EDUCATION AND NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION- MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD

(Press Conference, February 18,1947)
It is universally recognised today that a system of national education is one of the fundamental tasks which faces any government. Not only is the existing condition of society determined by the quality of individuals composing it but its future as well. Nothing has a more important bearing on the quality of the individual than the type of education imparted. A truly liberal and humanitarian education may transform the outlook of the people and set it on the path of progress and prosperity, while an ill-conceived or unscientific system might destroy all the hopes which have been cherished by generations of pioneers in the cause of national freedom. India is today on the threshold of freedom. It is therefore imperative that we survey the prevalent systems of education in order to find out how far they meet our national requirements. There can be no denying that the existing system of education was shaped by non-nationals in non-national interests. Macaulay is primarily responsible for our existing educational methods and ideals. He never concealed the fact that his chief aim was to create in India men in who in training, outlook and loyalties would be devoted to the interest to Great Britain. Nevertheless, the great services which the existing system of education has rendered to the Indian people need not be denied. It opened to them a new world of science and modern technology. It inculcated a progressive spirit and brought Indian educational standards in line with the standards obtaining elsewhere. It has led a reawakening of the national spirit and a growth of modern and progressive outlook in all affairs of the world. There is equally no denying that this system has led to the creation of a small intelligentsia separated from the mass of the Indian people. It has also at times tended to divorce the educated class from the currents of Indian traditional life. Dazzled by the achievements of the West, it has at times encouraged a tendency to disown or look down upon our national heritage. It has also tended to encourage fissiparous tendencies. The greatest charge against the present system of education is that it has not led to the development of a national mind. Macaulay’s contempt for oriental studies is well known. History has not justified the sweeping condemnations which Macaulay extended to them. Nor can history justify the method which Macaulay adopted for the promulgation of learning in this land.  Macaulay’s contention that Sanskrit and Persian were unsuited to be the medium of instruction in India is no doubt correct, but English could serve the purpose no better. It is true that the different Provincial languages were not at the time sufficiently developed to serve as the medium of instruction but there can be no doubt that a National Government would have taken these languages in hand and gradually developed them to serve the purpose. In any case, the Indian languages today have attained a development where they can serve as the medium of instruction up to the highest stage. The experiment of imparting instruction in the mother tongue up to the matriculation standard has already been tried with success and the time has come when the process must be extended further and all education in land made accessible to the people in their own language. All such development, however, presupposes a sound system of basic education. If the foundations have not been truly and firmly laid, no abiding superstructure can be built. The whole edifice of education and culture ultimately rests upon the teaching imparted in the early stages. In India this has been unfortunately neglected in a way which cannot be too strongly condemned. Education has often been left in the charge of persons who do not possess the minimum qualifications for it. Nor can they be blamed, for the profession of teaching as been debased against the best traditions of the land. In the past the status of the teacher in Indian society was an exalted one. He might not have been wealthy but his comparative poverty was compensated by the need of respect and prestige which the profession of teaching carried with it. Today unfortunately all this has changed, and the teacher, especially in primary stages, is considered as hardly better than an inferior servant. Any programme for reconstruction of education must therefore place in the forefront the task of improving the status and condition of teachers, and I am confident that the new National Government of India will recognise this as one of its first and foremost tasks. It is must necessary to go into the details of the scheme for reorganisation of basic education as that has already been sufficiently discussed in the press and on the platform. It will suffice to say that the basic scheme of education will go a long way towards meeting some of the points indicated above. This report popularly known as the Sergeant Report not only ensures an improvement in the status of teachers in all stages but also lays down the criteria along which education for citizenship should proceed. The emphasis on the development of education through the mother tongue has also been sufficiently recognised in that scheme. It is a matter for pleasure that the provinces are making arrangements for giving immediate effect to the scheme and have requested co-operation from the Centre. The Educational Advisor has received invitations from most of the Provinces and is shortly going out on tour. I propose to call a conference of Provincial Ministers and representatives of universities in order to plan out a comprehensive programme of work.
