It is high time that we concentrate on several aspects of the problem of securing mass involvement in the process of change that is now taking place in India. It is necessary to understand the meaning of these changes and equip them to meet their demands. Change is the law of nature. It is therefore inevitable that society as the individual should also change.
Historically speaking, education has always been a part of the nation’s cultural existence and has made possible a wide diffusion of cultural and moral values. This process gave a distinct unity to the diversity that characterize India’s cultural pattern. However, education should be a conscious process if the implications of the changes that are taking place are to be felt on a mass scale.
Culture is the total behavior patterns of the group; and it is under a process of metamorphosis. Values, which were once accepted by the society, are now being challenged. Social ideals are put to test under the impact of science and technology. Therefore, society of the day requires critical and creative individuals who can think and act along proper lines so that the evolving cultural pattern would pave the path of progress. In this context, education must play an effective role and become a useful instrument for the proper development of culture.
Group behavior is one of the aims of formal and informal education. The students must have a clear vision of the traditional standards, norms and ideals of society. It must inculcate in pupils the values, which account for cultural revolution. The continuing influence of the past on the present and present on the future cannot be ignored. In this context, educational institutions have a twofold duty to perform.
- It must familiarize pupils with the existing values, beliefs, and attitudes.
- It must teach the pupil to identify and to grasp the common elements in various cultures.
- One must understand the changes taking place in society, and to forestall those that are yet to come.
To avoid misunderstanding between nations it is important to develop greater sensitivity and appreciation towards other cultures but deeper understanding of their own culture. It is necessary to understand the fundamental unity underlying humanity irrespective of the ethnic and geographical differences. Scientific thinking is the core of the international understanding.
Culture of the community as stated earlier, depends upon the behavior of the members of the group. Culture is in fact conditioned primarily by the standardized ideals, attitudes, values and habits which have been developed by the group to meet its own demand.
Another important difference marking education from its traditional purpose is that education has now to explore the possibility of making educative forces self- propelling. Literacy in this context acquires a new importance.
Literacy is not an end in itself. It is necessary to instill among our people the conviction that they are citizen of a democratic country who are also a part of the changes that are taking place in this new era. This new era is our own free choice and deliberate action. It is therefore obvious that unless the broad mass of our people change their outlook from the traditional to the modern and imbibe the ethos of scientific techniques, such planned change would be difficult. Moreover, it is necessary for them to acquire a consciousness that they are the architects of this change.
Another conviction that has to be cultivated among the people is that the people should be conscious of the great past, which they have inherited and of the moral foundations of the Indian state. Our country is not a mere embodiment of technical competence and unlicensed power but an institution built on moral foundations. It combines power with morality, techniques with ethics, progress with social justice. People should be committed to these objectives.
With respect to the national integration, unless the nation moves fast enough we cannot succeed in meeting the problems resulting from social and economic disintegration in the country. An intensive effort to create a climate congenial for national integration in the country is not limited by factors beyond human control.
With regard to the problem of national integration, it should be thought of in the context of social goals, which we could successfully evolve in the nation as such.
For this purpose, the curriculum must comprise subjects such as history of human knowledge, the progress of science, a brief account of major philosophies and political ideologies that would transmit cultural values. It must highlight the problems and needs of the society. The curriculum must be flexible so as to permit the timely changes, demanded by the needs of the society. Methods of teaching must be in conformity with those that are used extensively in the society.
Another conviction that needs to be developed among people is an awareness of the implications of the population expansion that is taking place. Due to the alarming increase in population, the economic needs of the family have increased to a great extent, and hence the social life has become more complex. It is imperative to step up their agricultural production and industrial production and also accelerate their distribution through an effective system of international trade and commerce. Hence, co-operation among nations on the economic front is imperative. Notwithstanding this, the only way to check this phenomenal population growth is to instill among individuals a conviction that human dignity is the supreme and as much demand consideration.
The problem of increasing our agricultural production continues to loom large over the country in spite of intensive efforts since independence. Agricultural production must be increased by using modern techniques.
In order to build upon a democratic State on a socialistic pattern of society, to develop a right mental outlook, to infuse a sense of self help, understand and discharge the responsibilities of a good citizen, the removal of illiteracy and other social evils, for promoting communal harmony, national integration is essential. Social education should play a decisive role in the life of the individual, families, groups, and the communities.
Educationists, particularly those engaged in the work of social education could greatly help in accelerating the pace of development and in hastening the process of social change necessary for it. The faster rate of development depends as much as on the input of material resources, and on leadership available to create a social climate capable of absorbing the inputs. Unless individuals adjust themselves, or mould their life in harmony with the modern society, there is every likelyhood of the human race being destroyed.
REFERENCE
Kumaraswami.K, Foundations of Education and Education in India,The St.Joseph’s Printing House,Tiruvalla, 1970.