Saffronization of Education
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В статье проанализированы процессы постепенной исламизации сферы образования в странах исламского мира и её индуизации в Индии. Сделан вывод, что размывание принципа лаицизма, поиски идентичности через образ врага и индоктринация молодёжи... more
В статье проанализированы процессы постепенной исламизации сферы образования в странах исламского мира и её индуизации в Индии. Сделан вывод, что размывание принципа лаицизма, поиски идентичности через образ врага и индоктринация молодёжи в духе нетерпимости затрудняют способность общества к диалогу. Это повышает риски конфликтов между этноконфессиональными общностями как внутри государств, так и между государствами. The article analyzes the processes of gradual Islamization of the education sphere in Islamic countries and its Hinduization in India. It is concluded that the fading of the laicism principle, the search for an identity through the image of an enemy, and the indoctrination of the youth in the spirit of intolerance hamper the capacity of society for dialogue. It increases the risks of conflicts between ethnoreligious communities both within and between states.
The industrialization and its consequential imperialism and colonialism have impacted this world for three centuries. India has been a colony of the British Empire for two centuries. These eventful two centuries of Indian history did see... more
The industrialization and its consequential imperialism and colonialism have impacted this world for three centuries. India has been a colony of the British Empire for two centuries. These eventful two centuries of Indian history did see the influence of not only the political and economical might of the “great” Britain, but its influence on every milieu of Indian life. India’s indigenous education system was gradually displaced and the colonial model of education pervaded under the patronage from the colonial-state. The language, pedagogy, evaluation and knowledge of the colonizer became naturalis obligato for the population of the colony. India got independence in 1947 and took to the task of decolonizing education immediately. The attempts to decolonize education from various standpoints of political activism, universalism and religious nationalism are charted in this article. What decolonizing education should entail and how India has responded to this question in the last century and how the neo-liberal order has supported a particular ideology to have a dominant say in this process are concerns of this article. We analyse how re-schooling and indoctrination are projected as the most nationalist response for methodical decolonizing of education.
Original version of this Article: “Towards a Christian Education Policy: Some Concerns and Considerations”, was published in National Council of Churches Review - NCCR, Vol. 126, Jan-Feb. 2007, p. 31. In the present educational context,... more
Original version of this Article: “Towards a Christian Education Policy: Some Concerns and Considerations”, was published in National Council of Churches Review - NCCR, Vol. 126, Jan-Feb. 2007, p. 31.
In the present educational context, the needs and priorities are fast changing due to globalisation and market economy which have brought in cut throat competition and hedonic consumerism. The influence of communication media and information technology on the students and youth is enormous. Moral vacuum and value deterioration coupled with individualism and self gratification are eating into the Asian/Indian cultural ethos and family system. Commercialization of education has been propelled by the corporate colleges that are run like mass production factories or chicken farming aiming solely at producing top rank holders who are used as advertisements to further their profit. Some call them concentration camps where students are put to lot of stress leading to frustration, and in a few cases, to suicides too. Saffronisation is another virus that has crept into the education system and syllabus poisoning the minds of students, slowly but surely, instilling in them many prejudices and hatred against the Minorities. Saffronisation of the Hindutva ideology propagated by the Sangh Parivar groups jeopardizes the very secular pluralistic fabric of the nation.
Various developments in technology have implications in teaching methods and approaches using tele-vision, video-conferencing and internet. The growing complexity of education has led to new areas of research and specialized subjects of study effecting changes in curriculum and syllabus over-burdening the students. The educators are expected to go for specialization in a particular field of knowledge and keep updating their knowledge and skills. All these demand professionalism from educationalists.
The education system in our country, including the Christian Education System, is yet to effectively respond to the persisting poverty and inequality which result from social injustice and deprivation of human rights to the majority of citizens. With close to 50% Children and expectant mothers in India suffering from malnutrition, with high infant mortality rate, with 1.2 million children dieing every year due to hunger and diseases, with 12 million children subjected to child labour, with millions of children not getting enrolled in the schools and with half the enrolled dropping out by the time they reach the High School level, the education system has numerous challenges to face. It is a fact that majority of the deprived and disadvantaged children listed hail from the Dalits, Adivasis, Minorities and Backward Classes who are marginalized in the society. Majority of these dispossessed communities still remain illiterate in spite of the “education for all” policy of the government and the recent Constitutional amendment on compulsory education up to fourteen years of age, due to lack of political will and necessary budget allocations. This serious situation calls for special educational interventions.
The Christian Educational System itself is now beset with problems. In the last two decades, most of the Christian Educational Institutions were established in the towns and urbanized areas. As a result the Christian Institutions in the rural areas estimated to have got reduced from about 85% to below 55%. The general public is no more inclined to believe that the Churches are committed to render service to the marginalized in the rural areas and slums. The Church run educational institutions are being accused of primarily seeking profit by aiming mainly at merit and flocking the urban and metropolitan locations. Thus they too willy-nilly contribute to the commercialization of education that leaves no space for the poor. Due to these reasons the credibility of the Christian educational institutions is getting eroded.
The Churches cannot afford to be lethargic and indifferent regarding updating and keeping the standards for which their educational institutes are known for. The principals and heads of institutions need to instill in themselves and in the staff, a new motivation and enthusiasm to work towards the achievement of the objectives of Christian Education System. In order to adequately respond to the contextual factors and the educational issues mentioned above and to acquire professionalism in the administration of educational institutions, the Churches must formulate and follow a Christian Education Policy with right vision, aims and objectives. As the aftermath of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) Annual Meeting of 2006 on the education of the marginalized, All India Catholic Education Policy (AICEP) was prepared by the CBCI Commission for Education. The other Churches and their Agencies / Associations of Educational Institutions need to take up the same process, so that coming together they all can eventually arrive at a common Christian Education Policy at the national level.
