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The curse of the educational system in India is that,
it has created an asphyxiating atmosphere, where the
young learners are overloaded with work and their creative
faculties are stymied. The intense competitiveness of
the scenario has extolled the needs of the job market
over and above the greater needs of manmaking and character-building.
The students today are seekers of jobs rather than knowledge
and truth. A cumbersome syllabus along with a totally
unscientific curriculum, has paralysed their innovative
powers. Parents too are largely to blame, for it is
they who encourage their wards to view money making
as the sole end of education. They do nothing to lessen
the burden of their children even as they are crushed
under the grinding weight of an unwieldy syllabus where
there is not a trace of joy for them, only work, work
and work. As the old adage goes that 'All work and no
play makes Jack a dull boy', therefore if the joy of
life is allowed to evaporate, the so called educated
people would ultimately be found wanting in qualities
of creation and innovation so essential for success
in life. A pack of tutored parrots can never lift a
nation out of the rut. Subhas Chandra Bose was acutely
aware of this.
In a letter to the secretary of the Philosophical
society Scottish Church College on 12/09/34. Subhas
said that 'Originality of thought, is a priceless asset
for every human being'. However, such qualities can
flower only in - an ideal environment. In an undated
letter to Hari Charan Bagchi from Mandalaya, Subhas
wrote that children should be allowed to taste the joy
of creation at an early age. They should be encouraged
to make something with their own hands, whether be it
through clay modelling or treeplanting. The joy derived
from creation was unsurpassable. Bose was of the decided
view, that manual training rather than memorization
of texts, was necessary at the primary stage. This alone
would make education, a thing of joy rather than fear
and inculcate in them, the power of originality. We
may logically surmise that Netaji Subhas would have
found the modern mercenary tutorial homes, totally repugnant,
since they atrophy all creative talents of the students
and turn them, to use the words of poet Long-fellow,
into dumb-driven cattle.
Bose also made some most insightful recommendations
for teachers. He advised them to take their students
to the museum for teaching history and make use of the
globe, and Atlas for teaching Geography. Without exposure
to nature, it was impossible to acquaint children with
trees and flowers, Bose also laid particular stress
on gardening, paining and drawing. Bose's guidelines
for teachers, are of enduring relevance even today,
particularly his view that the teacher must see everything
from the students point of view with love and sympathy,
otherwise he can never understand the difficulties of
the student. The personality of the teacher is of the
greatest importance and so also the method of teaching
and the subject being taught.
The speech which Bose delivered at the National Education
Conference Midnapore on May 1923, was complementary
to the aforesaid letter. Bose exhorted teachers to become
awakened, lively men who would inspire students to become
courageous truthful, patriotic and selfish by the example
of their own glowing character rather than through speeches
debates and argumentative reasoning. He recommended
an exposure to experimental psychology for teachers
so as to enable them to devise methods or making things
intelligible to dull students and simplifying difficult
problems. In a letter to Santosh Basu on 26/04/36 from
Mandalaya prison, Subhas stressed the need for teachers
to grasp the subtleties of educational psychology and
mater kindergarten principles. He also recommended a
sound system of textbooks written by proper men and
also training scheme for teachers. In view of the present
educational scene, the above suggestions appear immensely
significant because very few teachers today have any
real appreciation of the requirements of the students
and often derive sadistic delight by meeting out cruel
punishments. When Subhas was the Head of the Provisional
Azad Hind Government, he set up Teacher's Training Schools
where teachers were subjected to tests of knowledge
and efficiency for which, certificates were awarded.
From the testimony of John Thivy, it is known that 'A
happy balance in studies drills and games, made the
system popular for youngsters. They learnt to be proud
of their schools'. Today our students are totally unpatriotic
and completely ignorant of their native cultural heritage.
Subhas Chandra Bose was one of the pioneers of national
education Central to which, was a sense of pride in
one's indigenous tradition. Though his name has not
found its place in the history of national education
in India alongside, Tagore, Satish Chandra Mukherjee,
Sri Aurobindo, Brahma Gandhar Upadhyaya, etc. yet he
was the first to give a concrete shape to national education.
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