Author – Deepak Yadav Founder and CEO of Eduxhire (www.eduxhire.com)
The Indian Education System has undergone its own share of historical changes and transformations. In many ways, the history of our Education System reflects the turbulence and jubilation of our own history, depending on one’s perspective.
One thing is certain without any doubt: the progress of a nation is directly tied to the state of its education system. Education lays the foundation for progress, and this progress further fuels the thirst for knowledge and learning. Our great nation has experienced both glorious periods and miserable ones. Therefore, it is interesting to understand how our education system functioned during these periods, how it influenced our nation’s destiny, and hopefully learn from this understanding.
Not much is written about Ancient Indian Education as it should have been, making it difficult to accurately assess the status and development of education during this period. Accounts of a few foreign travelers (Megasthenese: 302 BCE, Fa-hien: 399-413 CE, Hiuen Tsang: 629-645 CE, I-tsing: 671-695 CE) give us some insight into the advancement of our education system and the importance of learning in our society. Additionally, the plethora of works starting from Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, etc. demonstrate the existence of a successful system for creating knowledge and passing it down through generations. There was an emphasis on widening the horizon of learning by developing new ideas rather than simply preserving past wisdom. For instance, experts believe that the Rig Veda, as we know it today, took centuries to evolve from its earliest hymn to its entire compilation. This highlights the progressive nature of the society at that time towards developing knowledge and encouraging intellectual freedom, where rigid preservation was not an acceptable system.
The Ancient Indian education system was fueled by a love of learning and a desire to understand the physical and spiritual world. This pursuit led to significant discoveries in science, mathematics, medicine, and philosophy for that time. Many devoted their entire lives to learning and teaching simply for the love of knowledge. It was believed that the natural abilities and potentials of a learner could not be fully realized without proper nurturing. Anything could be accomplished with proper training and education. Such was the importance of nurturing that in one of the hymns of the Atharvaveda, we are told that with proper education, everything can be accomplished—even Indra owes his supremacy among gods not because of any penance or previous merit but to his proper training as a student (Indra is said to have lived with Prajapati as a student for more than one hundred and five years).
There is scant information on how early childhood education was imparted. Certainly, families played an important role. It may have been that fathers taught their children in the initial years, serving as their first teachers. There are examples of fathers teaching their own sons in Vedas and Upanishads. Whether there were learning centers for young students in villages is not well known.
For formal education, around age 12, children would go to a gurukul. The ceremony for formal education, known as “Upanyana,” required the child to leave home and move into a gurukul until the end of their studies, which usually lasted for 12 years. A gurukul was a sort of residential school, mostly in the house of the teacher. Here, the student not only learned under the supervision of the teacher but also helped the guru in their day-to-day life. Selection into a gurukul required the student to be keen, capable, and possess the required intelligence to learn. If the teacher found a student incapable or lazy, they would withhold their instructions, as education was sacred and only those who deserved it should receive it. On the other hand, if the teacher found themselves unfit to teach a particular subject to their student, they would refer the student to a more suitable teacher. It was the duty of the teacher to teach their students knowledge exactly as they knew it, so that their knowledge would continue through their students to subsequent generations.
The relationship between the student and the teacher was one of reverence and respect. The importance of a guru was central to the student’s life, as from then on they would be identified with their gurus, just as in today’s time we are identified with which institute, school, or college we attended. However, this connection was far deeper than we can possibly imagine; in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, the devotion to the guru is the same as for God (Acharya Devobhava). Characteristics of a guru included being well-versed with scriptures, being straightforward, having no desires, besides being knowledgeable, having realization, love, compassion, spirit of sacrifice, truthful conduct, and a wealth of qualities which enabled them to lead their students to the realization of the self.
