IP_ Tagore Issue - Final.indd - high commission of india mauritius

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as ethics, which lie outside thescope of science, but for thatreason are not dispensable.Ethical sense is invaluable notjust for living a good life, butfor survival too. Fourthly, astudent of technology mustbe enabled to appreciate thatthe most valuable technologyis that which brings relief tothe labourer, and the farmer,and which helps the physicallychallenged in differentways to negotiate with theworld with relative ease.Development of text-to-speechand speech-to-text systems inthe local languages is a case inpoint.A conservative objection tosuch broad based technicaleducation has been that itwould reduce the quantumof technical knowledge tobe imparted to the students,and would thereby dilute thequality of technical education.This view is based on thewrong premise that technicaleducation serves a society bestwhen it delivers competenttechnical manpower. On thecontrary, from its educationalsystem, that does not excludetechnical education, a societyexpects knowledgeable,competent, balanced, sensitiveand empathetic personswho can provide it creative,constructive leadership. Yetanother conservative viewis that there is no need forhumanities and human sciencesINDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 2/2010 112 INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 2/2010 113
in the curriculum becauseone can acquire sufficientknowledge about society andculture from life itself. Butthe fact is that one does notacquire such knowledge directlyfrom experience; one needsconstructed knowledge tointerpret experience and renderit intelligible and learnable.Then again some maintain thatone does not learn values in auniversity classroom. Whereasthere is some truth in it, it mustbe recognized that university(and university-like institutions),whether general or technical,is the best place to criticallyinterrogate knowledge, beliefsand values, whether traditionalor modern, and develop aproper perspective on the same.However, some technicaleducation planners today areinclined to support broad basedtechnical education. But at thesame time there is a negativeattitude to arts and humansciences. So “broad-based” inmost cases has come to meaninclusion in the curriculumof courses such as Englishlanguage and communicationskills, industrial economics,organizational behaviour, andbusiness management. Theseare supposed to enable thestudent to negotiate with themarket effectively. Such acurriculum is broad based onlyin name; it actually defeatsthe purpose of broad basededucation – it is orientedtowards career and success, notthe development of a wellroundedpersonality. In fact, theultimate goal of broad-basededucation is to inculcate inthe student, recognition ofthe existence of and a healthyconcern for the other, respect forhim, and his beliefs and views,which may be diametricallyopposite to his own.It is extremely importantthat proper structures, atthe formal and non-formallevels both, are created forthe implementation of theTagorean ideas. In the presentsystem of higher education, theundergraduate level is wherebroad-based education canbe most meaningful. Aboutten to twelve percent of thecourses an undergraduate hasto do must be in humanitiesand social sciences, and thesemust be spread over the entireduration of the undergraduateprogramme, not concentrated inthe first two or three semesters.Courses on literature, linguistics,communication (knowledgeand skill oriented both) history,philosophy, art and psychology,sociology, economics, amongother human sciences, andtraditional Indian knowledgesystems, must be available forthe student to make his choice.He must be discouraged fromchoosing courses from just twoor three disciplines.At the level of technologydevelopment, application ofTagore’s ideas would meandeveloping, in our context,people-oriented technologiesfor maximal utilization of waterresource, harnessing naturalenergy resources to meet powerrequirements, road building,communication, disposal ofgarbage including electronicwaste, among others, and alsodeveloping innovative methodsand techniques of teachinglearning,including languagelearning, etc.But curriculum alone cannotserve the goals of broadbased education. Non-formalstructures need to be createdso that free and responsiblediscussion and debate arepossible on questions ofsignificance concerningvarious societal issues, notexcluding those of technologicalknowledge creation anddissemination.The main difficulty for theimplementation of such aTagorean model of technicaleducation is a certainsocietal mindset, formed bythe enormous success oftechnology, its ever increasingmarketability, and to a certaindegree at least to the specializednature of its discourse,which gives its practitioners“knowledge-power”. Such amindset tends to view otherkinds of knowledge as mereintellectual self-indulgence andluxury, therefore, dispensable.This needs to be corrected andtechnology pedagogists have animportant role here. One hopesthat they will not fail the societyin this respect.◆The author taught English and Linguistics atthe Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur,and has been a fellow of the Central Instituteof Indian Languages, Mysore.Gavandes Kollektion im Rabindra-BhavanaINDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 2/2010 114 INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 2/2010 115
Page 9 and 10: play-acting in the school. Theyplay
Page 11 and 12: to everybody. Once Tagorewas asked
Page 13 and 14: uying its rights, publishing tensub
Page 15 and 16: RABINDRANATH TAGOREAS A PAINTERSANJ
Page 17 and 18: whitewash on the walls, andthese wo
Page 19 and 20: totality of visual language are sou
Page 21 and 22: IN SEARCH OFA NEW LANGUAGEFOR THEAT
Page 23 and 24: a gap of almost eighteenyears. The
Page 25: The Scientist in TagorePARTHA GHOSE
Page 29 and 30: popularity as a poet can begauged f
Page 31 and 32: Painting by Tagore on board S.S. To
Page 33 and 34: oad basis of Hindu culture.Brahmois
Page 35 and 36: Gandhi and TagoreAMARTYA SENRabindr
Page 37 and 38: Touched by TagoreMARTIN KÄMPCHENCr
Page 39 and 40: Mit freundl. Genehmg: National Gall
Page 41 and 42: or ‘The Course of History inIndia
Page 43 and 44: earliest statements regardingthe ne
Page 45 and 46: Tagore andRural ReconstructionUMA D
Page 47 and 48: TAGORE AND HIS TIMES:THE IDEA OF AS
Page 49 and 50: Benoy Kumar Sarkar, writingin the M
Page 51 and 52: Chinese bird-chirping was heardfrom
Page 53 and 54: In 1923, cultural celebrities,Mr. H
Page 55 and 56: Tagore with the students of the San
Page 57: Tagore andTechnical EducationB.N. P
Page 61 and 62: Paintings by Tagore (above & right)
Page 63 and 64: Tagore:From the 21st Century Perspe
Page 65 and 66: atmosphere of the earth is one andt
Page 67 and 68: Mira: Tagore’s youngest daughter1

IP_ Tagore Issue - Final.indd - high commission of india mauritius

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