Vidhya Shankar-Why did Basic Scheme fail to click

Vidhya Shankar-Why did Basic Scheme fail to click

Gandhiji’s BASIC SCHEME OF EDUCATION was the outcome of the firm belief that only a Swadeshi system of education can meet the needs and aspirations of the Indian people .He fully realized that the system of education introduced in India by Lord Macaulay was out dated and out-moded ,completely divorced from Indian way of life.Some of the defects of the system of education introduced by British in India were : It was an un-Indian system of education. It was an urban system of education in a rural country. The curriculum was English dominated. The system was too literary and bookish. The system neglected citizenship training. The system was very wasteful. The system followed a single track. The system was unplanned. The system was very expensive. The system was not in accordance with the needs of a secular democratic country.
The features of the basic system of education:
Child-centered system of education. Learning by doing. Craft as the core of the basic plan. Self-supporting aspect. Relationship with life. Training in citizenship. Free and compulsory education for eight years. Emphasis on mother tongue. Greater freedom for teacher as well as the taught. Mother tongue as the medium of instruction.
THE DRAWBACKS OF THE SCHEME OR THE CAUSE OF ITS FAILURE
Several reasons where pointed out as the cause of its failure It was not suited in an age of industrialization: - It was said that craft has no place in a community where it is developing its economy to the full. With rapid industrialization of India, knowledge of science and mathematics may become more desirable than skill in handicrafts. Neglect of the child : - Since it gave more attention to craft, it did not attention to the child. It was not suited fir children who were able to learn from concepts and ideas:- This system of education was not suited for children whose tools were words and ideals, because they were tied up to crafts. An inferior system for lower class :- Somehow or the other ,an impression has prevailed that the basic system of education is a system meant for the lower class and for the less intelligent. It was looked upon as a deliberate attempt by the privileged class to maintain their superior status.
CONCLUDINS OBSERVATIONS
Gandhiji’s philosophy of education is Indian in origin, Indian in setting .It was the result of his experiences, and experiments spread over along period. Basic education had far reaching consequences and was hailed as ‘epoch-making’,’original’,’revolutionary’. It was considered to be the dawn of a new era .Those who reached similar conclusions are Rousseau , Pestalozzi , Froebel, Dewey and Karl Marx. But Gandhiji was bold enough to make craft as nucleus of the whole instruction and not an extra or additional subject. But this does not mean that he want to make the school a factory or workshop ; to him the school itself is the workshop where work is an essential instrument of learning.