Education is a gateway to liberalization and globalization. Education also bolsters informed decision making and choices.
In our country like any other developed country, primary education revolves around reading, writing, and arithmetic. Without these real tools of education one cannot proceed further as well. These are inevitable. However, in the age group 12-14 diverse perspective enters into a learner’s nascent mind through various interdisciplinary field of education like history, geography, social studies, general science and literature. Ethical values are imbibed during this period, identities are discerned, many preferences are shaped, and basic ideas are created about the world one lives in. These formative years shapes a young adolescent mind.
The content of our textbooks through which these minds are shaped in national curricula is held in high esteem; however, we need to understand the colonised imperial mindset imposed upon us through these textbooks. To me, it is beyond the pale. A plausible explanation of my point is stated here. A science textbook says the theory of evolution in a different way than what a moral science textbook refers in the story of Genesis. History teaches what one’s national identity is and what one’s social identity is, what to consider and what to disregard, which narrative to follow and which to throw in a bin.
Max Muller, a German philologist and orientalist, wrote comparative history (Sanskrit and theology) for us on his whims and fancy; however, his credentials are indubitable. A biased mindset wrote history for us and since ages we are perusing, following and swallowing it. To understand this, just randomly ask any student about the birth anniversary of martyr Bhagat Singh or Subhash C. Bose. You will be flabbergasted by their response or they will prefer to be taciturn over it. On contrary, Nehru or Gandhi is remembered and celebrated nation-wide.
Let’s take a situation to understand this mindset better. Suppose, you are walking down the street alone at 10 o clock in the night. You notice a tall, dark, muscular, bearded man walking behind you. What would you feel? Scared or unbothered? The answer will be scared in unison. If analysed we will come across no specific reason behind it. However, this is the bias mindset we hold and follow religiously. Who taught us this? Our curriculum should eradicate such prejudices from our mind and liberate us to be a global enlightened denizen.
