|
Home
Search
Subscribe Online
Archives
About
Us
Cartoons
Online
Book Store
E-Greetings
Jobs @ MG
Advertise
on MG
Our
Team
Contact Us
Muslim
Matrimonials
Our Advertisers
| |
The NCERT's latest curriculum framework
By MH Lakdawala, Mumbai
THE history of modern education is
replete with instances of organized attempts to use the school as an
instrument of ideological propaganda. Regimes committed to hard ideologies
showed a keener interest in education than others. The Fascists, for
example, made education synonymous with absolute loyalty to their cultural
ideal. Their approach and methods seem obsolete today, but the possibility
of education being used for indoctrination rather than for promoting the
capacity to think and judge for one remains alive.If we go by the NCERT's
latest National Curriculum Framework, a massive effort to ideologize
education is round the corner. The name under which this game will be
played is `value education' - an attractive label which will delude many
into believing that at last, something is being done to ensure children's
moral development. To reinforce this deception, the new document uses
terms like `national identity', `indigenous tradition' and India’s
contribution to world civilization'.
Wholesale trivialization of knowledge has been underway for some time,
both at school and in the learning that occurs at home through the media
and other sources. The changes were set in motion in November 1999, when
NCERT drafted a curriculum framework and sent it out to education boards
across the country.
In its all three terms at the center Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has kept
home and education ministries under its belt. Moreover hardliners from the
party have been appointed as the minister for the two crucial portfolios.
BJP is very clear in its agenda. With their own hard-liner home minister
it's become very convenient for the party cadre to raise the communal
temperature and vitiate the atmosphere to encash at the polls.
Teesta Setalvad, Editor of Communalism Combat opines that the need for
postulating a Hindu community became a requirement for political
mobilization for the BJP, when representation by religious community
became a key to power and where such representation gave access to
economic resources. “A Hindu community with a common identity would be
politically powerful. Since it was easy to recognize other communities on
the basis of religion, such as Muslims and Christians, an effort is made
to consolidate a parallel Hindu community”.she said.
This involved continuous hammering through various routes. School syllabus
is the easiest and most effective method to implement this. The strategy
is to place their own people in slew of academic and administrative posts.
Same is the case with the National Council of Education Research and
Training (NCERT) who has prepared the new school education curriculum
obviously under the influence of the center. To implement its agenda BJP
has always distorted facts. RSS with its own agenda of hate, fictionizes
history. Our history terms Aryans as indigenous and Mughals as invaders.
The biased story of Shivaji and Afzal khan corrupts our innocent students
minds. .Sangh Parivar has successfully corrupted the mind of middle class,
as it has become more communal with its latest literacy campaign, The BJP
agenda is to reach upto the other sections of the society through communal
route. Although education is in the concurrent list slew of non-formal
education programmes and institutions are run by the center. Hence it's
very convenient for the BJP to change the syllabus, which suit their
plans, distort history, and project minorities in poor light. “The plan
of BJP is extremely dangerous. We find a parallel in Hitler. Even he had
also spoken in the same language of Aryan superiority and German
Nationalism and pride, Said Teesta. “ Religion should not be mixed with
politics, religion should be about reaching beyond ego for the divine. But
once religion becomes linked to nationalism, then you have what I call
idolatry, it gets converted to fascism. Fascist forces take over The
current attempt of the BJP is equivalent to violence of the mind. The
policy is projecting one section at the cost of the others.”
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, (Total literacy campaign) is a well thought out
plan to implement Sangh Parivar agenda through the education route. BJP
agenda is to create the idea of a single Hindu community. Religions
indigenous to India, which questioned brahmanical into Hinduism and their
separateness, is either denied or ignored.
No doubt the documents speak of teaching the basics of all the religion
and inculcate the culture of diversity. But the fact is that only one
religion and culture would get the prominent place neglecting the
remaining. This would suit the saffron brigade and help them in
saffronization of education.This is obvious from the recent statement of
India's Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi. In one of
his speech recently, while addressing the Sri Sathya Sai institute of
Higher Learning Joshi had said"There is an awakening across the
country on the importance of Sanskrit and we are trying to create
facilities for large scale learning of this language," Stating that
the repository of knowledge from Vedas (ancient Indian religious texts) to
present time was in Sanskrit, he advocated that Sanskrit should be
compulsorily studied in all institutions. Again, plans to instill values
like patriotism in schools are all very well; but such values cannot be
forced down children’s throats. They will imbibe these values
automatically if they feel they are part of a country they can be proud
of; and for that we would prefer an emphasis on the value of freedom an
essential pillar of any free society. It is high time the like minded
organizations and people come forward and expose the hidden agenda of BJP
and Sangh Parivar.Otherwise the coming generation would be fed on the hate
and suspicion through the route of education. q |
Subscribe
Now
|
