education 5 La he not to take adnotage of the accumulated aperi. ance und the wisdom of the va? Nothing of thus sort Dead however happen. He is not alled upon by the Dew system to dispense with his books or hu tencher They are there to guide, negalate, fucilitate nod aspedite hbs progress in the acquisition of hoowledge. The udrunce need not be slow and tortton. Rather by the new method, tbe puct will be quicker than at pront Every step that useaken will be correlated and coordinated with his personal aperience, in the Betting of which be is the chief and the priocipal atent. He knowledge will not be confined to results worked out by otbers. He ill learn the process by which mformation 13 cathered and knowledge acquired. Every step is Conxiously and deliberately taken for the end in vier The child is thus directed to decorer for himself Dot only facts but the laws of iAverigation and thinking. What he thus tains becomes a part of himxell. He automatically ocquires the habit of scientific thinking For instance, of his banc handicraft by cloth-making he will begin by knowing hos material, cotcom, tbc hbtory of a duscovery cultivations and spread and the centra where cotton to grown in the world. He will laarn the conditions of rather water and soul under which it is crown. He will klor it in compartion with other crops. Thus he will learn a real brt of properly axumilated fragraphy history and agnculture. It will not be necesary for him to memonie mechanically any portion of hus inorladec When be learns aarding he also get i knowledge of the differcat deres tbat through human bistory have been crolved and adopted for cleansing and singing cotton. Then, spinning Aves bin in idea of reubos and messard und the doc ·26 TX, Lalat Pad divsions. He fet a knowledge of the various machines that have been inreated for the purpose. He lamps the mecbanid of tbe machine that he wes. When he lards wearios he again learns the more complicated mecbunda of the priving machine 10d the history of its cvolution At every new procta his information increases and is Acernted Thus the knowledge required become a part af bu personality With this knowledge hus pncial apaaty and all also develop PAST EXPERIMENTS-1 So far as Gandhip us concerned education through manual work or & craft. 1 an original ider That he should have come by it iodependently of former workers and thinken in the field shows how car he lives to tbc arth. However in the butory of education the da i berther new bor revolutionary It is not even reactionary As our radical friends first thought. Tho idea has been advocated often enough and notable efforts have been made in the per to work it out. It us a recognued principle of psychology that upco the age of 14 or 15 the child has a remarkable capacity for gruplay the concrete. Hu genu for understanding abstract das and depenuation is strictly limited. Whatera generaluations be mukes or ondettands have to be bunately related to and connected with objective fact Ho must, therefore, lam by means of the Concrete Marely to staff his mad with federalisations and abstractions, by means of instruction and textbooks ·Past Bowen 27 is to roverke the order of laming prescribed by child mutare and child psychology It to cripple him Effort have therefore been made to pake bu aduation concrete and thus to conform to child mind and prychology That educationista in India should have failed to recogauso this great prinaplo of pedagon xben Gundbuji announced it, only proves that even their theorctial knowledge of the subject in which they are supporal to have specialued, is defective. It will not therefore be out of place to remind them here of what they som to bove fortotten. In primitive time all education wus through obrervation and work Life itself required work and physical work at that. Even the upper close the priest, the king and the aristocrat could maintain their position only through physical work. In bunting. fishing and agricultural dnlisations, wben there u Do written, not to my printed word, wbatever litt knowledoc therc mas bad to be painfully acquired through work and crpericace. The young learners were more like apprenuco than pupils in the modern sense They lived with their teachers in Maths and Ashrams where the entire cork for the teacher and the institution ou performed by them. Their knowledge was conse quently embedded in the ral and tbc concrete. It mis linked to objective facta Even its highest mounog had the touch and the aroma of fresh aes-dug soil. Rdicion that to-day deals with some of the hugbett abstractions, was itself concrete All its observance and ceremonies were of practical naturc. Io very yoga was the karma Yoga--the Yoga of action. All this was bowerer cbanted in the medicnl ages. Bo this time religion from beint coparete had become * ·28 The Latet Fad little mort abttrict. The priatly clase had come to be a sepatuto custe. It had become the repository not only of the religious mysteries but also of all knowledge Every sort of aduation was in the hand of the clerials It mu more or le abstract and therefore confipod to Fordi und deas. Thu vu perhaps natural. The object was to create profesional clerka, not in the modera but in the medical sense of the term The work of the techer the priest the medical men, the larger and lart the politican, in fact all educated work, mu done by the Brahmins or the priestly order Eduation by the prick whether in the East or Went u likely to be formal and abstract Religion deals with some of the hichest and mor final xbxnctions of the buman mind. Morcover rpiritual life expecially under excede and morate impulse amgns a subordinate place to obxectiva and concrete reality Life of retirement and contempla tron come to be coordered the highest life all other 11fe 13 mundane and earthly The agriculturist, the cruftrman and the labourer work with matter and live a material life. Their live ue therefore man and low The highest life that of contemplation. The next in dignity u the folder life. In a wild und volent ato thu wu to be expected. Ever then there is almana nvalry between the prierly and the martul classes for fupremacy In thu riralty the priest ultimately won in the East and the roldier in the West Education imparted under the influence and fuid ance of the pret concerning itself u it does with abstractions must deal with words to the comparative Declect of things and objects Dapudy the Joy in materual life and is concern it teads to become terrows apd even morost. That this mus ba umply borne out ·Per Experime-1 ng from the fenenal tone of literature produced by the priestly order, and from the dloportions arried on in the emblies of the larned of tho time Everything Wu sought to be proved or disproved by means of words A reference to things and mou could easily ttrminate controverty but the custom wu to make no ruch reference and to prove ODCs propositions by means of definitions, amlysis and laws of deductive logic. Some times to the modern mind the old disputations appear childbh, puerile and void of any real content or meaning. There is much cleverners in the use of papipulation of words and text torturing but the bole argument bas very little meaning for a practical and a scientifially trained mind. The effort was to make the wrong appear the Hght reason. When thought is cut off from 101 sources In actual fucts it u casy to prove or diaprove unreal propoddons by means of formal logic. The hare boterer fort can Deter overtake the tortoise, if the latter once starts with a leod. There an be no causation, time, space, substance or even external reality This that we see 15 ways, appearances based upon a subjective idea." "There be no such thing u objecare reality "The thing in italf is beyond the pale of knowledge The Ideat alone is the real. God is with or without form The rerastection of Christ wu bodily resurrection. The winc und bred in the Eucharis actually turn tato lesh and blood. The three of the Trinity whether of the Hindu or Christen und really one and not three. These ure some of the simple was proved and dlaprova by means of method wed. By this proces kon ledgo become subjective and cut off from its objective basen. A fev abstract terealiations and lans ·30 The Latul Fad deductive logic may give an uppenunce of clavernen, bat empty knowledge of mout of its content. Ultimately ruch proces is bound to result in burren scholaxicism. Such xbolasticum in the Medieval age bere und elsewhere imothered all free thought and initlative, und thus retarded the advancement of knowledge. It was however son clar that of knowledge wus to progress 1t wu to be lep deductive and subjective and more inductive and objective and above all dynamic and creative If this formal and monitric cduation of the medi valager escaped partially the otter divorce from objec tive reality itu because in the tani and agricultural civilization, and specully ln helf reguladog and self supporting Matbs, modaReties and religious establubments, there wus plenty of contact with nature, and phynaal labour had to be performed for the daily needs of life and the running of institutions These activities did modify education and evett from the worst effects of a purely formal and intellectual training Also with a religious objective, education could not fail to develop the imagination, the emotsone, the restbetic faculdies and the will. In tbe main, borover education remained formal and intellectual and therefore comparatively uncrative and barren At one time in its development, ancient Greece too, knowledge had come to be stothered under like intellectual tyranny It was confined to argument, dusputation and dialectia. All knowledge for the Sopbatt could be deactively acquired from a fer definitions and generalizations. Dolectia vu therefore the most studously and arefully cultinted banch of human knowledte. Socrates sought to giv a corrective to this ·Pat Breinar1 31 by his cry of back to nature and reality But of course the Socrates of the disciples apped only ufuper Sophist and a clever delection, though it us apparent that his cleverness due to the fact that be referred thing to reality and made free use of induction With the Renaissance in Europe there is a protest against this formal and abstract koowledge. More and mort emphasis was laid upon objective facts. The crclusive reliance that was placed on deduction mu relleved by Ercater emphasis upon Induction, experiment and investigation. All placent of modern thought buve Lold are upon external nature and a careful and patient tudy of its way Modern science and philosophy arc the result of this correlating of knowledge with and checking of results by obpective reality It * noc however be mupposed that the encuents of the medievals relied crclostrely upon deduction. They too tsed induction specially in the carlier and creatire period of tbelr Erowth. The question bere is on of crophops. While the main cmphres rus op deduction then, it on Induction nou From Bacon, Montaigne, John Locks tbc Eocyclopaedoos upto the present day philosophers and educatlonisth, it hy been one long protest against scholarticism iod to divorce from nature uod rality The first revolt was naturally in the field of philosophy and roence Edacatio not touch.d for a long time However it could prot escape tho scientific spirit. Rousseau, the proneer and father of the modera science of relacogich, in his book Emilc lives the basic daas of the nex Detbol of education. (astruttoas embodying bus Heas were started in Europe. Experiments on the lina susrested by him and those who followed bol ·32 The Laal Pad have been going on there and in Ameria up to the prestat time. The bar da of Rousal was to follow mature and to treat the child u. child and not us a grown up The child has hu own ways of sying of thinking and of feeling nothing an be more unreasonable for us thun to subeditute our own way." What are the man of the child? Rounteau unsven, "Children tre fire rettlers and then curious If outure bus wirely made them restless it must be for a purpose. The obvious purpose o that of their growth. To oblige the child then, to it will in congested, ill reptilated class-room. concentrating attention on the batnct wisdom of the village teacher for a few hour every day under the dread of luh, is certainly not the way to bring out hus Latent faculties. It is not the way to give him real and fruitful knowledge. It is not even physically beltby It the most effective way of bringing about an atrophy of mort of ha faculties for a partul development of the brain--partul because the brain cannot fully dovelop in brolation from other faculties. It growtb an never be healthy or fall, unless other faculties too ure cercised simaltaneously Again Rouscou myi:" Doat hurt him (the child ) by the vuous sciences but give him a taste of them und the methods for learning them Let him know nothing because you have told it to him but because he has learnt it for himself. Let him not be taught mence but alcover it. If you ever rubatitate tuthority for reason in his miod he will no longer reupon, be will be nothing but the plagos of other people s opmbon The comparatiro urantes und diudyantages to tbe child of the crew u compared to the old sten it ·Port Erfarinen-1 33 brought out thus, "Instead of making the child to suck to his boobs if I keep him busy in a workshop his hands will work to the profit of the mind. He will become a philosopher the while he thinks he is only a workman As you take him from shop to sbop never let him sec any work witbout putting his own hand to it, nor let blm learn without Lowlog perfectly the reason for any thing that * done or at leat everything that be boys aboved." He must be o trained that the so of hus Ilmbs o combined with the use of his brain by mans of a handicraft. "He progresos only to proportion to hb abilities. Neither mind nor body artes more than It can bear When the understanding aimlara things before they are stored to the memory what be then druns from it is bh own. If bo were to load hus memory without full comprehension be would be apowd to the stok of norer drawing anything from it which would be umcful to him In sbort Roumau funds for the ideal of maturalnew and dmplicity in education. He bolds that the chief agent in the process u the child himself and that has not to be coerced either physically or intellec tually He must learn from life and los activities and education mit Eit hlon for life After Roussau, Pestalozi, Herbert Froebel und hort of other educational reformers and practical teacher dow to John Dewey and tbe present boliberik reformers of Ranta, bare u In one way or goodber advocated the da that tastruction and book knocledge an best be imparted and wimilated and the child 1 apciun mado to develop through practial work done by him in tbc xbool According to Pestalost, education is the organic dertlopeent of the indendaal-raal, boral od $ ·34 The Lola Fad physical. This development come through activities inuituted by the general desire for action and consequent erperience. Therefore objects and not words nike perception und toc memory caur form the basis of his education Tachung should not un at dogmatic ahor tation but at the development of personality and moderi doality He writes, Nature develops all the force of humanity by exercising them, they incronx by use The exercist of manufaculties and talents to be profit able must follow the courte laid down by nature for the education of bomunity Thu is why the man who in Altploty and inDO DO exercise bus forces and faculties with order almen und steady application 15 naturally linked to true human nature; whereas be bo Hifles the order of nature and thus breaks due coppection between the different brancbe of bus koowledge, destroy in bumself not only the true batu of knowledge but the very end of ruch basis and becoma napable of appreciating the advantages of truth. Speaking of children in their early yan be says Their power and experxeace are greater at this age, bat oar unprychological schools are essentially only Artificial