Happy Teachers Day.
Society has become obsessed with preparing young people for success while neglecting to ask what will they do with the 'success' !!
"It is recognized that mathematics and mathematical thinking will be very important for India’ s future and India’s leadership role in the numerous upcoming fields ....," - thus says the National Education Policy.
The NEP spoke about "... professions that will involve artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science, etc."
Thus, it said - "Mathematics and computational thinking will be given increased emphasis throughout the school years, starting with the foundational stage, through a variety of innovative methods, including the regular use of puzzles and games that make mathematical thinking more enjoyable and engaging".
Activities involving coding will be introduced in Middle Stage"
The general refrain could be PM Narendra Modi has given in and the Education Minister has been replaced. But this is only part of the story.
There are other stories associated with the portfolio of Education in India. Dharmendra Pradhan as the minister in charge and the Modi Govt as the final decision making body have been taking steps to revamp - 1. New Mathematics Curriculum
2. New set of NCERT books for Class IX to XII.
and 3. The New History Curriculum
The UGC's proposed undergraduate mathematics curriculum integrates ancient Indian concepts like sutra literature and calendrics, aiming to demystify math and emphasise on values. Since Vedic times (several millennia before the Christian era), Indians represented whole numbers in the decimal place-value system, enumerating very large numbers with ease and without ambiguity. This is just an example.
Essentially, the Modi cabinet is in the process of taking key decisions that will have no single point of Failure and no single point of manipulation.
These are likely to create hurdles for 'deep pockets' in the west who have invested a lot over the decades into 'education sector' in India and in this region.
But these investments have not been made for charity alone. If things are overhauled; - much of the investments would go in vain.
Ask Pakistan, where is its biggest tragedy with regard the continuation of Narendra Modi in office. They invested a lot in Kashmir and in Kartarpur corridor project.
The day Kartarpur corridor project came -- that is Nov 9, 2019; we had the Ayodhya verdict and Islamabad's invetsments for publicity went out of the window. Prior to that on Aug 5, 2019; the Article 370 was done away with. These comparisons with educational institutions may look out of place - but there are similarities.
The western and Sickular lobbies' cry against changing history books can be easily understood. For Marxist historians - Akbar was 'Great'. They created an answer to Aurangzeb among Mughals. The Masjid-temples stories are also well linked. Many of those historians including a well-connected Delhi citizen (lady) who backed Babri Masjid claim did not study Medieval history.
Please refer to this para :
"The Babri issue would have been settled long ago if the Muslim intelligentsia had not fallen prey to the brain washing by the Leftist historians.
A set of historians including Romila Thapar, Bipin Chandra and S Gopal argued that there was no mention of the dismantling of the temple before 19th century and Ayodhya is Bhudhist-Jain centre.
They were supported by historians Irfan Habib,RS Sharma, DN Jha, Suraj Ben and Akthar Ali," said K K Mohammed, former ASI top guy.
"It was they who connived with the extremist Muslim groups to derail all attempts to find an amicable solution to the Masjid issue. Some of them even took part in several government-level meetings and supported the Babri Masjid Action Committee," he said.
Now onto a different plane. In his address to a large audience in Toronto, Canada; RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said -- Wherever Indian civilisational leadership in the past went ... - "they gave knowledge". This has to be understood in deeper and much higher level.
In today's context; there is a need to underline the importance of 'education' that ancient India cherished and spread.
Come to think of it - the westernised and even Left-liberal system of Education has made it -- exam oriented.
It's linked to marks and hence it is also 'dependent' on coaching classes.
In a debate with a Youtuber lately - I argued that:
"Revive Gurukul system in all sincerity; not only India's ... half of the world's problems will be over".
Dronacharya was an ideal Guru. But he produced Arjun. His own son Aswathama or King's favourite son Durydhan did not come up the ladder as did the child with potentials and sincere - that is Arjun. This spirit of Teachers must be brought back.
Teachers also have to rise about partisan views. For Dronacharya -- his own son was not as important as a good student - Arjun (then a fatherless and perhaps also helpless kid).
But we have today -- the Coaching industry -- it's a money minting phenomenon.
In Kota, children keep committing suicide; but parents still want to make their kids doctors. What kind of doctors .. 'good doctors' in remote villages to help poor. NO.
Parents want money-minting machines in their children pretending to be doctors. Let us get away with this system. It is time taking exercise; but it will be worth it.
The clear distinction has to made between commercialisation and modernisation.
Let us understand the benefits of Bharatiya Bijaganita, a division of polynomials using the Paravartya Yojayet Sutra (a traditional Vedic Mathematics technique meaning ‘transpose and apply’).
The new curriculum may include teaching of concepts such as panchanga (Indian calendar) and how it determines mahurtas (auspicious time) used in rituals and festivals.
The proposed course blends blends astronomy, mythology and culture -- bringing India's rich time-science heritage to life.
It would covers ancient observatories, the prime meridian of Ujjain, and how ancient Indian Vedic time units of Ghatis and and Vighatis compare with modern systems like Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and Indian Standard Time (IST).
Obviously, those who said 'western/Christian' model is the best will be irked.
Happy Teachers Day. India must be ready for a Revolution.
Ends
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