Literate' means, one who can only write his me: Kanitkar

From Our Correspondent

Silchar, May 9: The Bhartiya Shikshan Mandal (BSM), Cachar Committee, held a public meeting in Gurucharan College auditorium on Friday with the objective to discuss ‘new education policy towards tion building’. The chief guest of the occasion was Mukul Kanitkar, joint general secretary of BSM. Other dignitaries who also present were Shankar Bhattacharjee, former principal of Women’s College, Silchar, Bibhas Das Purkayastha, former principal, Pandu College, Guwahati, Mandira Dutta Choudhury, former professor Women’s College, Silchar, and Sanjib Bhattacharjee, Registrar, Assam University and secretary, BSM.

  The programme began with the felicitation of the chief guest followed by a welcome speech by Sanjib Bhattacharjee. The meeting was presided over by Bishas Das Purkayastha, Shankar Bhattacharjee and the chief guest Mukul Kanitkar respectively. Purkayastha said Barak Valley has the highest literacy rate of over 80% which is higher than the tiol literacy rate which stands at 74% presently. He said BSM was an organization with a vision to enhance the educatiol development of the country. Some of the views of BSM were incorporated in NCRT New Education Policy of 1986.

  Purkayashtha also said the youth of this country should have their roots in Indian culture and must have a feeling of tiolism in them. He said the students and their parents, corporate sector in short every person of the country is a stakeholder in today’s educatiol policy. The BSM releases an annual jourl ‘Darshan’ where academic issues prevailing in the country are published. They also publish books related to the educatiol changes happening. He requested the people of the valley to contribute their valuable views to the BSM for academic reforms.

  Shankar Bhattacharjee in his speech said that the Britishers, during colonial rule, tried to defame the Indian culture in many ways. He also said that, after winning the battle of Plassey, the Britishers brought many religious preachers to convert the Indian masses to western culture. One of the preachers, after reading Indian texts, said that the Indian culture is by far the greatest in the world so it became imperative for the colonial masters to defame Indian religious texts. The programme was then followed by a book-release ‘Bharatiya Education Online’ by Mukul Kanitkar and Shankar Bhattacharjee.

  Mukul Kanitkar in his speech said an integral and holistic education policy ‘Samriddha Bharat’ (developed India) is the need of the hour. He also said India will certainly become number one country in terms of GDP as over 65% of its people are youth with the median age of the country being only 28 years. According to A Madison, in his work “Economic History Of The World”, till the 14th century 66% of tural deposits mined in the world were produced in India. In the 19th century, India’s contribution to world GDP was 1/3rd of the then global economy.

  Kanitkar also said that Lord Macaulay, during the company rule had destroyed the indigenous educatiol system prevalent in the country but after independence nothing major was done to rid the academic system of its ills. In 1823, 76% of Indians were well-educated while in 2011 only 74% of its people are literate. Moreover as per the current government policy the word ‘literate’ means anyone who can write his or her own me in any language. Such has been the drastic fall-out in our education system that only 20% of the graduates in our country can be considered to be employable, he said.

  Kanitkar said filly India has started to rectify the faults present in the system. The thrust of the education policy should be towards productive learning, holistic character building, realized knowledge and applied knowledge, collective responsibility and tiol consciousness. He also said that the academic institutions should be made autonomous, decentralized and self-reliant. The content pattern, syllabus, methodology should be decided by faculties and education should become flexible and joyful. Kanitkar said under the new education policy envisaged students should be taught common education till 8th standard and in higher school they must be taught at least one vocation related to life. The programme was concluded with the singing of the tiol song ‘Vande Mataram’.