EDUCATION FOR CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
Introductory 4.1 With more than 4000 communities, 18 constitutionally recognised languages and hundreds of dialects, more than six major religious and hundreds of sects and more than 800 million people, India presents a very complex, plural culture which very nearly permeates every aspect of living from patterns of belief and values to hundreds of forms of creative articulation, from costumes mid foods to enormous subtleties of refinement and participation. Nothing in India can possibly escape the impact of its culture, be it politics, technology, education or development. Even the long colonial subjugation had a distinctively Indian hue while it shared many aspects with similar colonised countries.
4.2 The strong and inescapable cultural implications of education and development were recognised right from the beginning of the epic scale national reconstruction which was launched when the recently free India gave to itself, in the early fifties, a new constitution and the form of a democratic republic. In many ways India's democratic ethos and its amazing survival owes as much to the political sagacity of its people as to their innate sense of culture, their unfailing cultural literacy inspite of their depressing poverty mid widespread verbal literacy. It is the age-old resilience of Indian traditions that made them show genuine openness to new ideas while remaining firmly rooted and have, therefore, evolved their own distinctive dynamics of change and absorption.The built in resistance in Indian milieu to tyranny of any kind, whether of belief or truth or behaviour, has made it face new challenges with confidence and bring about many transmutations without tensions of rupture. The issue of education, culture and development have to be seen in this context of an enriching, if also a trifle perplexing, continuum.
4.3 Each linguistic and racial group has its own distinct cultural identity. Yet interaction has taken and continues to take place amongst regions, between different an disciplines at various levels of society, from the most affluent to the weakest sections. Culture has always been an integral part of the informal process of an Indian's education, contributing to the integrated development of his personality, sensitizing him towards his environment and his natural and cultural heritage. In the present day scenario, when the world is facing numerous problems such as dissension and intolerance, destruction of the natural environment, wars and poverty, the role of culture in the developmental effort, and particularly in education, cannot be over-emphasised. It is now widely recognised that only the integration of our artistic and cultural with curriculum teaching will make the young aware of the aesthetic dimensions of life and senstitise them towards creative expression.
4.4 Education plays a very important culturising role. The converse is equally true: Culture plays a very important educating role. Both the National Policy on Education, 1986 and the Approach to the National Policy on Culture (NPC) constantly emphasise the cultural consequences of education and seek to strengthen its cultural components. As stated in the NPE 1986, "deculturalisation, dehumanisation and alienation must be avoided at all costs. Education can mid must bring about a fine synthesis between change oriented technologies and the country's continuity of cultural tradition. The curricula and processes of education will be enriched by cultural content in a many manifestations as pos-
Education for Cultural Development 43
sible. Children will be enabled to develop sensitivity to beauty, harmony and refinement". The Approach to the NPC also commits itself to the growth of cultural literacy along with verbal literacy and inculcation of respect and striving for creativity and excellence from the earliest levels of education.
The Cultural Dimension in School Curricula and the Role of
Education in Cultural Development 4.5 The inter-linking of education and culture seeks to discover the inherent talent and potential of a child and develop his personality. With this in view, a Programme of Action has been formulaed under the NPE, right from the pre-primary stage to the highest level of formal education. Some of the salient features of this culture-education linkage are mutual participation, use of inexpensive and relevant material for cultural exposure, promotion of a concept of cultural neighborhood involving active participation of the community, curriculum reform motivation and training of teachers, and efforts to encourage the young to participate in cultural activities. The cultural input in school education seeks to sensitize the child towards his environment and natural materials around him, and teach him to appreciate the aesthetic forms and rhythms he grows up with. The school child is also provided a basic core of facts about India's cultural heritage through folk songs, local history and archaeological artefacts. A sense of design and aesthetics is encouraged. Teacher training programmes also seek to enhance their capability for cultural instruction. Special books, educational material and audio visual facilities are also sought to be provided for schools.