Vedic education was open to both Brahmins and non-Brahmins. In general, Brahmins devoted much of their student’s life to learning most of the Vedas, whereas non-Brahmins learned maybe one Veda (or selected Vedic hymns) and focused more on practical sciences and other subjects. Besides the Vedas, courses like philosophy, logic, reasoning, grammar, phonetics, Dharmasastra, law, art, painting, medicines, astronomy, warfare, architecture, etc., were also taught. Usually, the duration of studies was 12 years until the student attained 24 years of age, which was regarded as an ideal age for marriage. However, some students who sought higher mastery studied for as many as 25 to 35 years (until 48 years of age).
No fees were charged by the guru, for it was their duty to society to assess and guide students. However, students would help the guru in their day-to-day life in maintaining the gurukul and collecting alms. Begging for alms was part of a student’s life, irrespective of whether they were poor or from a prosperous family; it was their religious duty to beg. It helped induce humility among students. Society was also morally bound to support students in their efforts; every household had to offer food to the begging student. Gurukuls were also supported by chieftains, prosperous families, and kings. This created an environment where the teacher and student need not worry about their food, clothing, shelter, and medicines and could entirely focus their efforts on education, making education accessible even to the poorest.
The daily life of a student included getting up early, performing morning rituals, learning new lessons or revising old ones, physical exercise, yogasadhana (training the mind and body), begging for alms, and prayers. Students also helped gather wood, assisted in managing the gurukul’s gaushala, prepared for rituals, and helped in the teacher’s household work. Physical labor was an integral part of education; it helped develop humility in students and prepare them to be independent in life after their studies. There was no distinction between poor students and those from prosperous families; all were treated equally by the teacher.
Learning was mostly through oral instruction; the process of memorizing by listening was called “sruthi,” and techniques were developed to memorize each mantra/hymn precisely to preserve the purity of the Vedas. Memorizing did not mean cramming, as the highest emphasis was given to comprehension. In fact, it was the duty of the teacher to ensure that the knowledge was properly grasped by the student. Teachers used different techniques to help students understand, such as post-dialogue-driven questions that enabled students to discover and understand the answers, furnish arguments, evaluate pros-cons, etc. Adi Shankaracharya describes the role of a teacher as follows:
“When the teacher finds from signs that knowledge has not been grasped or has been wrongly grasped by the student, he should remove the causes of non-comprehension in the student. This includes the student’s past and present knowledge, want of previous knowledge, behavior such as unrestrained conduct and speech, ethical flaws. The teacher must enjoin (instruct / urge) means in the student that are enjoined by the Shruti and Smriti, avoidance of anger, Yamas consisting of Ahimsa and others, also the rules of conduct that are not inconsistent with knowledge. He [the teacher] should also thoroughly impress upon the student qualities like humility, which are the means to knowledge.”
— Adi Shankara, Upadesha Sahasri 1.4-1.5
It was the duty of the teacher to give proper attention to each student. In order to make supervision effective, a monitorial system was used where the help of advanced students was taken; they helped guide the studies of the junior students under the general supervision of the teacher. This way, a single teacher could manage hundreds of students under them and still be able to give individual attention to each student.
There were no formal annual examinations. Students had to finish all their lessons to complete their education. However, no new lessons were given until the student mastered the old ones. If the student was intelligent and a fast learner, they could finish their education much earlier than other students of their age. Teachers used personal observation, discussions, and debates to assess the performance and understanding of the student. At the end of their education, the student was presented in front of a local learned assembly after the Samavartana (Graduation) ceremony, where some questions were asked to the student.
For a large part of our ancient history, teaching and learning operated in a favorable and nurturing environment where education could develop, prosper, and flourish; where old ideas were infused with new thinking; where reforms laid the foundation for change; and where despite turbulent political situations, there was stability and continuity in the area of education. In ancient India, education was never regulated and was free from political or administrative interference. This might be because of the established code in ancient Indian society where Brahmins were revered and respected by all, including the ruling class (Kshatriyas). Even during the Buddhist era, long periods of stability and patronage fueled the development and spread of learning.