One question on which the Report has not come to any definite conclusion is that of religious instruction in schools. I know that there is a sharp difference of opinion among experts on this question. Two committees appointed by the Central Advisory Board of Education have submitted contrary reports. In the past a majority of educationists placed the emphasis on purely secular education. This was true of Great Britain and in Russia, after the Soviet Revolution; there was a positive anti-religious temper in educational policy. Those who hold a different view emphasise that experience tends to prove the futility of education from which religion has been divorced. Today in Great Britain a system of education has been evolved under the supervision of the State. It is reported that Russia also has in the recent past recognised the value of religious instruction and taken steps to that effect.  The Government will have to give proper weight to both these points of view and come to a decision on the question. One thing, which, however, has to be remembered, is that in India the emphasis on religion has been and is greater than in other countries. Not only the past traditions of India but also the present tempers of the people tend to emphasise the importance of religious instruction. If the Government decide that religious instruction should be included in education, it seems imperative that the religious instruction offered should be of the best type. The religious instruction often imparted in India in private institutions is of a kind which instead of broadening the outlook and inculcating a spirit of toleration and goodwill to all men produces exactly the opposite results. It is likely that under State supervision even denominational teaching can be imparted in a more liberal spirit than under private control. The aim of all religious teaching should be to make men more tolerant and broadminded and it is my opinion that this can be more effectively done if the State takes charge of the question than if it is left to private initiatives. I will indicate the decision of the Government on this question at an early date. Another point on which I want to express my opinion is in respects of the educational activities of missionary societies. Friends from England have sent me cuttings from papers in which this question has been raised. There is no doubt that missionary societies have played a very important part in the dissemination of modern education and the development of modern outlook. This is true not only of India but of other countries of the east as well. I can speak with personal knowledge of the Middle East countries. Before 1907 the only institution imparting modern higher education in turkey was Robert College run by the American Mission and its contribution to the awakening of Turkey can never be forgotten. Modern education in Syria was largely the work of missionaries who founded three colleges in Beirut of which the most famous was the American Missionary College (AI kulliyatussuria). Higher education in Iraq is similarly indebted to ‘kulliya Qudais Yusuf’, i.e. St. Joseph’s college. The same story is repeated in Egypt. It is true that Mohammad Ali the great founded in the first quarter of the 19th century overseas scholarships for Europe under the name of ‘Irsaliat’ but most of the important personalities in Egyptian renaissance are products of the missionary college of Beirut. The well-known modern Arabic author, George Zaidan, whose history of Islamic Civilization has been translated into English by Nicholson, was a student of missionary college of Beirut. The Sarroof Brothers, well-known editors of ‘AI Muqattam’ and ‘AI Moqatataf’ also received their education and their inspiration of service from the same missionary college. These missionary societies helped not only in the spread of modern education but, what is more, contributed greatly to the development of indigenous languages. They were also in many cases the pioneers in Oriental research and scholarship. Vondyke came as an American missionary to Beirut when he was only 18 and devoted himself to the development of modern education in Syria. The scientific series which he published under the name of ‘An Naqsh Fil Hajar’ is one of the best scientific works in Arabic of the 20th century. Perhaps the best modern book on astronomy in Arabic is his work entitled ‘Al Hai-at’. I do not want to dilate here on the services they have rendered in China, Japan and other South-East Asian countries.  New education in India also began with the work of the missionary societies. The East India Company had at first been in favour of Oriental education and it was through the efforts of the Serampore Mission that the foundations of European education in India were laid. Since that time missionary societies have kept up their educational work and brought learning to millions who, but for their help, would have remained immersed in illiteracy and ignorance. Their work in the development of Indian languages has also been of the greatest value. One of the first standard works in Urdu prose is a translation of the Bible that they completed in the beginning of the 19th century. Urdu has made tremendous strides in the last 150 years and yet this early translation of the Bible remains a standard of Urdu prose. With such valuable examples of the work done by the missionaries in the past there is no reason why their work on the same humanitarian lines should not receive equal appreciation in the future. It is only in respect of one problem that difficulties arise at times. This is on the vexed questions of conversions and especially conversions en masse. World opinion has undergone great changes on the question and responsible