4.6 Resource persons in the community, irrespective of their formal educational qualification are being invited to contribute to the cultural enrichment of education employing both the literate and oral traditions. To sustain and carry forward the cultural tradition, the role of old masters, who trained pupils through traditional modes is being supported and recognised. India is striving to promote a symbiosis between local environment, indigenous technologies, oral traditions of literature and the demands of keeping pace with the rapid technological advances.
4.7 The languages of India have been very valuable vehicles of cultural articulation and dissemination. Development of linguistic skills and a sense of pride in mother tongues is sought to be encouraged at all levels. Learning of our classical languages and training in traditional disciplines available only in them are being seen as preservation of an important aspect of our cultural heritage and its continuing relevance.
Interaction between the Schools, the Community and the Society 4.8 The NPE as well as the approach to the NPC seek to encourage educational institutions to be in live contact with local writers. artists etc. as cultural education should be seen not as an additional burden on but as an integrated component in curriculum teaching. School Community interaction is sought to be institutionalised by getting local artisans, craftsmen etc. to teach/demonstrate their art to school-children.
4.9 Organisation of regular visits to monuments, museums and sanctuaries is also being encouraged. Development of conservation ideas through adoption of monuments by the students and the community, taking their help to keep the monuments clean and safeguarding them will make the youth aware of their natural as well as man-made environment.
4.10 Apart from setting up small museum comers in schools, the established museums are being encouraged to reorient themselves as ac- tive centres for awareness building regarding cultural heritage. Museums have to function as more than storehouses of our ancient heritage. They have a vital role as centres of learning and educa- tion. Museum visits are sought to be systematically encouraged with each Museum developing attractive programmes which would interest the young.
4.11 One of the major thrusts of the NPC would be the expansion of library facilities in the rural areas. The rural library movement is sought to be intensified through the setting up of a network of
44 Development of Education in India
rural libraries linked with the District Library System. This would take care of the reading needs of the student community and the growing numbers of educated youth.
Training of Teachers for a New Responsibility 4.12 India started inservice training programmes two decades ago in the area of linking education with culture. The Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) was set up at the national level to provide a cultural component in curriculum teaching and a number of teachers and teacher-educators trained in this institution are doing commendable work in schools and State Institutes of Education. CCRT training programmes are designed to enable teachers to acquire knowledge of the use of the arts and crafts in the service of education, to create an awareness of India's cultural heritage, and to inculcate a sense of appreciation of the multiple levels of cultural interaction in the country. CCRT also strives to sensitize the decision makers on the need for cultural education, especially to ap- preciate the role of the youth in the preservation of the natural and cultural heritage.
4.13 The content of the teacher training covers different aspects of India's heritage the environment and geography, the historical evolution of traditions. art and culture architecture, sculpture, music. dance forms, theatre, with emphasis on regional forms and handicrafts. In order to make teacher training adaptable for practical use in the classroom, it incorporates lesson plans in- tegrating aspects of culture with curriculum work, preparation of innovative educational aids directly involving the child in the learning process, and demonstration of new methodologies. Practical classes in music, movement and mime, traditional crafts and technical skills are arranged to help teachers to discover the child's potential and talent and create a balance between academic studies and practical work. A Cultural kit which includes slides and recorded cassettes as well as books and explanatory notes is provided to the schools from which teachers have been trained. Educational tours to places of historical and cultural interest, museums and aft galleries are organised. The first-hand experience helps teachers understand how such visits can complement classroom teaching. Since its inception, the CCRT has trained 26,710 teachers/principals/district education officers. Besides, 33,388 students have also been directly trained by the Centre.
4.14 Each district in India is to set up a District Institute of Education and Training for training teachers at the primary level. The syllabus of this training highlights the need for an understanding of the local cultures. In some of these DIETs, resource persons trained by the CCRT are providing methodologies for a cultural input at the primary level. Colleges of teacher training are also considering a cultural input in the pre-service curriculum.
4.15 Most States in India have Centres for Educational Research and Training. Each such Centre has a special wing related to cultural education. Several voluntary agencies in the rural areas are doing admirable work in the area of education, taking into account the local culture and needs.