There were periods where the ancient Indian education system came under attack, like during the Huna’s invasion of India in the middle of the fifth century when they ravaged the excellent center of learning in Taxila. But the first major threat came from Muslim invasions, which disrupted and almost crippled, though not entirely, the ancient Indian education system. One such example was the destruction of the world-renowned Nalanda University by the army led by Turkish leader Bhaktiya Khilji in 1193. With the advent of Muslim rulers, the Islamic system of education was introduced to India.
During Muslim rule, ancient Indian education did manage to survive since it centered around Brahmins and not temples. These Brahmins migrated to smaller towns and villages where the Islamic invaders had lesser influence or to places still ruled by Hindu kings, where they re-established the learning centers. However, this was not the case for Buddhist learning, as it was centered around Buddhist Viharas, and with the demolition of Buddhist Viharas and large-scale killing of monks, Buddhist learning almost disappeared, though a few lucky Buddhist monks managed to escape to Tibet and Nepal.
With the spread of Muslim rule in India, Islamic centers of learning started to mushroom. The chief aim of education was to propagate Islam; the spread of Islam was considered a religious duty. Islamic education was divided into two stages – Maktab (primary education) and Madrasa (higher education). Muslim rulers were involved in the management and administration of education, as through education, they wanted to strengthen and develop their political system. The medium of education was Persian, which was also the court language, because of which many Hindus studied Persian. This helped the growth and development of Urdu, which became the co-official language of India (British India) in 1837.
During the entire period of Islamic rule, rulers were mostly involved in war and could not devote necessary attention to the development and improvement of education. But still, of all the Muslim rulers, it was Akbar who contributed the most towards the development of education. Later on, after the death of Aurangzeb, began the decline of the Mughal empire, and during this period, very little was done to develop education.
Though the East India Company’s rule in India effectively began in 1757, it was only in 1813 that a state system of education was officially introduced in India through a Charter Act of 1813. However, the Charter Act did not clarify the objective of education or the medium of instruction. There were a couple of opinions on the medium of instruction: the first opinion was that Western education should be promoted through indigenous languages, and the second school of thought held that education should be given through the medium of English. It was in 1835 that Lord Macaulay wrote a minute, where he made a decision to make English the medium of instruction. The intent was to help missionaries preach Christianity; to create a class of English-educated Indians to assist the British in administering India; to increase the market by helping English-educated Indians develop a taste for British products; and that Western education would reconcile Indians to British rule. This and similar policies, over a period of time, completely destroyed the indigenous education system. It created a huge void which was not possible for the new system to fill, thus creating a larger base of illiterate population. In the round-table conference in 1931, Mahatma Gandhi in one of his speeches said, “The beautiful tree of education was cut down by you British. Therefore today India is far more illiterate than it was 100 years ago.”
It is clear that education is the backbone of a nation. It brings development, growth, prosperity, realization, and many more things. India’s history is testimonial to the fact that societies and civilizations can reach marvelous heights on the foundation of a strong education system, or can stay doomed and in darkness for ages when this system is crippled.
Our ancient education system has shown us many things that can rival the best of today’s modern methods. It has shown us that learning is endless, there is no final goal to reach as there will always be a next goal or something new to pursue. Education will flourish if it is not controlled or regimented. Schools, teachers, and parents need an environment that offers them flexibility and freedom to nurture young learners. It tells us that teachers are the soul of a good education system; without learned, compassionate, dedicated, and trained teachers, the system will never progress. And, most importantly, a society that can instill love for learning in the young minds will always be prosperous.
Author – Deepak Yadav Founder and CEO of Eduxhire (www.eduxhire.com)
References:
Education in Ancient India – Dr. A. S. Altekar
History of Education in India – Suresh C. Gosh
History of Education in India during the British Period – J P Naik and Syed Nurullah
The Single Teacher School – J.P Naik ND https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru