Only technology will not reform the education sector
Vijay Garg
Due to the pandemic, almost all the educational institutions in India have been closed for the last one and a half years except a few. Their closure has naturally adversely affected primary, secondary, higher secondary and higher education.
To get rid of this adversity, educational institutions have started using post-modern technology. Our governments are also promoting such technology. The techniques that are being adopted can be an ally of the traditional medium, but cannot be a substitute for it.
Right now, due to lack of teachers and lack of quality education, India is behind many weak countries in the world in terms of education. In the name of improving the quality of primary education during the Covid period, new technology was promoted both by the government and in the private sector. If education is handed over only to virtual technology and artificial intelligence, then we will have to go through a devastating crisis.
In the educational field, we should rely only on our traditional mediums, besides there is a need to adopt the experiments done individually and organization in different areas of the country.
Professor Anil Sadgopal developed the method of promoting alternative education in science with less resources in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh. Even today, an institution named ‘Eklavya’, based on their experiments, remains the standard of science education in rural areas.
Gandhian scientist Arvind Gupta, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur, has continuously worked to make the process of learning science enjoyable. For this he uses toys. Prof. HC Verma has achieved unprecedented success in explaining physics to students with weak bases.
Pawan Kumar Gupta has done new experiments related to education through ‘Siddha’ organization. Ravindra Sharma has done many practical experiments through an organization called ‘Kala Kshetra’ in Adilabad, Andhra Pradesh.
Vigyanashram, located in Pubal, Maharashtra, has developed a technology for teaching science to children of weak IQ. Gijubhai Badheka of Gujarat did many experiments to provide joyful education to the children. Not only this, Ekal Shiksha Abhiyan was used by Shyamji Gupta to reach education to remote rural areas, which is at the peak of success today.
Under this campaign, more than 1.25 lakh single teacher schools have been opened. These experiments in the field of education also need attention. A large part of the urban population returned to their native village in large numbers during the lockdown last year. Most of these people had gone out after studying well. If the government wants, through its network, these trained and professionals can be used to create basic educational infrastructure in the rural area.
There were three special indigenous thinkers in modern India. The first indigenous thought is of Mahatma Gandhi, the second is of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia and the third is of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay. These three indigenous thinkers have clearly said that unless the participation of the local people in the development works is ensured, the success of the development plans will remain doubtful.
Thinker Dhirendra Bhai Majumdar has said that if children are unable to go to school due to any reason, then school should be taken to their home and such an education policy should be made practicable. The Central Government has taken some initiative in this direction through the New Education Policy, but a lot more needs to be done.
The government is also giving a lot of emphasis on skill development, but there is a need to highlight some of the shortcomings in this direction and find solutions for them. Several departments have been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing skill building programmes.
About 22 departments have been engaged in this work in the state. If there was a department for this, it would have been great. A plan was made to conduct all the programs under one umbrella. Remember, till the time locality is not integrated with skill building, we will continue to deviate from the real goal of education.
(The author is a Retired Principal and an Educationist based at Malout in Punjab)
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