Written by Aishwarya
Edited by Nishtha
Illustrated by Shravan
__________________________________________________________________________________
India is a country with a diverse blend of different political ideologies. There exists a number of political parties with varied objectives. As the biggest democracy in the world, India has the advantage of having a huge population. More than 50% of its population is below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. The youth of the country are the real makers of change. They have the potential to give our country the future that our ancestors envisioned.
It is a known fact that in India, politics and education go hand in hand. The impact of politics on education is significant and multifaceted, as educational policies are often shaped by political ideologies, agendas, and priorities. Often, schools and educational institutions are underfunded as a result of political decisions, such as austerity measures or budgetary cuts. This can lead to increased class sizes, reduced resources, outdated materials, and limited extracurricular activities, all of which can have a negative impact on the quality of education.
Political agendas may influence the content of educational curricula in ways that prioritise certain ideologies or viewpoints over others. This can lead to a biased or incomplete representation of historical events, scientific theories, or social issues, limiting students' exposure to diverse perspectives and critical thinking skills. Ideally, there should not be any intermixing of politics and education. Politics is driven by only one purpose, and that is securing a vote bank. This leads to manipulation of facts in school textbooks; they try to glorify the majority sector and their potential voters so that they can unite them and bring within them a sense of togetherness, which will directly translate to a larger number of votes.
In this case, the narratives and perspectives of the minorities remain unheard. For example, certain state education boards only include their state’s history and geography. However, this beats the entire essence of education, which should be to unite the people of the country and foster within them a mindset of growth and knowledge as a tool for the elevation of the masses. In contrast, the promotion of a single ideology leads to communal disharmony and encourages injustice.
Moreover, importance of marks over knowledge is prevalent in the Indian education system. This leads to the development of a toxic relationship between education and knowledge. Rather, the pursuit of knowledge for the sake of knowledge should be implemented. The focus should be on inclusion, diversity, multiple identities, and the sensitisation of varied pasts.
Further, I believe, the knowledge of rhetoric and the science of manipulation should also be included in Indian education. It teaches the students the art of persuasion and manipulation. It is essential to identify the manipulative traps. Besides, the skill of critical thinking should also be included, to identify the errors in perception and clearly put forth one’s arguments in a logical manner, free from any biases and errors. Critical thinking is a kind of thinking in which one questions, analyses, interprets, evaluates, and makes a judgment about what one reads, hears, says, or writes.
The role of education should also be to inform the students about the ongoing political scenario in an unbiased manner. The education system should encourage people to take part in the political processes of the country. This ensures responsible and educated citizens in the country, who voice out their opinions freely, but at the same time are sensitive to the diversity of opinions in the country.
Good article well written