Without claiming to be comprehensive, a few suggestions towards the formulation of the Christian Education Policy are offered in this article along with the concerns and questions it must respond to. The required paradigm shift in educational leadership to design new strategies to meet the needs of the students is also indicated.
In the present educational context, the needs and priorities are fast changing due to globalisation and market economy which have brought in cut throat competition and hedonic consumerism. The influence of communication media and information technology on the students and youth is enormous. Moral vacuum and value deterioration coupled with individualism and self gratification are eating into the Asian/Indian cultural ethos and family system. Commercialization of education has been propelled by the corporate colleges that are run like mass production factories or chicken farming aiming solely at producing top rank holders who are used as advertisements to further their profit. Some call them concentration camps where students are put to lot of stress leading to frustration, and in a few cases, to suicides too. Saffronisation is another virus that has crept into the education system and syllabus poisoning the minds of students, slowly but surely, instilling in them many prejudices and hatred against the Minorities. Saffronisation of the Hindutva ideology propagated by the Sangh Parivar groups jeopardizes the very secular pluralistic fabric of the nation.
Various developments in technology have implications in teaching methods and approaches using tele-vision, video-conferencing and internet. The growing complexity of education has led to new areas of research and specialized subjects of study effecting changes in curriculum and syllabus over-burdening the students. The educators are expected to go for specialization in a particular field of knowledge and keep updating their knowledge and skills. All these demand professionalism from educationalists.
The education system in our country, including the Christian Education System, is yet to effectively respond to the persisting poverty and inequality which result from social injustice and deprivation of human rights to the majority of citizens. With close to 50% Children and expectant mothers in India suffering from malnutrition, with high infant mortality rate, with 1.2 million children dieing every year due to hunger and diseases, with 12 million children subjected to child labour, with millions of children not getting enrolled in the schools and with half the enrolled dropping out by the time they reach the High School level, the education system has numerous challenges to face. It is a fact that majority of the deprived and disadvantaged children listed hail from the Dalits, Adivasis, Minorities and Backward Classes who are marginalized in the society. Majority of these dispossessed communities still remain illiterate in spite of the “education for all” policy of the government and the recent Constitutional amendment on compulsory education up to fourteen years of age, due to lack of political will and necessary budget allocations. This serious situation calls for special educational interventions.
The Christian Educational System itself is now beset with problems. In the last two decades, most of the Christian Educational Institutions were established in the towns and urbanized areas. As a result the Christian Institutions in the rural areas estimated to have got reduced from about 85% to below 55%. The general public is no more inclined to believe that the Churches are committed to render service to the marginalized in the rural areas and slums. The Church run educational institutions are being accused of primarily seeking profit by aiming mainly at merit and flocking the urban and metropolitan locations. Thus they too willy-nilly contribute to the commercialization of education that leaves no space for the poor. Due to these reasons the credibility of the Christian educational institutions is getting eroded.
The Churches cannot afford to be lethargic and indifferent regarding updating and keeping the standards for which their educational institutes are known for. The principals and heads of institutions need to instill in themselves and in the staff, a new motivation and enthusiasm to work towards the achievement of the objectives of Christian Education System. In order to adequately respond to the contextual factors and the educational issues mentioned above and to acquire professionalism in the administration of educational institutions, the Churches must formulate and follow a Christian Education Policy with right vision, aims and objectives. As the aftermath of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) Annual Meeting of 2006 on the education of the marginalized, All India Catholic Education Policy (AICEP) was prepared by the CBCI Commission for Education. The other Churches and their Agencies / Associations of Educational Institutions need to take up the same process, so that coming together they all can eventually arrive at a common Christian Education Policy at the national level.
Without claiming to be comprehensive, a few suggestions towards the formulation of the Christian Education Policy are offered in this article along with the concerns and questions it must respond to. The required paradigm shift in educational leadership to design new strategies to meet the needs of the students is also indicated.
Political arm of the RSS, BJP could secure only 31% of the total votes polled in the 2014 parliamentary elections (if this percentage is analyzed in context of the total voters in the country this percentage would further drop down to... more
Political arm of the RSS, BJP could secure only 31% of the total votes polled in the 2014 parliamentary elections (if this percentage is analyzed in context of the total voters in the country this percentage would further drop down to less than 17 percent). This clearly showed that 69% of the Indians; 80% of whom were Hindus did not vote for BJP. However, overlooking this reality the masters of BJP; the RSS top brass boasted that BJP’s victory put “an end to 800 years of slavery” and by 2020 “entire country will be Hindu”. The VHP patron Ashok Singhal went to the extent of declaring that by “2030 the entire world will be Hindu”.
With this frame of mind RSS is getting more myopic and accelerated its game of turning a democratic-secular India into a Hindu theocratic polity. In fact, such over-bearing attitude may be the outcome of feeling of insecurity of the Hindutva leadership which knows that the Hindus of this country do not subscribe to their kind of theocratic politics and in the next elections they may be shown the door by the India electorate. After getting political power they seem to be in hurry and resorting to all kinds of tricks to capture national institutions specially belonging to the realms of art, culture and academia. This clique knows that time is running out fast and they need to bulldoze.
With this frame of mind RSS is getting more myopic and accelerated its game of turning a democratic-secular India into a Hindu theocratic polity. In fact, such over-bearing attitude may be the outcome of feeling of insecurity of the Hindutva leadership which knows that the Hindus of this country do not subscribe to their kind of theocratic politics and in the next elections they may be shown the door by the India electorate. After getting political power they seem to be in hurry and resorting to all kinds of tricks to capture national institutions specially belonging to the realms of art, culture and academia. This clique knows that time is running out fast and they need to bulldoze.