Hifling machines for destroying all the results of the power and experience that nature herself being to Iffe in them. We have children upto 5th year in fuil en poytacat of nature. We let every imprenon of nature work on them, they feel their power They already knor full vell the joy of unrestramed liberty and all its charm The free atural bent, which a sensuous happy wild thing taka in his dertlopment, has in them already taken its post decide direction and after they had enjoyed thus happiness of Rengon knowledge for fall five yean, make all outure roumd them vanish from their eyes ·Past Ergent-1 35 tyrunnially stop the delightful course of the anteknin e freedom pen then up like sbeep bole flock, huddled together la stlabing rooms pinilessly cham them for hours, days, weeks, months, yan to the contemplation of uamtural and instinctive lettes ind contrasted with their former condition to a maddening course of life." After Pestaloci, Froebel carried further the obyective method in education. He elaborated the conception of child poychology and hus tendency to uctivity Ther, according to him, sbould form tbe starting point of education. He also developed the conception that educk tion can best be imparted through sense percepton, plain constructive work mature tudy and kindergarten AU of these principles are now recognised by modern educationalista. IA Todra, however they are respected more in theory than in practice Talking about constructive work with which we are concerned bere, Froebel myk, The spirit of the man should bover over the sbapelop and move it, that it may take shape and form and a dumat being and life of its own. This is the bigh meaning and deep rigofianco, tbo frear purpose of work and industry of productrvo and creative activity We becom: truly God like to diligence and industry in working and doing which are accompanied by th clear perception or con by the vaguest focling that thereby o represent the lone in the over that are alve body to spirit and form to thougbt, that we render Yuble tbc Invtlbiu. Again he ans "The time has now come to csalt all work in fret suivity that is to make it latelliteat action This an only take place when the law according to which all formatie ktivity proceeds is recognised and conscious. ly applied us it has been hitherto unconscioguly applied ·36 The Laia Fad but every The occupation material of my method gives the main of un.comcious application of the Law on the child s part to rito to art 10 ruch a way as to come to their conscious Dems by degrees and be recognised as the fude and regula tor of all formation. In no other way an bumon work be transformed into free activity It can only become intellectual action out of what has been mere mechanical action, when the occupation of the hand is at the umc time the occupation of the mind. At the present time art alone can truly be alled free activity human work corresponds more or less with creative activity and this is necessary in order to make man the image of bu Drise Creator creator of bu own part in mintattute. These new ideas 19 edgation through wense perception mod courtructive vort not only made education Kleanfic and fruitful, but made possible what had never been attempted before, namely the education of the defective, tbe dumb the dafind the blind, Craft work have the defective, economic independence and with it self respect and self reliance. It also made ponible the reclamation of tbe juvenile delinquent by means of education PAST EXPERIMENTS-II The reformen in the field of education have not been mert pbilosopbers concerned with educational theory Many of them have thought of education 10 terms of social and political reforce and have made ·Paul Biberinai II 37 esperiment and founded and run institat ons. They belong to diflorent schools of thought, believing in different Ideologies. Some approach eucatan from the visw-point of the spintual destiny of the individual and the act some are materialists and focula. They think of education from the vow point of tbc proletarut and tbe establiment of a cladless society by means of a I volation. While others without wubscribing to any particular phiosophy and without intending to revolu tlonise the basis of the prexnt order merely want to makc education scientific and more in accord with the Laws of child and adolescent mature and psychology Their aim is to make the acquisition, the spread and the adnancement of knowledge, more efficient, natural and fruitful To whatever school of thought or philosophy the different educational reformen may belong they are all agreed on making oducation morc concrete and real and lens verbal and dogmatic. They all advocate methods of aperiment and trial. They cmphurise the value of practical and creative scavity whetber in tbo Laboratory or in the workshop A Roman Catbolie weiter in Germany aiming evilently at Daking education more effective from the spirtual point of view sites As with each day se anderstand more and more clearly what a labour school huc come to realise that for us to opposo tbls reform would be modneth Esch cpoch arrgo the materials of ciuitation into per pattern The present croch asks that religion be related to Lfs, that religion be related to labour that religoon be related to gody of the natrr land. Our cipeTimemox bring w education through labour and to the Atlee regtoral school." We have bere some aspects of lif abkh Catholic tudi had ·18 The Late Pad neglected but wbuch constitute the demand of life as it us at present in Europe. the aspects of labour and the native land. Catbolicam being pon-regional religion has always thed to tnnscend national boundann. According to the water regional patrotim and respect for labour and phynal work are the two limitations of Catholic education which must be removed in order to make education conform with the demunds of life in the new industrul ne. Such conformity to present day requirements, the writer holda, will make pupils more spintual. On the other hand, Kushensteine, the organiser of public education at Munich, bo bus nothing to do with religion but like every German philosopher think in terms of the civic ideal and the state, bolds that at the primary kchool ye the dominant tendency in the child u physial activity Vocational education therefort mux emphasic physial Labout executed arefully bonextly thoroughly and seriously Such manual work requires co-operation and of Lanuation in some kind of community This naturally taches the child ethical and civic principles He furthet bolds that the significance af labour school u that t demonstrates the fact that with a minimum of equipment the murmum of knowledge skull and you may be dedved from labour in the service of the cidal. Writing purely us an educationist without advoat- 108 any ideology Lay in bus Formadom of the New Method, my about himself "The author anc to the cop clusion that receptivity mental process and outward action constitute a single whole pd both didactially and pedagogically should be o understood and treated that concrete receptivity and mental assumilation are but ·Pat Brperimus-11 39 instruments for representing the environment and the outcr cxprchon mi madow formas, h but a reaction or adaptation to the condition of tbe aternal world.** Elsewhere the Ame writer an, "Here we have three prmcipler, obternation, mental activity und Czternal action and all these in i fraful duartron must be combined. Thus aan education be dynamic and cost off the vice of classical educational passivity In more recent times, the American Philosopher and writer on pode sotias, Jobo Dewey has made a treat contubatson in the field of eduational theory House Socialist. His contention to that cbe present organisaton of the school does not correspond with the ortamaton of society and the Deeds of the time. He nya, “Practical ly all the conceppons nociated with culture and cultural education originated at me when the immense superiority of a lenured class over all working clanes wat taken a matter of course Devey fusas up his dea of educational reform by enunciating the following three principles First, never before ruit a important as it I DO that ach individual should be capable of clf respecto welf-supporting, intelligues rock-rbat cach should make a living for himself and thoso dependent upon bu efforth and should make to ouh an int Higent recognition of what bo is doing and an intelligent lorerest in doing his work well Secondly never before did the work of one ide vidual affect the welfare of orbers on such a wide scale as at prckat * In th third place industrial methods and process depeod today upon knowles of facts and laws ·The Latest Pad of natunland ocul science in much greater degret than ever befort Our nulways and steam borts, factories and farms, even our ordinary bowhold appliances depend for their enstence upon intrlate matbematical physical, chental and biologial insight. They depend for their best altimate use upon in understanding of the face and relationships of social life. Unless the mag of workers are to be blind cogs and pinsons in the apparatus they employ they must have some understanding of tbc phyucal and social acts behind and ahead of the material appliance with mbich they are dealing." Aduin he way "We must use all work m wood and metal, of werving, ewig und cookmg a methods of living and learning not u distinct studia. We must conceive of them in the vocal signifiance us types of the proces by which noclety keeps itself going, u * Lencies for bringing home to the child some of the primaal Decoraties of community life and u ways m which these Deeds have been met by the growing inacht and I genuity of man m bort bis instrumentality through wbuch the school prelf shall be made . tenuide form of active community life instead of a place set spurt in which to len lemon." From the earlier time tocults of various types havo recognised labour and activity us the bus of every good education. Marx hy. “Education means to us these thms (1) mcellectual development (2) phrial development (3) polytechnical education, which will give knowledge relative to the general sientific principles of all production processes and will at the name time give children and youths a practice to the use of elementary tools of all bracbes of prodoctlon Tbe reader will ·Post Experimed + mark berc the kind of polytechnical education that is contemplated by Mary for the scbools It is not work in blt mill or factory but the use of elementary tools What is to be learnt is not a particular industry but the General scientific priaciples of production processes." Again in the first rolume of bis Capital Mars writer, "Although the education clames of the factory act to a very little way at lart they embodied . proclamation that the rim of elementary instruktion 1 to be « Decorary accompaniment of child labour Thu Succes of the Act in this respect are the first proof that It is possible to combine education and phyucal cultur with manual labour and on the other hand, to combina manul labour with education and physical culture. By questioning the school maxters, the factory inspecton soon discovered that the factory children, altbough they receive only half u much instruction » the regular day mbolars, learn quite a much and often porc. Thus can be accounted for by the fact that with only being at school for one half of the day they are always fresh and nearly always ready and willing to recerre instruct OD The system on which they work, balf manual labour and half achool, renden auch employment a rex ind a relief to the other Consequently both art far more congenial to the child than would be the ax kere be coostantly kept at onc." Proce Kropotkin, the Ercat i polutionary Tuer adroating a change in the contemporary methods of teachios ATL To the dirigon of society to brinn workers and manual workers se oproke the combination of both kinds of activities, and incead of technial cdua thon bich means the maintenance of the present dirtsson betreea brata work and magul mort we advocate the ·Tke Latot Pad otwcation integrala or complete education which maps the disappearance of that perniciou distinction. Plainly Bated the aim of the school under this tytten ought to be the following to dive ruch i education that on leaving school at the age of 18 or 2 ach boy und Al sbould be endowed with a thorough knowledge of *ence-ruch a knowledge u might enable them to give them 1 General knowledge of bat contrates the buie of techniaal truong and such a skill in one special trade as would enable ach of them to take bus or bar place in the grand world of the mandal ptodaction of wealth SOVIET EXPERIMENT In bus volumc entitled the Fundamental Question of Socul Education, Shoolan states the position of the Compong Party chus. "Labour town meam of introducing children into the working world family in order that they say participate and underkand the struggle of the masses, follow tbe history of human society acquire worlang, organising and collectire habits aod come into posteron of the dicipline of work. Pinktitch, the official chronicle of Soviet cdo ation thus content the old and new systems of cda aton and ther respective eods. He writa " The Deed tben vas pot for so dependent builders but for mervant.. charles and slava In tbe case of Soviet Republic on the contrary the question of enlisting wider meg of the people in the work of economic and caltural construc- DA U question of life aod death. Consequently before ·Sooldt Espinat 43 1 laving school the child must receive a clear ander- Candids in theory and practice of bor to bulld i ante for those who labour .. A unified bool therefore places the labour of the people at the centre of their education. The basic theme penetrates the programme of the school in all stafa and the approach to Labour is Doc from the point of view of a speculls but from the point of vior of a builder of new life, who regardless of his proftation must have clar comprchanson of the relations and interdependence of vinous forms of Labour Such a comprehnston we all education. In to work, scbool nust be connected most intimately with reality The prominent place must be given to productive Labour Further on he ay, "The reader abould be reminded thus point of the tremendou social and Political role of labour in the Kchool To us Labour does not mean labour process Dot self service nor school work or shop but the central ay of the entire school." As a matter of fact the Soviet System of educadon makes be nearest approach to Gandhiji deos. It may look grunge, but it be fact that in his practical reforms Gandhili come very near to what tbe socialuts and come munint aim at, though he does not believe in pomoc of their methods and their ideolt For instance, in bus insisteocc on the payment of a minimum wage in industry sot in theory and in the future, but in practice to-day bs introducing it in all the productric activitia he controle Gandhij is a pracial socialist. Yet our socialt friends hay xome fault to find CYCA with his idea of inimum mafc. If they cannot quarrel on the score of principle. they object to it on tbe ground of its magenes Bar if they were really sesentific and objecture they would find tbat the proportionate increase in the nga of ·46 The Latot Fed or till prepara children to be stilful and tmderstanding workers of the community * What does Rome man by 1 votter? He many-tided folly developed indtordual. He us to be u interetted in matters Intellec tual and artit u the old intelligentziaLo fact he is to be the new intelligentzia. This necessitates on the part of the worker much more than the powetion of mere craft Clever hands for themselva are no longer cufficient There is to be undertanding of the materials used and the significance of the product in the economic chetde of the country He must understand the rela tron between man and nature and their inter-uction Theory and practice must be linked together to that the worker retardı his work mtelligently so that he know no meaning and importance in the beme of society All caos is meant