missionaries have themselves come to recognise that mass conversions are in reality no conversion at all. Christ himself emphasized the baptism of the spirit rather than formal baptism by water, and missionaries would be true to the spirit of Christ, if they preached His message of humanity instead of attempting convert people to the dogma of a Church. If all missionary societies adopt this enlightened outlook, there is no reason why independent India should in any way hesitate to accept the services which it is theirs to offer. I would like to say a few words about another problem. The Deputy Educational Advisor (Resettlement) informs me that during the war two million soldiers were made literate by the army through the use of the Roman script. Experience showed that they could acquire a working knowledge of Hindustani in three to six months time. I am told that this would have been impossible to achieve if the Devanagri or the Urdu script had been used. Roman has thus solved the problem of finding alternative for men of different provinces. If these men who have been made literate during their service in the army are not to lapse into illiteracy, we must provide them with suitable literature in Roman Hindustani. There is a great demand for such literature and the Department is considering how to meet this demand.  It is desirable that every Indian should learn both Devanagri and Urdu scripts. This will, however, take time and till this is achieved, it would be worth considering whether the use of Roman as a supplementary script, in addition to Devanagri and Urdu, in Central educational publications may not be a temporary expedient. There are millions of Bengalis, Madrasis, Oriyas, Assamese and man speaking other languages who can understand Hindustani and pick it up quickly but find an impediment in their progress because of the script. This, however, is a question which ought to be considered by educationists all over the land. I will now indicate some of the main items which may be taken up in the near future: 
1. The time has come for setting up a National Museum where the finest representations of Indian philosophy, literature and art may be preserved. The first step in this direction will be the setting up a National Cultural Trust as proposed recently by the Central Advisory Board of Education.
2. There should be provision for fundamental research work, and for this, definite sums should be allocated every years. It is obvious that there can be no advance in either industry or technology without fundamental research work. The scope of such research should, however, be extended and cover not only the scientific subjects but also the Humanities including philosophy, the Social Sciences, Anthropology etc. The Co-ordination Committee of the Cabinet has approved, in principle, of a grant of Rs. 75,000 for fundamental research work in the next five years.
3. (a) There is also a proposal for the appointment of a Committee to prepare a guide for teachers for the new scheme of education. While the Central Government do not wish to impose uniformity but to leave the greatest possible margin of freedom to the Provinces, there should be some indication of the general lines on which this education is to be imparted. (b) The question of preparing some kind of generalised curriculum may also be considered. Any fixed curriculum has the tendency of imposing rigid uniformity and therefore the preparation of this curriculum should be undertaken with the greatest possible care.
4. The Government of India are considering the question of making grants to educational experimental institutions without waiting to verify the results of such experiments. There are not many institutions of this kind and most of them have been unable to give their best as financial difficulties hampered them from the very outset. It is not suggested that the Government of India should be lavish or careless in making grants but where ever genuine efforts of this kind are in evidence, the Government should come to the help of the institution at the initial stages so that lack of funds may not hinder the institutions from carrying out their experiments. Two institutions of this type which have recently received Government help are the Jamia Milia University, Delhi, and Santiniketan in Bengal. It is, however, obviously impossible to mention all such institutions.
5. Another field which requires immediate attention is the development of Archaeological Studies in India. We have as yet no complete history of India and it will have to be reconstructed from the monuments and other archaeological remains which are scattered all over the land.
6. Disraeli very rightly recognised that a democracy has no future unless it educates its masses. In India, the problem arises with even greater intensity. The problem of mass education here is of vast proportions and will require time for its solution. It cannot, however, wait and modern science has placed in our hands effective instruments in the form of broadcasting and the film. I am considering schemes by which they may be utilised to the fullest extent for broadening the mind of the masses and opening up a new world of knowledge to them. I will conclude by stressing once again the imperative necessity of reforming and expanding our system of education. Education should have the highest priority in our national budget and should take its place immediately after food and clothing. In fact, the proper system of education is necessary in order to tackle satisfactorily even these problems. I have every hope that we shall be able to make up our leeway by a determined and concerted effort and place education in India on a par with education in other civilised countries of the world.