India flaunts a rich tradition of education and learning. In ancient times, many scholars from Europe and the middle east considered India as a destination for acquiring both scientific and liberal education. It was not the modern infrastructure or comforting classrooms that attracted so many curious minds, but the robust and quality ancient Indian wisdom that focused on the development of an individual. This approach concerned the development of a person’s intellectual, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual potentials. It is well-known that ancient India fostered Gurukul system of education that dates to 5000 BC or even before that. This was a residential mode of education that imparted knowledge in the laps of nature where shishyas were not just taught science and mathematics, but focus was also on essential learning and critical thinking. The essence of such education was to bring out an individual’s full potential which is why yoga and meditation became its pre-eminent part, ensuring positivity, focus, and peace of mind. This cultivated an attitude of simple living, high thinking according to which every living being is God’s creation and therefore must live together in harmony with earth’s ecosystem, what we call Sarve Bhavantu Sukhina.

Where We Came From

In hindsight, the ancient Indian education system celebrated education not just as the means to achieve an end, but the end itself. Since time immemorial, learning in India has been prized and attained not only to accomplish worldly motives, but to reach a higher level of self-actualization. Our traditional education system was molded and etched into deep dharmic values that laid great emphasis on the true meaning that education should disseminate. The ancient thought process reckoned education as a path to self-fulfillment and enlightenment rather than mere acquisition of objective knowledge. Acharyas in gurukuls did not use textbooks to impart knowledge, but a very practical view of the world was taught to shishyas who could reflect upon their life experiences and plan the kind of life they wanted ahead. The two eminent Indian systems of education- Vedic and Buddhist were distinctive pedagogically, but unified in their ideologies. The Vedas that are the oldest literature in the world, directs us towards finding our true purpose in life. The Vedas, popularly known as Sanatana Dharma, taught us the power of manifestations.

The western world is considered unparalleled when it comes to innovation. India was no less, but due to the fear psychology of people who ruled us, we were inured not to innovate, and of course, this new education system was to blame.

The ancient vidya trained individuals into both material as well as spiritual knowledge. It was the beauty of the wisdom imparted to our kings that they became fierce warriors and at the same time compassionate rulers. It was the form of education that served both physical and spiritual sensibilities. King Siddharth is an epitome of how one can enjoy the worldly pleasures and conquer lands, and also enlighten the world with their preaching as Gautam Buddha.

But, the dark side of Indian history reveals events such as Mughal invasions lasting about a thousand years that changed the traditional delivery of education, later followed by colonial rule that lasted for over a hundred years. The Mughal rulers one after another with an objective of destroying our knowledge and cultural heritage threatened our seats of learning and knowledge. Texts and libraries were burnt. So rich was the collection that Nalanda it is said continued burning for several months. Initially, for a very long time, Britishers were not in favor of educating Indians and took almost two decades to renew East India Company’s charter and start a formal system of education. The “English” education system that instigated fixed classroom hours, set curriculum, and incorporation of western subjects along with vernaculars was a huge amendment, the fruits of which India was to reap in the years to come. But who will decide if the fruits were bitter or sweet?  This was a big jolt to the traditional values inculcated in people for years. Britishers stirred our mindsets from that of leaders to followers. This produced a whole generation of our parents with a follower and a pure materialistic mentality.  

The western world is considered unparalleled when it comes to innovation. India was no less, but due to the fear psychology of people who ruled us, we were inured not to innovate, and of course, this new education system was to blame. A beautiful example to appreciate how innovation was ingrained in us can be quoted from India’s architectural history. Any temple, dating back a thousand years, will have identical looking pillars, like The Thousand Pillar Temple in Hanamakonda, Telangana. But the beauty lies in the fact that no two pillars have the same carving on them. With this level of creative thinking and efficiency, Indians were nowhere behind the world. But recent damage to our minds, thought processes, and ideologies was done by the British education system. Our souls were crippled to an extent that when Britishers left us, we accepted Americans, and never became Indians. 

Where We Stand Now

The post-independence generation grew up reading textbooks that taught the importance of human resources. Yes, the foundational years at school drilled our minds to absorb the commodified and objectified version of humans as ‘resources’. Metaphorically, an axe with a brain or a machine that breathes. Till now, the Education System has programmed us to behave in a certain way and accomplish the task at hand with full efficiency, keeping creativity on the back seat. We are automated to be productive, not innovative, like a tool that is created to fix problems. Education institutions teach computer programming and coding to upskill students in building machines. A mechanical engineer is taught about automobiles and is expected to create one only to be at par with the west. In the process we learn to believe that men and matter women are money making machines. Success is defined by the ability to amass wealth.

This has led us to forget the very philosophy of ‘Shubh Labh’, coined from ancient Indian wisdom. The term literally mean wealth accumulation but both as much as needed for leading a simple comfortable life and through fair means. We are guided towards creating wealth, but it is also important to be consciously aware about what kind of wealth it should be and what is the source of that wealth? This is where the education system must take charge. We must teach our children to be ambitious and enterprising, but not at the cost of their integrity and society. The nation needs more Ratan Tatas and definitely no Vijay Mallyas.    

The name Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has also symbolized a resource focus orientation. The system muddled our minds with a fascination for the western world. We are conditioned in believing that everything that comes from the west was good and that east is way behind them. It is thus crucial to uncover what contemporary education has become today. It is important to redefine Indian education for the 21^st century and redefine what is not working for us. This is what the agenda of the New Education Policy proposed by the Indian government also looks like.

It would not be wrong in stating that the name reflects what a Ministry stands for and must justify its ideologies. While renaming MHRD, a proposal for dropping ‘resource’ and making it the Ministry of Human Development was also debated. This would have unraveled the issue with viewing humans as a tool, but at the same time restrict the objective by believing that human development takes place at an individual level. By doing this, a wider mission to serve the entire ecosystem and not just a single human being would have been compromised. 

Our ancestral wisdom has illuminated us with deep values that make us a collectivist society, more popular than Latin American countries and our eastern counterparts. Our core principles teach us Vasudeva Kutumbakam meaning ‘the world is my home’. The Indian value system has inculcated in us morals that put others over self and the contemporary education system owes the responsibility of passing it on to future generations. The present generation stands on the cusp of growth and development entwined with technology. Therefore, it becomes even more relevant to ingrain cultural values in children in their growing years and not be swayed away with the charm of westernization. This big and much awaited progression after almost 34 years is a big leap in time and an impactful step towards reinstating the primary aim of education- to facilitate children identify their life’s purpose. Hence, Ministry of Education and not Ministry of Human Resource Development is the appropriate nomenclature.

This corrective move of the government will guide us in the right direction as the focus will now be on the holistic development of students, not just as individuals in isolation, but living in harmony as part of a larger ecosystem. Every student’s identity will be pivotal and equal importance will be provided to each of these crucial aspects of holistic development. The answer to developing and integrating all these aspects is education. With this metamorphosis in the education system, we now need to develop modules that would educate students on all these aspects as guided by learnings from our ancient education system. That means a system that is very progressive in its orientation, yet very rooted and cultured.