by polytechnication" Addresing oduational conference, Lenas companion Krupaya aid The aim of polytechaina tion was the all round education of a highly developed worker wbo could at the same time be worker apa master of Industry Hitherto the qualified worker wu A man who through years of practice, became a snied craftman with very narrow limitations Frequently he had no other knowledge baaides that of a croft. He could not do the umplett rum. For comple, take the old builder Often be annot do be simplest alculation Ho has not the most elementary knowledge of geometry o necessary to his work. We need a totally different truno-one that an link up productive labour with teientific educadoo" She marned her audience agamg the wriou denger of nitkog mrrow technial tunity for polytechninion The nummy is bote necesary m Indn than in un ·Sould Esperiment 47 DOC Runa. In Rumız, whether due to compulsion or due to the Rossion character orders seem to be readily obcyed and instructions arned out. With on bere it is otber Gandhiji. Idas, even when they are formally accepted, are not porked in the spuit in which he would wish them worked. In the cause of his educacional schemo the witte knows that in several placa dere technical eduation is being confused with Gandhji. unified ind integrated scheme. Such chems of technical education are bound to fail. They will add to the cost of education and will yield ruch poor results that they will be abandoned in despair Tholr Inloalcons will then triumphantly proclaim in their own failure the failure of Gandhiji's eas Sabotage 1 the monopoly of politaal opponong. It may come from conformity without cognition forced by political copsdetations and opportunim la several places the scheme of Basic National Education is accepted bcause the committees appointed to pages reform could doc posibly blen the old system, univernally condemned, and having to constructive ideas of their own, found Gadbijt scheme ready et hand and therefort convenient for adoption. All the implications of the schemo na not fully truped. Morcset the scheme is being worked by Government officials who oftea lack both futh and initiatryc. How instructions are futhfully carried out in Rusia u instanced by what happened ma village when the federal order for polytechaists of education is inued It wus decreed that thery school must be trtached to a productire unit of some sort factory or a state or collective fato... A certain village in Tadjikitan bad received the doorte Now there nu peither factory ·48 Tka Latat Fad Dor furm near enough to this village; yet the decret mut be arried out. Some one on the Education Committee remembered that there wu barber shop The villige rcbool ww attached to the barber s abop us the nearest productive unit If space did not prevent it would be intresting to quore more entennvely from Ruslan books and authors. It would bring the knowledge of their own scriptoret to our Indian Morrista. However if friendly advice is Dot out of place, I would riggest that the sociallsta In India may work Gandhiſ plans in the spirit in which he wants them to be worked and they will find that they have funed some practical knowledge of octalbu at work, bereft of its slogans and generall- Ations formed in other lands and under other circum- Atunces Thu would be the true dialectial spirit of which there is much theoretical talk these day. But will our friends accept any mcbeme of reform unlets it looks modern and uses the fushionable language current in the Wert? FAILURE OF PAST EXPERIMENTS Why is it that in spite of so many reformiert und thinkert in tbe field thba necerary reform in peda gofles bus not been accepted of arried out ? Why uczin bad the citperimental institutions, started on the Der lipo a limited life? As a matter of fact thu new and yet the oldest and the most patunl method in education would have conquted Europe but for the ladumial Revolution. This revolution Tot only ·Failure of Past Ergements 49 destroyed village industry and handicrafts but shifted the centre of life and culture from the village and tbe town, with its economy of small industry and agnculture to the big industrial clay The skilled artian and work man wLS DO more Deeded. All that the mille and the factories wanted yu mechanical unskilled labour Such srcated factory labour could afford no possibilities for education. Alo this labour in the beginning. arried ots under such harsh and hartien conditions that to think of waving aduation around it would have been 10 laralt ind i mockery No such thing therefore wu attempted. In the days of handicrafts the child shared the Labour of the family and derived much intellectual pustenance from it. The factory Ticm and city life, more and more cut off men and women from the antual surroundings in which they lived and from which they derved a good part of their education and commonsenuke knowledge. In the oducational field therefore, the dect of the Industrial Revolution wu retrofrade. It DCTeased vastly the artificial faalides for formal instruction of tbe rich city deelleri, while it greatly curtuled tbose of the rural population and of the army of upsbild labourers Ivine in the aty ilums Tbe result was that not only on walth but in education culture and cosibility white und unbildgaable calf sprang up between the city dwell ing upper and sealthy classes and the rest of the population, urban ind rural. Before the Industrul Revolution the rich had to monopoly of education and culture rather the priestly and the middle classes constituted . kind of enstoency of learning This autocracy had ita roox firmly fired in the soil and insip constant and close touch with the banks. It was thus, ·50 The Lola Fe that in ancient ind medieval timat education filtered doma to the common people. The now education confined to the rich of the cities, mapped thu bond between the cland and the des. The poverty of the latter wu now combined with morence and aqulor moral and muter L Thu its turn produced the urban and the rural proletarut with it buanifold problems that that today the internal and laternational patct. When skuld labour and handicrafts declined and tbetr product had no economic valde, their mtroduction to schools would have Dude education costly at time when odaatlon su not the concern of the state Lerer on modern governments might have adapted the new cbcme, but then it was not a question of 28 Astitution or two but of unrvernal free education. Even then the Kaces might bave tried to bear the cost of such a funda mental nation-bauding actinty but all the arulable funds were iwulloved by the evet Erowlog war machloc, Dectsnated by their political economic and territorial rivulne. Apart from the question of cont which was fortadable one the introduction of a craft boreft of 10 economic value would have been ta utaficul and annatunt addicion. The craft would nerther hava been togbt por lart with my great interest of sal The wechualcaching of a valucles craft would not bare mudo for correlated epation It trould bare fuled to bring out the latest possibilities of the pupil Therefore what the duatlonal reformer adroated remuned an unsalued possibility This wu of course the main reason why the reform A education could not be practically worked out. A mabukllary but e poveful reason wus furnished by the poutloo that the politicum am to occupy in the new ·Fallsrt Post Experineus 31 society With the advance of democracy politic po longer remained the prekrve of the nobility The middle clana began profrentvely to insert themselves ud take part in public life The Dav politicuns derved their power not from birth or pocial status but from the electonte. To secure their position tbey had to nurse their constituencies. To do this muccenfully they needed trualng in the use and a skilful manipulation of vords und phrases. The politician to succeed with the musc must often try to makc the worke to appear the better reuon had alce .. He must appeal by meam of mass paycholog He mox use atch-pbrass and slogao. He must appear to redeem his clection plodces. These cannot be fulfilled because they usually consist of abstract and Leneral proposition partially related to facts and circutastaneet. But the politician must somebow make out a come for hiinself and he party He must abow by meam of words, phrases and propaganda that he has accomplished what he has never attempted. Ho must also appear to the masses us educated refined and learned in all conceivable branches of koowledge. This can be ponible only if his education is of a formal and abstract character A in ancient Groee to in the modern democratic ade a kaowledge of dialectia mtbo Greek soso has come to occupy an irtificially important positon. In all public schools and universides there are debating societies, cock austablicz, aed parliament. Hero the budding layer and the politican prepares for bu forure creer Discurons in such societies are naturally altogether areal and unconnected with facts. The pupil has not yet the necanary knowledge and esperience for serious and effective thinking, but what be lacks is made up by the me of formal logic and cloquent phraside of Laotias Very frequently ·52 The Lolai Fad DECT therefore the prize boy in these schools and collec debate, blomoms forth us the futate politician under a democratic regime. Thu perhaps accounts for the dearth of teal ratesmen today It also arplains the marted tendency of democracia to hypocrisy The prindple, bowever that edoation should have reference to reality and thut theory and practice should be mutually combined and arengthened, y altogether loc nght of It gained recognition in the sunce labontory and the polytechnic In Europe and America, more x 10 tbe latter country some of the bigset und the most floursuing scientific and technical institutions attached to buy induftry Eren where schace, engineering and technical iondoublons art not attached to factories and workibops, the audents bare periodically to go to the industrial atabluhments for their pructial work and training in these fields the principle is recognized that practice and theory should go band in band. Only in Humanistic studia bus this principle not received due recognition. This, u we have ciplainod, nu due to the pecular economic and industrul condinions of modern civilization and democratic politics. Yet even here there bas been no dearth of Operimental schools whicb buro yielded good seulos However docton by observation and work, though not arried out in practice, to a fully recognsed principle In all modern pedagogia. For small children Kindergarten und Montemory items are in rogue everywhore. Then there is the Dalton system of laboratory work and the Project method. Whatever there ner tystems may have accomplished in other countries, and they have not accomplished much, their introdaction in India has made the financial borden of educating children probíbitre ·Fadunt o Post Risperinants 53 except for the rich and upper muddle clasa. In pomo big centres like Bombay the tuition fee for a child noga from Rs.81 to [R. 15 per month. To this must be added a few rupees for conveyance charges. This - the cor of the Kindergarten scbools The cost of the Project method would be prohibitive even for the ach. The principle underlying these systems are sound but the methods are too cortly for a poor country like Indla. Apart from the probibitive cort bese rystems annot be fully utilized. The education the child gets in the fire few years is followed by the ortbodor rysteto. Whatever little gain has accrued to him, is lost by yean of uninterestmag and mcreative intellectual work mechanically done in the classroom. What Gandhifi proposes to accomplish by bus kbeme, is to make cducation, through remunerative and creative physical work under tbc extating Indian conditons portble and practial Ho proposes, so to ry to reform cbapen and atend the scope and the method opderlying the modern ncm of education we bare mentioned und kurc educational practice with approved theory Thus annot be done by percly providing children with toy and knick kpacks Dor by work done in ignorance aod indifferena to its economic value, forolyog larte amount of waste of time, material and boney but by providing a busdicraft cractly and arefully lannt whote efficiency and progress is congantly chected by the cconomic mauurs and lam, not only to provide a modant and honourablo Imelihood, but also as a sful and kicatic method for purposes of general education Work o arefully and meaculously dood is scientific work. The possibilities oberdore, of Gandbiji s scheme In terms of realeduaug, which means the growth of the ·54 The Lotad Fad individual and the pochal udniocement, annot be tant PROBLEM STUDY After all education is for life. It annot therefore be cut off from itfe and its problems, Life for now bere nmple It u complex and presents complex problems Actual difficultiu und situations in life are never wolved by reference to one specialised banch or field of know ledge. Rather each life problem enter into a number of rabjects It needs for its solution the help of a group of subjecta intloostely related Take for intanco agri culture. It must be tudied not only in connection with biology physics and chemistry but with reference to economic and politia. In our schools and universities subjects dealing with physical sciences are noally cut off from economia and politics A knowledge of the pbynal Kiences pony produce a good agriculturist but unless he u convertant b the market and the periodi al fluctuations of prices, unless he knows some rudimentary cconomics and politics, be may find the bumper wop be bas nised by bus sientific knowledge temsiding unsold in bu granary What the present-day education however does, is to give the agriculturist a knowledge of the physical science and lare him to acquirc the Decamry economic and commercial knowledge, u best bc may by bladder und trul and personal urperience darly bought The best method of educatron, the one that woold be true to lift. would therefore be to audy group of ·Problem Study 35 subjects that are inter related, in connection with ach other u they present themselves in concrete problemi of life. At later stage different pobjects and felda of knowledge may if necessary be repented for further spechalked stady But this should be only for parti cularly gifted students and not for the ordinary Today mubjects are not correlated itong themselves Sach of them u have no ponible connection in life aro artificially combined in tbe curriculum. Educational work to never concretely integrated or co-ordinated. Our profesor And tacher work in solation and in completo ignorance of what their colleagues in the Ame Institution of other institutions are doing. Thus the real complety of life problems i artificially simplified to the detriment of the pupul and the teacher Education is cut off from life and to concerns and becomes verbal, formal and udficial. Education that is woven round craft arolds the artificial seputation and isolation of rabject. The work of different teachers and of educational institutions becomes related, integrated and unified. The institution tacben and the taught becomo partners in ont co-operatrve enterprise. Thus not only baka for the advancement of knowledge but yields concrete practical rcruld 10 its procets. Such education become a real prepara tion for Lif and its problemos ·TYRANNY OF WORDS Eduation that 13 concrete and centra round a craft has yet another great advatage over verbal and theoretical knowledge. It ava the pupil from what may be alled the tyranny of words Every word that the worker uses Itands for something concrete and real It has its counter-part 10 the external world. Every word that lacks particular and definite reference, the worker looks upon with legitimate ruuspicion He know that words ure mere tymbols. They do not erut in their own right As long u they golfy things, telations and processes they have meaning and value. When the things und relations that words represent do not critt in the eternal world or crust in an indefinite ind 11-defined condition, be knows bat value to attach to knowledge derived from the use and study of ruch words Frosa his band ling of real objects and knowing their relation helarns the ongin of words and bow they ame to acquira menn ng and what useful purpose they serve. He also know tbe limitation Muunderstanding about the symbolle charucter of words their muuxe und mubandling have produced interminable squabbles and controversia in the world, Sach controversies could eanly be terminuted by reference to facts. But theoretial and abstract knowledge has the tendency po to clood the human mind that men und women are ever ready to fly at each other throad in defence of mere words Nothing has produced more war und bloodshed than the look and odcrtial use of languge, specully of general and abena terms. Even kuentists are not free from the entanglement arated by ·Tyranny of Iords $7 will gree word. Very often tbe instrument of language that they e become their taster Salence should stand for arc fully verified koowledge. Bat frequently generalisations that were u hypothesis are taken as demonstrated facts and applied to every day practal affairs of the world For latince, matectalun u bot theory It is not a Kentifically verified fact. It is only 1 hypothesis in siaco. Onc wonder if it ever an be verified as a dentific proposition on bich honest and ADC minds Yet many philosophers, economats and practical reformers and politicians vould use thu hypothesis us if it wero 2 Kiengfally demonstrated fact and bure upon u their practual programmes A generation back it w mecbagical patcrulum that was conclu ve Today It dialectical materialom. Both are unprored hypotheses for facilitating the work of the scientists, but they have been taken to be scientifically verified truthus. About this tyranny af words Pestalo say: "When mon rush into tbe labydoth of words, formulas and oplntons without having a progresive knowledge of the realitles of life their minds must develop on this one barla of words and can have no orber ketiso of strength In another place he nyn "In Europe the culture of the people has become vain babbling as fatal to faith u to true knowledge in instruction of merc words which contain a little dreaming and show which annot give tbc alm wisdom of Lith and love but on the contrary lend to unbelief iod superstition, to selfishness and hardnes, It iodupotable tbat the mann for words and books which has absorbed everything in our orular instruction hu been arried to far that we posibly remain lont as wc ati. Erotything conTICOS Cannot ·S8 The Latest Fad me that the only means of preserving we from remaining ut 1 civil, moral, and religious dead level ts to abandon the ruperficality the piecemeal, and infatuation of our popular instruction and to recognise Intuition us the true fountain of knowledge Add to the the heaps of useless dull und unteresting textbooks imposed upon the pupil. not becaux of their intranc worth but because of their economic value to the authors bo ure rought to be patronised, and you have a complete and faithful picture of educational conditions in India today General and abstract terms have no fixed or definite connotabon. They do not specify anything that is particular and tangible m the world of reality Physical riences deal with facts about whicb there an be Little disagreement between intellectually honest and Ane People Social sciences, like economics und politics, dealing with general and betract terms whoxe connota tion is at least vitae, produce a body of knowledge about which the most intellectually honest and one people an and very often do disagree. There mur therefore bc some difference between tientific terms that have a definjte, fued and not asily changeable content, and such general and abstract terms us have so much content or at bert a doubtfal onc. To all the two kinds of knowledge, one deri ed from physial facts and the other from abstractions, us scientific knowledgc u to fall into the logial fallacy of four terms. Again cepenal terms are formed by abstracting from facts and reality some of their sigobfiant charactergia Yet after tho abstraction they are freely used to prove real und momentous propositions in life. For understand that terms like capitalism, fascism, communism, Gandhi Smor ny sm are high abstractions. The meaning ·Tony o Lord's 39 onu Given to them will accord with no fixed and definite rality corresponding to there tooms but will ccord with ones predilections and passions with politial social and economic label Hoe many in the porld today would manage to remain cool at the meatlon of roch vords? The Ame word will acte contrary paalons in different minde To a fuscist, communism all that is diabolical, dark and evil in this world. It penonibes the Fallen Angel. To the Marmot, bowever ft represents all that is good and beautiful, all that is worth living and dying for nay all for which it is worth murdering fellow human beings and even old friends and comrades 1 Tike another instance The word Gandhum rise boforc pmc, concrete image of reaction, exploitation myricism, fupertition and all that retrograde in the India of today To others it will bring the vision of Ram Rain batever that may be mecting in Patna for the organisation of carthquake relief Gandhiri offered to the Gorement respectful coopera tlon Straightway in touc tcncntific and ultra critical minds the phrase wed ruised images of cringing flattery support to foreign aploitation and Imperialute prestige It did not matter that tbe person using the words run determined opponent of tbe Gorcontent and used them not out of his roakses but out of his consoW nrcngth It w weil known that if the Government refuxd co-operation, he would go his way The critici mado no allowance for thb or for the Occasion On Thich the words were used, it was one 10 which willions of people, rich and poor high and lor rere larpled to beart-randing tragedy arch, tbat It obliterated oll difference the the time being so alloraac Kas moadh cron for Ara ·The Latest Pad movements, there was a unince in the study of natural Kclenca. The emphs of natural science is on the individual. Socni cience, like economics and politia stress the welfure of society Both value edoatlon from the practical und utituruan point of view The spread of scientific, technial and commercial ingitations is directly the result of the modern scientific and sociologial spirit. It bus come to be progressively recognised that the purpose of education is to fit the individual to take his rightful place m the scomonis, vocul und political lite of the community It 11 no mort prepart tion for the spiritual life for the life bereafter It 10 rather that the individual be trained to become 10 calohtoned and fol citizen. Thu tendency in education wu further emphasised by the rise of modern democracia. A popular tovern ment must educate its master The idea originated in England. In America, Jefferson enunciated it wben he wrote, It is an outom in my mind that our liberty can never be afe but in the hands of the people themselveh And that too of the people with a certain degree of instruction. This u the business of the State to effect and on a gerenl plan." Democng Deeds for its smooth worting minimum of general unrveral education. On the other hand, progressive industrialisation and mecha miatlon Deed intelligent worker and labouren There fort for 101 own peods and for public requirement the Suate mut educate ita citizens. Education from tbe arliest times has been conceived of in terms of character Modern ima lay frater empbaub upon the avic nather than the religious charac ter This has changed the complexion and colour of citizen morality From being based upon religion ·Sodal sad Blkical Aspect otho Schers 63 toraled or natural, it has come to be based upon scient fic and sociological ideas of co-operation and mutual aid for a common parpoxe, Eduaton, therefore, to modern time i concetred of in terms of cathenship It equip che lodividul for the service of society in which he too is included. From this bus developed also the idea ot tbs eduation of the defective and the criminal. With out proper education the former is likely to be a burden on society the latter if not reclaimed would be a danger to society There u yet anotber idea in modern sociology bicb education must fulfil Tho individual is the epitome of the fnce. The culture and advance of the race find their highest expression in him. Ho reflects in himself, the locul mund Ho u the inheritor of the past. He has to love thus ioberitasat not only intact, but also Increased and enhanced by hu or individual contribu tion for those bo follow him. All these different trends in the scientific, mocul, economic, political and cultural fields, have their pilu ence on modern educational thought. If education is to fulfil these new upirations and demands an appropriate method must be found for it. This method is to be psychological, Kiencfic and practial. It must concern itxell not only pith theorctral knowledge and naruction but with work, activity and experiment. Tbc carlier theoreticians and reformers such as Rousseau Pestalozzi, Habert, and Frocbel as we he e keel, approached the question of method from the practical socrological view point. More tben educationists they were rcforTAcn and philanthropist Tony tberefore thed to solve the question of netbodo loss opractial social reformeni. Others following them have done likewise.

·6+ The Lalat Pad If education then us to fit the future citizen to fill bus role in society hc mux cultivate in school the character appropriate to a social being. He must be trained for hy future life. He must not only learn politial and civic virtues theoretically but he must practise them, evet while he is at school If he is to be a member of a democratic rate be mostlar, in however small a degret. th art of self-discipline and self government He must be brought up in habits of co-operation, obedienceto self imponed laws and discipline appropriate to a free claizer who la bioelf is both the rules and the subject He must cultivate breadth of ylion, toleration and food neigbbourlines. While noterting hu own legitimate right be must be prepared to discharge faithfully the obliga tions imposed on him by the fact of his enjoying the blessings of a progresive and civilised society In all Western countries effort is made to develop thus ride of the pupil s cbancter In the school there 14 kome kind of community Ufe ind a measure of welf government. In America this idea carried further than in Europe. Forster in his work Pollpical Ethics and Politial Pedagogy tires his view on self fovera ment thus nothing arouse yogths to political conscioumas ind political collaboration in a constitutional state more than the early formation of the habit of larning responsibilities which all for trux, implidt obedience to representatives whom they have elected in independent effort it introducing into life conditions which tbey themselves have tablished." If welf-doapline and self government in educational institutions ue pot to detenente into were forms und If we are to be pred from vitneming the farce of letbela tire insemblia uod parliaments, ariatured in schools ·Social and Betrical Aspect of the Scheme 05 and colleges, there must be pome ral problems which the pupils buve to solve. There must be some kind of Genuine orfunud tootety in the school itself. If mutual help and co-operation are not to be emptied of all their contcat, the society to school must be engaged in touc fruitful creative activity Tbl to best applied by tbc organladon of 10 urt or craft in the book. The valac of crative labour as a principle of solf government can marcely be caugtcrated. Here self-government u ocitber imposed upon tbe pupils from above por minted by them but grows out of their daily needs and require meno. No urt or craft an be successfully practical witbout a previously setuled plan and purpose for wbxcb tba members of the wchool have to ortants and discipline themselves. The teachers and the pupil have to con opcratc in order to bring about the daired reraits. Tbc Labour and the craft principle therefore supplies tho treatest impetus to democratic welf poveroment in school. It also provides opportunities for the cultiva tron of political and ctyle virtues under the copert leader shup of the teacher Apart from purely politial and civic virtues the Labour school Cacourage the cultivation of moral virtues The morality of to-day may not be based on relicious dormas, specially those of revealed relleton. It should be based on the enlightened aperience of the race in many fields of actusfty Wben poch a morality to frven an eternal form and in institutionalised, the institutions created abould be in accord with the remains of science and the economic, social and political leus and heals prevalent la modern times Current morality anpot be cut off from the pum total of life is it is lived in the complex world of to-day It aus also periodically change $ ·66 The Larut Fad with the advance of knowledge. The basic praaply, for instance, of truth, justice and non-vlolence mux remain the ame for they us at the root of the social order Without them to organised life us pouible But tbese prmcipla bave ever to be introduced in changing forms and institutions. To-day we may not mould our morals and embody them in laxtitutions of a bygone agc, histon und prehistoric. We may also not buttren thus kind of morality by the idea of the father bood of God and hu real or suppoved commandments. We can only build momlity on the actual fact of the brotherhood of man and his caurquent cquality and liberty The Lederal rule for average man and woman today will not be the will of may father in Haren but the folden rule of do unto othert u you would be done by Tous ne morality annot be bullt on the basis of the bicruchy of clanet or atte. It cannot be built on the ruppogbon of a leisured and cultured clan apart from tbe toiling millions. It must be based upon co-operative human labour Thu must exclude the bankering after special prtvileges acquired as a retult of birth or even of Telicious anctity We have already mentioned that the principle of co-operative Labour annot fail to evolve Idens of truth, love, jurtice, peace and discipline No co-operative enterprise aan work without these mtuer among the co-operating units. Witbout love and nonviolence the enterprise wil lack cohesive organiAtIon proper and purposeful co-operation. Many other praed al individual virtud must rerait from tort crned out with purpose and that of public corporate good. The resultaat group cohein und patrotism will not be based upon exploration und arth honger They will take the form of the solidarity of Torkers in all the various fields of ·Sacid and Bikcal Aspect of the Sokon 67 activity of complex society A society of workers will mot be interested in the exploitation of ach other All this will lead to 10 enlightened national morality frec from the saperstition of rugld custom and religbus dogma It is therefore in the fitness of thing that while emphuning mon touring which should be imparted through work and the personal life of the teacher Gundhiff's scheme maka no provblon for the teaching of particular religion. It is not anti religious or Godles 10 Rumu, but it allows the utmost freedom to the pupils and their guardians in matten religious The parents are free to provi any denominational educacion tby chool for their wards. The state which belong to no pardcular denomination but to all, vary wisely leaves thus deliato and highly complex and pre-eminearly subjective activity to the free choice of tbc individual The result of this will be the spiritual emanapation of the indevidual. It will erve in impedato uccession of strength to Ideas of mutual sood-will and toleration. Fanaticis will be at a discount Rdition will be the private concern of the ladtridual Ho ill be free to decidc his relation with hus Makor if he believe in ouc, or between him and his lone deeper and profounder instincts.

·THE PRINCIPLE OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY We have in. Preis section tacndoned the tro underlying principles of Gandhiji's new schemo of education, Wc have so far been discaping the one, that Basic Education should contit found a craft We sball now discias the second banc principle of the tysten, namely that the craft chosen should be so learnt thetiu produce may bave cconomic valve rufficient to defray the tuition crpense of the pupil Both these principles Ketc opposed in the begining by the learned They were on the one hand convinced that it wus impossible to wave all literary and abstract knowledgo imported in schools, round a handicraft and on the oth hand, they thought it was not possible for a handicraft to be rufficiently remunerative to provide for the recurring cost of taltion. If momcbow the latter Woo made possible, it would result in the nalect of intellectual work and in the iwadog of child labour As time went on, however it dawned upon the edua tionist that the first wo a well recognised principle of education and it um consonance with the most modern principles of educational psycbology and science. But the second, the principle of economic self-offiaco.cy they thought and think as uopractical, mar harmful A great deal of doubt about self safficiency was raised by Shri Narendra Dey the more of the revolution on Busc Education, both in the Subjects Committee of the Congrch and in the Oper Session at Haripun. He spoke unreservedly in favour of the first principle and mus qurlow and cvet Reptic about the second. The adrocates of Gandhuis schema also vem to have been ·Tko Princ'ple of Suficiency Ather Apologetic, in deference to the criticism offered They have modified that statement and declared that the craft must not necesarily pay the entire tuition Ipce but efforts mur be made to see that the work done hu tome economic loc. This, of couck, Is necessary if the work is to be carefully and scientifically done. It will cncurc the efficiency of the pupil and the teacher Gandhljl also seems to have no objection to the modification of the principle of economic valu of 1 the work turned out He thinks that if the pnsciple of making work done in the class economically paying recognlcd, the rest would depend upon the teacher and the management. This is good so far u lt Boct. But there are likely dangor in the position, wbuch if not guarded agama will make Gandhijf's xheme u noworkable es ilmlarly conceived schemes in the past. The danger of this la Indra Leal Recently cycry educational conference central or providcial, has recognired and r com monded The principle of Importing education through craft work. But If there be any divorce between this and the prociple of economic xelf-sufficiency the scheme is bound to tau If proper attention is not paid to the economic value of the soods produced by the children, 10 course of time the nluc question will altogether disappear With its diuppannco it will be in cary sed to have unremu Terative craft rork performed indiffet oly The work will be done without the necessary mkentifie and meticulou care. This will not only affect the quality of the work but also the quality of the cocation band upon it. Moroner as we hare already and, it *il add tery meatly to the cost of election. Uldmately th tattoo «ll not be prepared to bear this bus cost ·70 The Lata Fad Slowly the bandicraft will be abandoned even as it has been in many asperimental axitutions in Europe and America The principle has been reconised but its cort tuas been probibitiveTherefore it u conndered unpructiaal. Also if the work done has no economic value it is cut off from reality and the facts of life Work done become only a man and a mesas it is likely to fail. Gradujte scheme s age wbole If one pert is emphasisd to the neglect of the other the whole scheme which bo in organic one will sooner or later collapse. For Gandbiji, craft work u not merely a means of Henry cductorc ct 13 alco an end in itselt Ualets craft works strated as an end in itself, it will lose progressively its economic value. cffiaency and significance. Literary doctton d aloo bot merely an end in itself. It us a means for the proper performance of the craft work. Without it craft work will become mecbadial It will be performed in the traditional way that it Loorly and unscientifically Loon and unscientific craft work as an educational method has little value. On the other hand, intellectual education that centres uponu craft cabancos tbe veloe and efficiency of the craft Both act und fad on one toothed Bath ure alternatively means and ends. They mutually purtam ond #trengthen each other Any overemphasis of one to the neglect of the othet il adversely affcct both It was reported sometime back that a high educational authority bile performing the operung ceremony of Teacher Training School for Basic Education, said that he was not much concerned if the work done had no conomic value. Bat perhaps be as not thinking of ·11. Principle of 811/fiancy 71 Gandhiji's scheme of Basic Edacation. He had some scheme of his own in bich Gugdhijis main pnnciples were loosely accepted. Any way those rbo ure indifferent to the economic mlue of work turned out tl soon find that auch auft work u. method of odoabon becomes lapractiaal. Sicutod u we are, and considering our political and financial bandhaaps and the necessity of universal education, Gundhijis scheme worked in bls spirit and not merely m form, w the only one which bes any chance of accomplishing the end in view camely universal education. There is no other pactaal way before the mtboo to-day But we are asked by our socialist frends of thus will pot lad to the emploitation of child labour This objection ve must repcat, concrete ample of the tyranny of words Child Labour 23 condemned straightway without going into any further detuls about it It will not be out of place therefore to quote the communat prophct and the communist cripture on tbc point These cannot fail to arry conrtcuon and deade the true Here is what Mart ay "It is necesary to indicate the age below bich children should not be purtalted to Labour A genet al probibition of child Labour u inconsistent with tbc clacace of large lodastry and therefore an be noclung sore then food catention and are if eba latroduction of such a problbition were posible it would be reactionary cirure. By arialy sulating the workers time in accordance with his afc and taking oxber precautiomty Dogra for the purpose of protecting children, the carb union of productive work with tuching in a mighty lastryment for the transformation of the present wciety ·72 Tko Latest Fad The question borever unused if the work turned out by tbc boys will really pay A much it is espected to pay that in the allo vince of the teacher In thu e can caly rely upon the experience of those who have worked in the field of some handicraft and arefully calculated the arning of children between the go of 7 and 14. At Wardha experiments bave been carried out by Shri Vinoba Bhave at the Nal radi Ashrım. They 80 to prove that two beun daily work at the Charkhn will give an average pupil an income bet ten Re. 11 to R. 10 per month. The alculation bus been made on the bene of a minimum wage af anni 3 for an eight hour working day Three annus per day 13 the minium wage paid by the tpinners asociation these days The figures worked out for the last few months at the Banc School attached to the CP Tacket Training College at Wardha, indicato that the above us a fair atimate. After 3 months practice at the tolll or rather in the first three months of the experiment pupils turned out work of the value of about annu ten per month cach. This was after making due allowance for wastage. If three months practice at taklı gave thus result, it be not extravagent to expect, after better prac tice, a wide ringing between a rupee and I rupee and a month per pupil, specially if the taklı is replaced by the charkhaz. Card-board wort yields bugher figure. The student at Werdhe could corn by at cren in the first three months or w Re. 1/ to Rs. 1/4/ Now the avec pey of a village teacher in Indu is Dot more than Rs 10 to 12 per month. Thos in all conscience very maagre for tboxe who are educating the mations children A better pay all have to be ball per ·The Principle of Sd musiciency 73 diven, Immedute Infrare in tbc village teached emoluments should us his monthly allowance to Rs. 2014 at last. A class of 20 to 25 boys working at the charkha for pot more than a couple of hours per day an cuily car this amount, during the month In other handicrafts, such as aard-board and carpentry more than this can be Carded without difficulty There ar tho economic of the scheme But after all the economic question is one of the fact, not of theory The could can be observed by anybody interested in factual alala tions at Wardha. The teachers therc keep a very frict and accurate dars of cach pupil : work But wc urc told the nation may not want to stick to village industry and might want to industrialism. What thea ! Supposing the natron abandons village industry in favour of contraluo indimry yet the latter cannot be introduced in abools for purposes of eduation. In Rusta pupils beloa 18 are not rent to be factoria Polytecholation la education on camed as by means of handicra o rod decentralised school forkubory Тъ factory supplies the school with maternl stap or other and tools for the workshop Unally it cquips the workabop and sometimes provide the betructor ID Klarkor the factory to bich it (tbc kbool ) Fas atacbed had d tuiled bugbly qualified engineer who was a teacher to supermoto the polytechoral work to 4 that it was arrid on as clocation and not as training for trade He spends his eral hour daily artbo.school The workshops in this school veic citaordinarily well quipped. This is bat has happening in the workmans here that the famon Rands for He coulin industry la Id2 a fortonat of unfortunate contratan ·74 The Loot Fad unique and specul circumftances has not presented us with a clean slate on which to writt uny charactert rc choose We have to follos the course of historial Progress in our land. We cannot at our will and compand crate orer alght I xx order of society Esen 1t the notion decides to industralie und mechan it will find that the requires Kral decades. In the captime it will be immensely advantaftow to arreathe decay of anting bandicrafts and if possible to add to tbcm Evco in industrialised countries like Japen there u plenty of scope for handicrafts and village industry With the advent of electricity some of the highly cuntraloed industria an be decentralised. Ultimately if the nation ever decides to centralise industry completely It will find that it has mort udled and cfficent Labour than it would have if there were no hand crafts. A craftaman is alwna better mechanic than a bete ongkilled labourer But as we have already poraced out, crea when the nation bar completely industrialised itself, for educational purposes it will have to stabluh school worlabops where handicrafo are arcfully learnt for the uke of general education. So whatever PieK we take, Gandhi's scheme will be useful to the nation But shat will hoppen to thu huge production turned out from thouando of schools? The ycry persons who naisc thu question also tell us that the economic conditron of this country can never improve unless production of all sorts is greatly increased India u ruffer ing from ander production, in both agriculture and ndurtry It is not able to prod Goods to tatufy the present effective demand of the nation when it is halfstarred half-clotbed, and dcfectively supplied with ·Tko Principle of Sefficacy 75 mar-rul tood. Why then sbould the critia be afraid of thb ner wource of production ? All pay and man towards the destred aim of increased production tbould be «c!comed, o long as tbere i so glat und overproduction Our opponents andot buve at both ways. They annot complain of under-production and yet decry i scheme of Lectoased production amply beause the machine that produce foods us the highly complex human machine or the primite one that can be worked with the hand and not one imported from abroad. After all what u of the essence imcreased production and not the sort of mochine ined. Bat still we are reminded of tbe dislocation that will result from this new production being thrown on the market Will it not disturb industry? Will not Compete with private enterprise ? Let us see if this need Theoenly happen. Ipdha needs increured prodaction If thu has any manior It only means that India is today purchasing huge quantites of food and opber n add manufactured articles from abroad. If it * *0 all increased production within our borders should go to replace foreign imported soode There need not be for a long time to come, any competition with indigenous enterprise and Indutry Whatever plan the nation adopts for increasing production, some sort of economic planning will be necessary o that the new prodocron may not be on the matlon hands. Whatever the means ctaployed, we shall have to adore multable measure to pe that the new production does not conflict with the ochet math o production but drists inay from our market forcin foods Therefors Gandhiji insists that the produce of the vehools must be the cbarte Ef the LOTTcnt. The EOTCT tent will have to ·76 The Latest Fad wealth produced for its variow ind vand requircment. Marketing facilities will have to be provided for whatever remuns unused. No wn tovernment will provid that taalides, at the wapense of the urudy cantog nodige nou enterprise. It will first tackle foreign imports If a governmeor la not very foolish, tbus little planning should in nedlately ridgest itself I believe, in order to finance their plan of universal eduation, the provincial Governments combined even the Congren governments alone, can bring officicat pressure today on tbe central government to ensure proper safeguards agunt the importation of unwanted articles. If need be to support such schemes of national food, constitutional dadlocks an be created. These will have the support of the people and in the end the central government will have To choice but to yield. Gandhiji has declared that if complete prohibition Ierults in low of revenue to such an cxtent that provin cial governments are unable to balance their budgea, 1 united demand must be made on the central govern meat and if this demand u Dot accepted, deadlocks may junifiably be created for such a noble aux. If ruch a pressure an be put in the matter of prohibition, it can also be pot in the interest of a scheme of univ Tal education, which is us important as probibition, Any aay if Gandhiji s xcheme is theoretically round, it 11 upto the provincal government to pat forth fforts to make it practically fortable Of course, there will always be some bap between ghat is theoretially and practically posible But this cannot be helped in this imper fect Ford. The scheme is oftet all worth trying Nations and individuals an learn only by tual and if it must be by failure How many scheme has not ·Main Principles of Badio Education Bolshevik Rust tried and accepted or rejected in th last tro decades? Why should be not try a scheme that opens out ruch bright possibilities industrul cconomic and educatxonal? MAIN PRINCIPLES OF BASIC EDUCATION In an earlier section we have given briefly th opinion of some of the philosophers and reformcus in cduction since Rousseau, bo have advocated activity and craft work as a necessary of education. They harc adrocated these principles mainly from the cocx locical god pedagoglal viewpoints. Very few of tbcom harc u clearly perceived the potentalities of craft work in the why in which Gandhiji las camaged them Tbc lattor 1 enunciation of the craft principle is bold und clear and Abas further than what we contemplated by tbosc #bo prcceded bım. It is therefore necessary At this stage to understand the full implications of hus DCE Kcheme A brief statcment of the Repy he proporcs will help to clarify the position and bring it out in relief against chat others hore advocated and attempted That Gandhiji bus not been influenced by any of the reformen or morements in education in Europe and Acria in fodern times Deed not be stretsed bcre. He has initiated reforms in to many directions and has adrocated auch Dorel and revolutionary methods for his reform that it will not take away from his gr 11 and ceplus if we do not insist uron his originality to this Bricity gated then the rarious points of hu educatlonal rcforon ars - particular field ·78 The Lastai Fad 1. Education up to a particolar minimum staodard should be univeral for all casens, mle and female, It may not be compulsory to begin with but a facilities are available it us to be compulsory This univer! toisimum education be alls Bunc Education As the present seem of foreign laportation and att national, but u national. Therefore it is alled Basic National Education. 2 The course of this edaction is to run for kven year beginning from the use of leren 3 Bulc Nacional Edacation does not concern talt, for the present with the pre-school stage of the post-benciant. 4. Basic Natonal Education must be imparted through tbe mother tongue 5 In its met bod it must be woven round some art or handicraft. An intellectual instruction must be imparted through the instrumentality of the cruft cbosch. 6 The craft chosen must be learnt matematially and scientifically with a view to efficiency and practical result It must not be lerot merely as a man either for intellectual work or for economic self-sufficiency It must be both teams and an end. 7 The product of the craft mart be cconomi cally paying 8. Efforta should be made to see thar the money value of tbe work done coren tbe pay of the tachet 9 The state shoald provide the rest of the expenses, of school building, furniture, books maps and the whole of the appant jacloding tools, etc. for tbe craft taught ·The Dillioulin In The Way 79 10 The State sboald undertake to utilise the produce of the craft by which it may meet its own requiremento or tbore of thelocal bodia where the school is establi shod. For any arcers of foods produced, the Sate sbould provide marketing facilldici. These are la brief thc malo principles of the now cheme. Many opponents of the scheme have taken these polats separately eod criticised them, without trong to understand the full implications of the rhol of the reform. THE DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY We hayo Aid and bope ochore prored that the au Toethod of Gandhui is riaple, natural, sexotific and prycbological Burt pono tbc less there are great difficulties in its introduction, which, if not firmounted arc sur to bring about the failure of the caperiment. Tue greatest difficolty u to find and train tbe necesare tecben for the scheme. Most of those bo are already in the profatoo Arc incapable of ioitiating and working out new Heas Gandhjis method bowever requires careful and constant attention, vigilance and missionary cal. The teacher has to Labour here more than the pupils. He has to Le pot only careful but acture and alert He has to be particular about every detail. He must keep strict diary of whatever is done in the classroom. H has to keep a arcful record of work turned out by each pupil crery day Even then what clere teacher doel may come to ·80 The Lalat Fad be the norm. It may be mystematised ond recorded not for the stimulation of thought and invention but as a pattern to be carefully copied. As a matter of fact ull larning and taching in the part became formal, nipid and confined to words, beaux teacher failed to be careful and villant They followed chat ro chalked out for then by the gofred among tbeur trnka. Tbey failed to in their Intative Thus they brought about the degeneration of knocledge into scholasticom. If Gaodhiji s schemos to accced, cach teacher and cach claus will have to find out, after a areful and patient study of all attendant circumstances, the way that will be most appropriate for thera. In the past, even in ploneer whools which broke De ground and opersed up fresh felds, in count of time work beaune sercotyped and consequently low its freshnert, vigour and dynamism. The teacher therefore hon alongs to be on his eard and see that oren where be creates forms and systems, tbexe ene only cuidance and direction without destroying originality We are living pot m ratic but in dynamic times Erarythme is in a flux today more than ever before, The teacher ha therefore to be progrethve and moring. He may not cx on his oars. Every teacher has got to be on inventor and initntot If one proces bring static conditom. he bas to vary the process He has to find out for buvuself a cr way of approach. No partacular approach can be bett for all tips and goder all circumstances. Books for the teacher as well as for the pupi ao be bur #toulants. They must never impose tbeir rigd uurt bority on the teacbet or the taught, Thas will knowledge remain frcob and be titulated by the croployment of cre new formes and methods. Thors will it get free from the entanglement of mere ·Bald Education in Gandhi's PWlosophy SI words. If the above discuitia une acccfully guarded against, both touching and larning will be lorous, aary and fruitful. BASIC EDUCATION-ITS PLACE IN GANDHIJT'S PHILOSOPHY HL very (1) SCHOOL INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY Eduation concerns itself rith the training and development of the indindul. Burt the human indi vidual attains bis individuality only in 1 froup, in one sort of society He doe pot develop in Vacuum There an be do human growth witboot the social back round If u individual renounce the world and becomes a recluse or an anchorite this too is against the background of some kind of socul order retirement if it is of any high order, is for social purpose. Merc renunciation and retirement, derold of toy ulterior social porpose, roless otcoronary and for training, an act of egoistic alhoon however anctified by religion. It a mild kind of aploitation of society Soczety makes even the ancborito life in the jungle possible. Witbout it be will not have the neceteary phnial, bepaal and moral ustenance. Ercry Eenuine raundation, tberefore, to addition to the ato of perfection and self realisation, keeps before itself the ideal of social service by cumple and precept. It is both for the Individual and for society Sucb mu the reaunciation of the great teachers like Budha, Christian $ ·82 The Latar Fad Krishna It wus kind of discipline for perfecting themselva, to that they might mould society tbe mort effectively The fact ts that society and the mdividual an be kepanted only in theory In actual life both go together and are inter related. The inter relation can only be unored at the peril of the individual and the pociety Ady over-empbans of the one mll be at the apense of the other Such over-emphasis destroy the balance winch a true and laxing avisation Deeds Most of the trouble of the world has been due to the lons of tbis balance Sometimes the individual with hu anarchic tendences produces confusion LA fociety At orber find raty xo crushes the individual that his initiative and pertonality are lost and be becomes a mere auromaton Humanity has been oscillating between the thes of the individul und the inti-thesis of society The proper syntheus, if it ha ever been achieved, has beto abort Irved Education to be effective und fruitful munt therefore, without reglecting the individual and hb Deeds and requirements, have a vocal setting and a social The ancient Chinese mge und pbilosopber Confecrown bring out the connection between education und the life of the community and the individual thus * What haven bus conferred us turg sccordance with mature is alled tbe path of duty Regulation of the path is alled instruction." Nor daty has both in individual and social content. Comtag to those modern times, Professor John Dewey defina ducation as the process of reaking experience, aving it a mort socialist value throath increased indtridual ciperience by giving tbe indrvidual better control of his power ·Barto Education in Gandhiff's Philosophy 83 Apain, Professor Juma defina eduation us the orthoi ution of acquired habits of action which would well fit the individual to his physical and med environments. The present stem of education in India bus, uus rell koop, very little socul purpose Its nam aims that of solving the individuals bread problem It Do wonder therefore, that even this remains urolved. Then education is for life Life implies komc mort of poemi organisation Each social order hus, therefore depwed upproprute education for it needs and ends. Apala eduation is never merely for the acquisition of mformation and knowledge however useful but for developing character This cbarcter the individual Cannot develop in isolation It implies a social attos pherc. Society fires character whatever meaning it ba. History Elves us cuamples of societies with varows aims Each requires in its atient appropriate character There have been societies organised predomi tantly for millary purposes. Obea had spiritual amor Then tbere have been commercial and industrual societies. Each society devises education appropriate to try domi mant purpose. The arliek arvilised people bo ure koown to have developed a complex tyreo of education were the Chinese Eduation in China bean the cloaca relation with life and the social ttructure, Norbert hy duca thon been more successful in producing a distinct type of hitbly cultured individual bo has more or less temained the ADC through the centuries. The enclent Hindus bed tbeir own correlated sygentbodgb Enna rally for the hicber ante. The four freut objects in life, four duties namely Arth. Lan, Dharma and Ilokabum and purposes ·Tko Latat fad had to be performed through four Varns oad Ashram Fulfilment of there has reference both to tbe individual and to society The ancient Spartans denised eduation appropriate to the polity and aims of their tateTheir education wu predommently militan Athens bed its own system. The mediacni social order had its own particular system. Europe in modern times hos desired Home sort of them for its dominant purpose The Dewly formed Communist State of Russia has its own ystem of education devused for the ends that the stato keeps befort itself. Without going into the question whether an indivxdual or « society can be thoroughly and entirely changed and woulded by « particular system of edoction, or there are certain instincts and tendencia, winch no education can entirely change or eradicate, we say take up the middle commonsense view that education is one of the major factors in the moulding of the Indir dual and for giving direction to society Each social unut has some kind of consc00 or Comous purpose Its education too fets poulded after this purpose. In forming the character of ba pupils, the teacher Law Consciously to keep before himself the progress and fulfillment of this purpose. The aim in view moy however boschieved by a number of educational methods, though there is some necessary connection between the in and the method. But wbatever be the om the method bas to be scientific psychologlal mod efficient. It must be ausy and matural. However certain Txet bods to education are more appropraate to attain social enda than others. It will not therefore, be out of placa bent to mumloe the dew netbod of Gandhiji in the light of the social sim be haus in view for his aution, ·Basic Education in Gandhi Philosophy 85 (IT) GANDHIJIS PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE The um that a particular society keeps Before Itself Decerrily follows closely the ideal that its representa the memberi keep befort themaxlra for fodhvidual Browth and fulfilment. Thus individual heal to power fully affected by what it believed to be the origin and tbt destiny of the indi duel. For Gandbiji th indivi dual bus a divine Onlin. He bus also a divine destiny His um therefore must necesarily be spuitmal and not Duterial. If he is to achieve this vim he mur be en end unto himself. He must pot be used as a tocan. He mut not allow himself to be so used citber by other individuals or by society Surely he has to work out bis divina destiny in society. but if bis higbert tood annot be achieved through a particular socul order be bos tho right, nay the duty to revolt and cut out Dew path for himselt But this rerolt must not be merely for indrvidual but also for social ends. For the materialis, individual as wich is no end to htraseif He haus in fact no entence beyond the tempor uy one in which he happeas to find hitzalf today He dissolves and disappear with the desolutho of the body There is no continuity of life for him. There is no pertopal immortality Society u contatous and it has a sort of lanmortality This immortality consists in unending eternal progreth. This progress is the over increasing cry ofer nature and the resultant refine ment of culture and chillation, though this is not quite to apparent la mod m pocity The individual disaprear apd dies Society lira on, progress and works out ever big ber fortal Tberis and an le bo end to its prottas. Individuals Dust thereforç pecessarily be mans to its cnrs. They cannot chun lodependent ·86 The Late Pad dience. Trut, u xociety advances indinduals of the future willine richer fuller and nobler Irva But there u Do much thit u perfection for the individual here and now or immortality hereafter Hus work u dont when he has helped to push society forward There can be of course no perfection even for texty The soul cyer shifting forward. Whether the individual with all ha bopes and fun, bus tals and tribulations, bis joys and forrow, will ever be atuafied with an aim which lies outside of himself for which be bus to work and affer whose triumphs be us an individual will never witness or enjoy w a question beyond the scope of our prekent xudy For Gandber the individual must work out his per fection in a pintul society Such a society must be based on principla that will lad the individual on to bus divine destiny Brefly stated tbese principles are thoue of love, non violenct, truth and justice A social order based upon there, concludes all exploitation, economic, social polital or men religious The economic field u not the only field for axploitation. Power may be derived from varety of sources and it may led to the exploitation of the unfortunate and the weak la u varicty of way The greatest sources of history the tynnts sad the dictators, those who bere used rust numbers of men and women as means to their individual ends of stranduement, glory und succeu, bave not been necessarily those who were in possession of or cared for tconomic precmiscace. Most of them were indifferent to the acquisition of great fortuna cither for the rules or for their descendants. Some of them have coon been ascetia in their personal lives, but they bad 10 mordinate and overpooering lus for power The dictn ·Barre Bdwodion in Condkiji's Philosophy 87 tors of today do not exploit their fellow citizens by means of, or for the purpose of wealth, u the apltalut da. They are known to be ample and cren entert in their por somal lives and taste. They hare Lot their prexnt position not by the manipulation of economic force but by ting power politics and rubtle and prychological methods of appealing to comraon buman passons and by ass propaganda The social order that Gandbuji contemplato mast therefore be free from economia pover or any other ce ploitation. If this is to be accomplished, society policia, 10 ctonomic and socul life must be bault on non violence truth and justice. If any of these principles are abrat. and to the extent to which they are absont, there ! bound to be crploitation. Whenever there berploitation, mans diyire dignity r offended and he becomes a mere means and not an end 10 himself. Gandhin therefore 13 against all concentration of power social position, or worldly loods in the hands of the few What he contem plates La clasless society of workers. Hu uterince on this point hare often been misunderstood and be produced confusion. He bus on several occasions aid that he believe in the casto system. He us in the babit of using old words with a new connotation, which an be fathere not from a particular statement taken in isolat toa but us on intimately connected with bbs thought and pbilosophy So interpreted it would appear that obat he means by at stems not what is current in the present day Hindu society and what the orthodor Hindu under stand by it. but somethin, quite different. Wluat he means it division of labour and specialisation of fun.tions according to individual. Dature (Saabhara ) nccordlog to bus natural (hereditar ) and acquired ob ·Tko Latat Pad He contemplata s reparate attes of classes hierarchi ally trranged He does not bowerer belleve that thu clasle vorter bodiety must becomnly be built round centnlised by modoxry That individually controlled centralised big Industry leads to exploitation needs to proof. It is there ind toes by the pume of capitalin und has produced most of the international and inter-class jealousy und hatred, leading to civil and external strife, that is witnessed today the world over It however rupposed that socialised and publicly owned and controlled centralized bis industry and business will not lead to exploitation. But whatever experience we have in this direction, and it is confined to one country only Roala, wbers the experiment u berat tried toes to prove that it. has led to dictatortarp and bureaucratic rule, where every acthrity of tho citizen u strictly regulated and controlled. Sach a rockety must of necemuty nigorously crclude all deviation 10 thought and action from the prescribed forms and standards. It tot segulate the entire life of tbe adividual. Anna aserthesis to unregulated individuale working for private and amrchic code it may mucceed for & hoc, but I the end it is bound to onipple the todoul by making any hu initiative and freedom of action. Ips revolotionary eal of today can be no indian tron of its rety great limitations and the get tos of deay that lie concalat pithin it. In order to use itself it b already making dangerous CODccasions that do not altogether square with its eqwlitarian philosophy More or its authority based not on monal but on phypal forac. Paysal force und violence are not only andemocratic but they are bound to lead to exploitation of some sort of the other The non-emploiting society Gandhizi coateraplate must progressivel rely upon morul forot und monal functions ·Edục 84cdian • Gaki Plack) 89 To avoid therefore upregulated and anarchic 10- dividmalum of the apitalut sitem u cho tbe crashing concentracon of poser of the communst, Gendhiji proposes to build the economic and social eructuTC OD decentralised agriculture and industry In purrince of thhy at he adopata cottage and village industria on the basis of limited private property In this ho works more in accord with humun hatory and psycholov thun tha Rustan reformers. But in order that private property tory yield the best material and wondelts, it matt not be allowed to degenerate into prtratt bis fortune descending ondivided from father to pon by law of mbentance. Decentralized villafe sod cortage Industries check the accumolation of bu fortuna at tberr very Ourec. If thus original bandrap us not enough Gandhiji will not haitat to put kaal drabilities much us Inheritance and death dotia and auch like taxes agatox the accumulation of big private fortuno. We are however uked what about each industne u are incapable of decentraliption and are yet Accentary for the present divilisation Gandhi's Idea is that such industries must be publicly owned and publicly control ked. For the rest agriculture and industry must complement and wppletocht ach ober As to industry Gandhiji (s acainst bis privately owned business, so he is against big samiadarth That ac prosent he does not appear to work asalas bus buudess is bls amindays is due to practial considerations and to the method of his gruggle and reform He does not -200 to introduce any el menu of bitterness, COCTCLOS OT Tolence Не works by methods of satyagraha by civil disobedxence If at this page he day not adria doi disobedience aralast big business and bus agindaris, it is because ·90 The Lalat Fad belkra tbat oben the poligai bindnnce of foreira control remored and the netko u free, it will be quite possible to liqusdate big business and big zamindaru without even non violeat frugtha Ancoding ture and death done aan progressively bring about the desittd end. When once the nation bus power these things can be done by means of legislation without rousing any great can feelings and class batred. The recent land und debt redemption measures Littroduced by some Congress Governmenom the provisca amply bear out thu contention. But even after the acquisition of political power of vested interests stand in the way the wapon of Satnugoba s always there to be uxd. Civil resistance for the redros of internal wrongs netbe present moment 16 likely to district attention from the malo uptim imporulia atraccle. It will be taken adrantage of by the thud party to thwart our efforts for political freedom. In whatever light therefore the present policy of Gandhiji may appear there should be no doubt that be want the natronal life to be organised on the band's of decentralised agriculture and industry Thu decentralisation does not aclude co-operatore enterpris in borb the tieldo Gandbuji w also a belles et in the family and in the family morality The institution of the family implies somt private property This private property must not however be the fruit of exploitation In Gandhijf beme everybody mua xort and coco uf her an inte lectual worker be must performa some physial labour not for brukelf, tben for the group Gandhuji's idea about deceduralued industry and agriculture is based upon by conception of the place of matenal goods and comfort for this bigher life. He belict a that an amodot of materul foods # Ascessary to ·Baris Bereshes in Contbijt's PWlosophy 91 refined, civilised and monilife He hus oftea mid that be could curry pintulity to the mana only through breed, through the capacity to mtufy better their phynial needs. Thus though he believe that there is an intimate connection between matter and spint, be feels that material possessions are merely a means never on end in themselva. Up to polat they are necorary for the advancement of the individual. Any spordinate bakering after them hinder rather than belps growth. Their purruſt for Doere senx-enjoyment is harmful. It leads to insatiable and evergrowing deire, portion, love of power and attentator Dere and appetite after certain vel defined limit work for the slavery of the Individual. This enslavencat clouds the memory and warpy judgmcat Dette and appetite are then no mort the reactions of a balthy pbyucal life. lasted they rule the body in their own right. Thus the wall of the item dividual is enervured and bus permnality Lost Gaodbiji therefore fully belsete 10 the following words of the Geeta which are daily repeated in the Ashram prayer Aap SIMEO the objects of serde concreeth an attachment for the from attachwinori eth doir front doi com contatt forth From ante proceedeti del Tron from delati conferencOTT from con med memory destructo I regrott from instructora Ac prishes, Therfor, for all bealthy social life and proper sacral equilibrium Dot only to dzire for but the possession of material goodspot be strictis rculateThis an bu achieved eternally by decentralised concrcc and industry and psychologicalls by an eduation which ·91 Tks Latest Fas without dapung material food, koom their limitation in terms of the good life. Sach an duatlon places no undue emphasis on material life and put the first things first. Thus us us untr-thesis to the material concept of Lific, in which no limit u put upon the possession and the enjoyment of material objects. The only limit imposed us the phyical apacity of the individual. Another limit imposed by ocalism and communism is that equal adren tiga must be made available to all. The materialist does not distrust physical life or the pleasures derived from the powcmon and enjoyment of matoul foodı. The cry ever is to level up and after the levelling up u achieved to increase the goods to the fullest capacity that advancing scence make available. The materialit ka po hindrance to higher life in the multiplication of goods and wint. Increased 2001 arc in fact made the manure of culture und aviliation. As the economic, to the social organisation is to be built upon non violence, truth and justice. What Gandhlji contemplates un carteles rod claslen society based upon co-operative service. No variety of physical labour is coudered us low or degrading. The humblert work must be performed by the individual for himself, and if need bc for other. All work is honourable may acred. Every conscientious and honest worker is not merely worthy of hls wage but also worthy of respect. There u so hierarchy of clases or are based upon birth, valth or profLalon. There must, boxcser be co-operation and division of Labour according to natural and acquired capacities. That this to Gandhijis conception is prored by hu indun. touchability movement and his prescribing the lorest work, the work of sarenging for himself and his closest ·Basic Rducation in Gandhis P Tocopy 93 companon. It is also from thu point of view that in rich conferences and congrepa u bear the imprets of Gandhiji the work of savenging is soigned to the bighly eduared and generally to those who belong to the higher autet If cavenging a honourable, all work, bo werer humble, in honourable In polipa the Ane principles apply The moral Ftandards in politial relations are to be the ame us in other social relations There are to be no co web of morality one in the social and the other in the political sphere Good and gentlemanly conduct must be the one in both the fields. In politia too there must be trupulous card for the mans employed to achievo Particular end. Meanus an never be justified by endo Means are a important us the ends. Sometimes they become CTen more Important The law of the junglo aball so tore apply in political dealing and relations internal or aternal. Such a result can only be brought about bcd Eneod. vaandisement and exploitation are eliminated from politial life Here too men may not be used u mere tool. Such a conception of society progretively rules out tbc use of hate and valence in polttal relatot, (11) THE UNITY OF THE GANDHIAN WAY Gandbuji has bowerer elaborted no philosopbial yutem of life, logical and complete in scil. Yet all ha socio-political plan and wainita ate Ortsmially correlated rod Integrated They are based, u ve hare ken, upon certain fundamental priscipla und a unfty runs through tben all. They co neither be cut off from their basic principles nor from ach other la the former auso that will be mapped from their living roots and will witber awy in course of time. They will degenerate Into Welep dead curton. At the medioe i the ·94 Tia Laat Fod pelociples are accepted to the practial scheme of reform rejected and no substitutes 10 tbe light of these principle cuppiled, the principles will be reduced to empty forms without any pubstance of content Again of the practial xhema we worked pxece meal and in wolatron and there is neither coordinatton oor correla tion they will lack vitality and the principle of growth. Recently at a meeting of the ALCC radial politician Ad that a distinction should be made between the creed and the programme of the Congrass Accord ing to him there should be no censorship about the belief in the creed, if the programme is accepted and worked Such a view dissociates the prognome from the creed and make the creed not a lyme faith which must manifest belf in the life of tbe individual and tbe nation but a mere form. Such a ve also betrys en utter Lack of knowledge of the butonal evolution of the Congress in recent times and tho place of Gandhiji and his Ideology mit. It makes of the Congicus a purely political organ mation for the liberation of the country from foreign domaation. It deprive our movement of its comprebenxvt tevolutionary chancer It mandons the atruule into a mr of independence, slthough nonviolent. It makes it revolutionary in the narrow and not in the comprebetoint KDx that the policy and the programme are based opon a distinct ideology that keks to change the value of life uod usher in a Dew epoch in buttory Such a vier implies that the political slavery of lodu u so isolated phenomenon, related or at best pot fundamentally related to the life of the nation Such was the view of the earlies congresmen. They bed therefort made it a part of the constitution that lep. 177 ·Badio Education in Gandhiff's Philosophy 95 Congres us to organisation did not concern itself with cal reform. It was purely and actively a political organlation. In those days it nu pogible to combine politial radiallam vith social reactionaryum. Many alled politial extremists of the time were very moderate or even reactionary in their hocul outlook On the otber band many political moderata were radials in social matters. Thu w due to life being divided into water tight compertroenta. It was also due to the fact that the political doctors bad not properly dragnosed the real malıdy from wbuchtbe country was muffiring. It w not tho mere accidental loss of political Liberty a may happen to any otherwise healthy rution by a combination of adverse circumstance. But itu the enfeeblement of the life spirit of the nation. It us Dot mere political dependence but a moral spiritual and Jl round decadence If tberefore the nation wu to be Aved, it could not be done merely by the transference of political power boarte important that may be. What over the nature of the strugle, violent or non-violent, It must be based apon some ideology orde teraluation of Ilfc value Such a movement would be a spiritul cod balistke movement. Such as the French Revolution and is the present Bolubevik Revolution in contra to the roccessful movement for liberation from foreign yoke in many modern countria, like the Netherlands America, Italy and others. In the former ause bot only rolitlos but the entire life of the froup h affected tod transformed and a new epoch begins It ta puch a splittual revolution that Gandhijt hes been trying to work through the Congren Asbe corks through this organisation be bas often to accept it Ilmitations. He takes It u far us itt origin and bugtoric ·The Lalat Fad evolation would alloy But the effort ways us to make the Congress the vauvel of this all round transformation If such a choose us to be effected the nation may not accept the programme und reject the crted the troue intimately and organially connected. Neither may the nation accept one item of the programma and reject another at its sweet ill. The different items are parts of one organic whole Often our politicians have accepted the programme but sought to run away from the full implications of the creed They have taken refage behind the plan that the Congress has used the words peaceful and legitimate and not non violent and truthful us if peaceful means an opor be violent und falsehood an ever be legitimate, However here we are not concerned with what portion of Goodbiji's ideas the Congress bus accepted but with what Gandiji, ideology stands for We are considering hus philosophy of life, social and individual. In that there an be no divorce between the areed and the programme, us the programme in evolved out of the creed. Often we are usked what place have the Charkhill, Kladi, Village industries, untouchability to a revolution ? Did not countrio who had to such programmes attain liberation from foreigo domination? It ww not necessary for the U.S.A. to give up slavery to drive away the British Nather did the Netherlands give up the Black trade to free tbemselves from Spain. Why shoald there be removal of untouchability and the emancipation of women? Did Dot romen in the past work under many handicap when itonal Liberty mu echieved ? Do they not will offer from many diabllida under demo cratic pational Governments ? There are local ·Badla Edwodon in Gandas Palosofly 97 argument. However the struggle that seeks to remain DOD-military and son violent and archers untruth and falsehood, may not have a double set of moal vloer, one for social and another for political later courro. It must therefore first soek to do fuxice before it an claim the moral right to fight external tajustice rith rapon of truth and non violence. Truth and non violence are not in Gandbujls scheme mert religlow forms or dosmas They have to be woven into tbe life and activity of the nation. They must be mobiled, organised and disciplined if they are to be substitutes for armed might. The armies of Satyagraha must be trained. They must learn habits of co-operation 101 order to non-cooperate effectively with cyul. Military tntety bus its fields of training These are wurs of autression, frontier raids and ur bombios espionate, diplomacy bluff and bluster The tratouag grounds for the Satyagrahis are the Terous constructive and the to-called reformout programmes of Gandhujt If there programma were not there and they did not train the Satyurihis in discipline, organiston, command and obedience, in short in all social and cirl virtues, critta may have words justification to consder bon-wolence o the principle of the vegetable kingdom. A, itu Satyagraha is far more active and dyramic than the principle that rules in the brute world and the fungic. It is therefore chat Gandhill always insists that non violence is not for the real and the cowardly but for the brive and the strong For bir it is the most active force in life. The basic priaciples therefore Day Bot be separat from the programme It is borever posible that 7 ·98 The Latest Fud principle of truth and DOD violence my work us effectively through other external proinmoa. Spiritual principles annot be confined to or analised tbrough one set of utenal institutions, It u quite possible that a miod as great a or greater than Gandhiji may embody the prinople in different institutions and schemes of Tuform. But mort etable methods of canalizing them prieaplas ir discovered, nagrested and worked oat, Gandhtji's programmes of practial work me bold the field. Not only have the openinal made a distinction between the crted and the programmes but they have often sought artificially to dissociate the letter from each other and accepted 006 programme and rejected the other Nay they have dissected and divided the various programma and accepted one part and rejected the otber For instance many polnical workers accept Khadi as the national symbol und uniform some accept it u symbolical of simplicity and identification with the man They Itject its economic impliations. They fail to understand but the caence of Kbadı lies in Gandhijis conception of economic self tofficiency for tbe villeger in two of his pomary gecessities of life food and clothing To fail to upderstand tbat Kurdi i lattoduce u tabndhary industry for the villager to remove his forced ideoess ind consequent unemployment, for food part of the yar is to otrs iu si aficance in the life of the nation. Take away the basic economic de und Kundi will fail to ba the phone form for long. It will fail to be lodias sytabol of Identification with the masses, los place may be taken up by the scorbe and the banner or some picb symbols u are sigafficant to their om way The Charkba is on our tax and khadi is on our body u the national ·Basic Education in Gandhi : Pilototy 99 uniform, bean they have meaning and signifance in our nationl economy u conceived by Gandhiju This about khadi. Remonl of untouchability must also be no mere politial respon. It must be approached. in the splot in which Gandhiji funt it to be approached, in non violence, truth and Justice. If it is tackled merely from the barro political vier point, it may add ono more communal problem to the many that already disince the land. It u therefore that Gandbiji layı us much stres apon temple entry and the internal reform of the Harijns in on the removal of their economic and politial dwabilite. Again the Hindo-Maulim question has to be approached not as the politicons would have us do in terms of percentages and quotes, Dor even merely a terms of mass contact mapired by tbe number of Muslim primary members on the Congress register food u that . Many of the Munalmas bom we drar in the Congreu lose their aste ho never religious and larned they may be. The main contact that Godhin mints, is to be orolved by daily nad hourly KITICO rendered by the members of the majority community to the members of tbe mino- Iity community in truth and justke, and not in a politial bartalning spirit. There are deep-rated and historial care for distrust and suspicion. These cannot be remored by porcentas ind pred nor com by enrolment u Congreh members. If the Mossalmans are invited to jota the Congress only throuch the door of membeobip, before thetr deep seated doubts and respicions uro removed, they may to count of time become a problem there, which would be more than their being problem outside the organisation Gandhijīs approach to the moblem tberefore appear to be the only be approach ·100 The Ladut Fad today and be deriva it from his basic principles of con violence and truth. Then there are the problems of the kions iad the industrul labourer. There may not be approached in the spirit of clas-hatred and class wir When we propose to solve even the greatest conflict of foreign rule with wapon of non violence and truth hor an we seek to solve our internal conflicts with any other vapons? If we attempt to solve them by violence wo shall merely be playing into bands of the foreigner economically and poliually It is believed that foreign influence and intervention are at the root of the terrible prolongation of the civil war in Spain. Here tbe foreign influence in the bape of British Imperialism is much more entrenched than us the case with Spain The foreigner an tberefore very effectively exploit our class conflicts and passions. The resultant chaos will be a hundred times more terrible and disastrous than in Spain It us strange that any sensible patriot or lover of humanity abould talk in such terms today But the tragedy is that some idealus are so much obsessed with their theories and ure mo ito patient, that they count the cont in human muxcry and moffering us little u did the pious Fatbers of the Christian Church in Medaeni time, when they burnt at the state witcher beretics and sometimes even Undoubted slots belonging to their own faternity The present coumterparts of these priests believe that they und Aving the soul of humanity from amploitation, capitalism and imperialism, which after all are more destructive than any arnage that may result from restoring the balance. They therefore think that it 14 @wardly to count the cost to human woe and puffering 1814 ·Baris Education in Gandhin Philosophy 101 eren if it be of those whom they wish to Ave. Who an artue iguing such Dmne Wruth? Its advocaten are often cough us pure in motive and u boly u vera the Church Futbert Verily the way to bell - paved with food intentions. Even so, one may be induced to be more modest about human judgement and consequently less inclined to violence After all if one s podement happens to be wrong and if one u non volent one only Injurts oneself So far then, us Gandhiji i xheme of life and reforms is concerned, the questton of the kinans and the industrial Labourers must also be tackled by mctbods erolved from his basic priociples of pop-violence, truth and justice. For Indu, situated us to today this also the most pructial and fuctual approach Thus we have shown that not only there intimate relation between tbe creed and the programas but the programmes aro organially mter related and inter connected. Nay the separato tems of the programme aro a unity in tbemsolve They cannot be dissected or sub-divided arbitrarily and cae part accepted and the other port rejected. The progaumes are to be accepted in tbeir intar tolaton and are not to be cut off from their roots in the basic principles of the creed. Thu unty in principle, and the only that runs through his Concrete schemes and plans, makes Gandbutis programme single whole. It makes of It. complete system of philosophy with its distinct ideolog This ideology # revolutionary in to chancer dynamic and revolutionary element is often missed by murerficul bontile critics who ure deceived by the and of poo-Tolence Volence is not of the arence of 1 ·101 Tko Lalat Fad rcvolation What is of the essence u the ser set of valocs based upon some priaplos of life, wbut the spintuulist would call the eternal venties of life The word eternal to the modern mind, may sound unscientific. But even the kientific socialists, the Maraists and the Bolsbevun tbough they muy deny the eternal character of non-violence, may not deny that the prinaples of truth and juxrca, embodied to shutever changing forms and ingitutions, art eternal principles and are at the basis of all socral intercourse a we know it among humans on the planet. Grven the principles the projamme what is further Accenary for . Riccenful scrolution in « dynamic personality which, u it were, u the embodiment of the prinaplan Revolutions are not accompished by the device of counting vota por by front powerle but by forging Aright bad under determined leadershup wuch congts no cost u too freer in the wrvice of the dal. The fundamental principle with their programmes and personality being given the theoretical success of a revolution is sured. Pncial success will depend Opon the combination of a hundred and one favourable drcomstances and en accidents, and the proper utiliza Hon of opportunities that may not repeat themelves Gandhifi skbenscoflefe lacks sent het basic principles Dor + programe not auto tbe living dynamic personality Itu perhaps tbercfort that however unpractical and out of tone with the time some of his ubeba may appear they bave . #rinde vitality Revolopons after all are not based upon crude xo-called facts and reality The reality that ityolation aukt account of us not olete phyual atau reality To be effecardy ral itu iacude tod embrace imagination, ·Banc Education in Gandhi: Phlorophs 103 enthusiasm faith, foresight and many other prychical und oral realities. For fastance what would remain of tbe Bolibenik revolation of the reality contemplated by Lenin and his followers lacked imfimtion, ferrour enthuslasın, faith and forestght? Gandhifi. is therefore a completa revolutionary pblloopby based upon fucts and reality No part hangs Loone. It is due to this that in spite of its want of a theoretical syrem It attracts people fired with misalonary al and enthwiam, and those wbon grop of reality include a bright and burning faith and an indomitable will. It is thu mpect that the Indian liberal and the socialist fail to grasp The latter is purposed & the vitality that Gandhiji's philosophy manifesti and the hold It ha upon the masses. Even his apparent sunt of logic mucceeds Why beaux Gandhiji never ready to pcr ficc consistency and formal boste in favour of dynamic and revolutionary logic. The man who onco declared that it wu sin to go to the council, not only advocated codacil entry but acceptance of office. Whet strage iacon.nstency bot wbat foresight and grasp of the real and the factual! And bow quick bo to! As soon as the ministries ar installed in their places he u ready with blo scheme, complete prohibition in three yars a brand Der scheme of education. The radicals were not ready 7th any scheme of their own. They had therefore to fall jo tinc, whatever their riem, about prohibition and education, Let the radicals and socialists therefore once for all talise that it is por incient worn-out wisdom that they have to oproxe, nor 11 It social and politial reaction, Dor Acain is it liberal diletanton and decadence. What they have to oppose in revolution, a lining and worl ·10+ The Latest Fad futh, of which Gandhiji is the embodlment. Let them also know that they adot at their ireet will cut off items of the programme and graft them on to other ideologies. They annot have an ounce of non violence and dilute it with a bucketful of Bolshevism Such . procedure will not work. It will fail They arnot, for Instance, talk of non piolence and encourage peunt Lutton and industrial Arife of the Western type, on the spacio plan that strife already crists and it is not of their creato If they really believe in non violence oven as a policy they will bave to work it our faithfully uninfluenced by other ideologies which annot fit in with non violence. They will have to find point of contact between capital and labour peasant and landlord, and chaux all possibilities of peaceful settlement before chey an advocate even non vuolent struggle. They cannot have Grodbijis principles and tack them on to Maruum. The socullots may not know it, but tbefr advocacy of non violence, le sounds hollow us if taken up for convenience. Often enough in private convertion and public meetings they are betrayed into advocating or crcusing violence. After all overy ADC politician admits that for India today the question of volence has only a theoretical importance. Why does it then crop up every now and then to their private and public utterances? Because non volence does not fit la with the rest of their ideology Even though they wear khadı to make themselves politially respectablc, khadı up loose on them. They may not talk of ullage indur tries. They can dever be enthusiastic about these They may for want of a device of their own accept Basic Eduation but they will so mutilate it that it vill box work Let them knor that such opportunis conformity ·Baus Education in Gandh Padlosophy 10S will not strengthen their own ideolog or programme but will be demanlising, if not for the laders, surely for the nunk ind file Let them also realise that in tbe world today there are two distinct ideologie und two Ievolutionary praciples, the one adoveated by Gandhiji and the other derived from Mari and worked out by the Bolsheviot These two ideologies are separted by en unbridgeable gul! They are based upon diametrically opposite moralities and philosopbia of Life What 18 good in the one 11 DOT p in the other What is prese worthy in the one is blameworthy in the other Gandhin is a force of progress and perce in tbe world according to one Y1ON According to tbe other he stands con clously or udcoaxiously for reaction and exploitation of tbe underdot. He to the friend of the bourgeois, the capitalists, the samındar and the Indun proces. It u taselas to miss the difference. It does so good to any party to misunderstand the full impliention of cach other philosophy It is all right to talk of unity and front populaire But If a dynamic programme a revolution of the one sort or the other bas pot to be arried out ft annot be done by divided counsels, differing ideologies, confiaing loyaltxt and loove organisation. Thon let chery man lic upto bus fauch Let overy party work out it or programme. If there 4 conflict it is inevitable rod ungordable. After all of onc party 6s pledged to non-violence, we may not witness the interneciae nor that raged one um back in China and tbt rases and cars Spain tolas Non olence has cvolved a rolur strategy to meet tuch Hruations They rere teet succesfully to the rust. They an be milarly met today without a ciril var Therefor there 10 ·106 The Lalot Pad is no great danger of ope ideology allowed to try its hand at national regedenton unhampered. After all the aim of Gandbuji and the Manut is the Ame, namely freedom from exploitation of all worti. The difference trises in the means and the principles of ife that the two hold by If there is conflict let that be a friendly rivalry Bar chen such avalry an only de based upon trutb and non violence Can the Marilst accept the Decerary change in their fouth? If they can, they may not after all find much difference between themselves und Gandhin They will not only understand and appreciate hus programme better but will fall in line with bu plans and thw help to introduce in India, a Hoculum tbat u redded to principle of truth and non violence, which after all appear to be more in keeping with the gentus of the Indian people than conflict cu und violence Non violence and truth are also the freatest need of humanity today So have seeo bat Gandhinis philosophy u based upon certain principle In the light of these prinaplas be has croised comprehenave and connected name of fight and constructive work for the guidance of the individual and the nation. The priociples and programos arc organucally connected. They form one whole. They need from tbe individual and the nation a particular character In the light of this character is conceived tbe acs syutem of education Beginning with truth and non violence in political life Grodbiji bas calved bus schemes of Chrakha and khadi, removal of untouchability Hindu Muslim opity emancipation of fonen, (Doc 1 the Western senge on the base of equal opportunities for the cojoj ment of physal life, but equal opportunities for wocul service and individual adiace FIO-

·Bano Education in Gardkiji's Philosophy
101
through it), the revini and the introduction of per
village industnet From these be bas procede om
hu new scheme of education Education in cock Lars
Nurunlly for euamon must follor prata. Ba eft
therc for the ake of all that bus preceded. In ure
of tbe entire rebeme of life
It is to prepe.e the funt ?
child for the place he will occupy in the rrethit
Jux and moral society free from all czclasa en les
for the formation of his character la ce lze pf the
requirements of each a society
Gandhi's socio-political edifice
It is the cat 11 XT7G

·POLITICS OF CHARKHA
ACTLARYA I & KRIPALANI
General Secretary
DOUX NATIOKAL CORRES
Dynamics of the Constructive Programme is the
theme of thus book, Kripalaniji in bia characteristic
Kyle explain the revolationary implications of a
seemingly prohic programme.
abont 80 pages
THE GANDHIAN WAY
ACILALYA JA KRIPALANI
Gorterel Secrear
TODAAN NATIONAL COLORES
As a maxerly position of the Gandhuan philosophy
of Action and as a vigorous defence of the ame unst
It critia, the book 13 a remarkable contributson to the
Gandhian literature and holds a place of pride in the
contemporary controversial literature on Gandhian
politics
Third edition page #bowl 200, Price Rs 4
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