Mahatma Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in a poor family in Porbandar district of Gujarat state. His father's name was Karamchand Gandhi and his mother's name was Putlibai. At the age of 13, he was married to Kasturba. Passed the matriculation examination in 1887 AD. Enrolled in Shyamal Das College Bhavnagar to get higher education. Due to his interest in college education, he went to England to study bariatric. Returned to India after passing the barrister in 1891.
After returning to India, he started practicing law. He did not get much success in this work, then Gandhi went to South Africa in 1893. There his real life started, he started a movement to improve the condition of Indians there. There he put into practice the principles of truth and non-violence. There he lived a struggling life till 1914 and he also got success in it, then he returned to India in 1914 via England, and he entered Indian politics till the end of his life, he led the Indian nationalism movement. As a result of his leadership, truth and non-violence got an important place in Indian politics. India gained independence on 15 August 1947 under the leadership of Gandhi. This great philosopher, political social reformer, and educationist died on 30 January 1948.
Life Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi:
Gandhi's philosophy of life gave birth to a revolution in Indian society. Romea Rolla says "Mahatma Gandhi from the great man who instigated 300 million people to revolt. And shook the roots of the British Empire. The main four elements of Gandhi's philosophy of life are-
1) Truth
2) non-violence
3) fearlessness
4) Satyagraha
1) Truth:
Truth was the best principle for Gandhi. Gandhi used his whole life for truth. For him truth and God were the same, the reality which Gandhi knew and experienced was truth. He believed that God can be attained only through truth. According to him Satya means- "There must be truth in speech, truth in thoughts, truth in language and truth in action also."
2) Nonviolence:
Dr. Mahavir Prasad has said, "Gandhi derived one result from the principle of truth, that it is impossible to separate truth and non-violence from each other, these are two sides of the same coin." He believed that non-violence is good spirit and pure love. It should be in the mind of every person.
3) Fearlessness:
Regarding fearlessness, Gandhi has to say that Nirbhaya means free from all good fear. Such as fear of disease, fear of death, fear of destruction of property, fear of losing one's friends, feeling of loss of prestige, fear of doing wrong.
4) Satyagraha:
The fourth dimension of Mahatma Gandhi's life is Satyagraha. In Satyagraha, on the basis of love, the enemy is made aware of the truth, he is made aware of his duty and action.
Gandhi's Educational Concerns:
The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, did not only contribute to the independence of India, but as a visionary education circle, he presented the outline of a new education plan with a duty and karma based value-based approach. The plan is known as the Wardha plan, the basic plan. Gandhi considered education to be a comprehensive process, in fact, education is that which brings all-round development of all aspects of the individual. He believed that the development of human beings through the combination of body, mind, heart and soul. it happens. He believed that education leads to the best development of human body, mind and soul.
Purpose of Education according to Gandhi:
Gandhi's aim was idealistic and experimentalism in the field of education. Gandhi believed in the formation of soul character and progress towards divine knowledge through education. With the aim of self-realization, one can achieve the ultimate goal in life. According to the experimentalist ideology, the then objective of Gandhi education is wow, which is important in any country-time situation. Under the objectives, Mahatma Gandhi has the following objectives.
1) Character Building:
The main aim of education should be character building. The purpose of education fails in a child in whom character cannot be formed. Education is not a burden but through it we can give a new direction to our life. You can increase your inner self-confidence, you can awaken soul confidence in yourself.
2) Ability to earn a living:
Education not only helps in building character but also helps in increasing their ability to earn their living. Without education we fail to find the right direction of earning a living. