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By Karmayogi

The future of the
nation is in the hands of the youth and children. That future is determined by
the education they get today. In the fifties, the prime educational problem was
school buildings.

Next it was attendance. Midday meal came to ensure attendance. After the
seventies, education at all levels expanded limitlessly. Quantitative expansion
results in quality deterioration.

Recently people have become quality conscious in education. In some good
measure, quality too emerges at all levels. I wrote about pioneering
educationists offering teacher training in their pioneering methods. It would
be a great step forward for the present.

Till the mid-sixties, scientific knowledge had not reached the fields of
cultivation. Taking cultivation to modern farming was a landmark in Indian
planning. In 1950 the government founded 16 National Laboratories in various
parts of India to conduct fundamental research.

Their significance was appreciated only after twenty years. About the same time
– 1950 – the government of India spent money on building ports. When in 1964
USA was to ship India millions of tons of food grains, the first question the
US President asked was, ‘Does India have ports to handle the
ships?' India did not. Some were sent to Karachi and other ships unloaded
at Rangoon and food grain was rushed by train.

The government valued its own efforts to build ports in 1950 only in 1964 when
huge shipments were to be unloaded on an urgent basis. Such a need arises in
the field of education just now. Now is the time because there is an
educational awakening for quality education.

Presently our system of education is what we have inherited from the British. It
is steadily acquiring the composition of the US system. That is better than
what we will otherwise have, as we have NO IDEA of the education our children
should have. One view is it should be Indian based on Indian culture, but no
such curriculum has been developed anywhere in India for schools or colleges to
use.

Now that there are hundreds of pioneering educational institutions all over the
country, it is from them a lead should come in this regard. Let us not think
what systems should emerge out of such an initiative. It is necessary that the
most successful schools and colleges in India should give thought to a FUTURE
SYSTEM OF EDUCATION.

They have successfully innovated in methods of teaching. Now is the time for
them to move from teaching to education. Should they do so, their step will be
equal in significance to modernizing agriculture, strengthening the ports, or
founding national laboratories. The cream of the nation, rather the educational
cream, should deeply consider the Future Education.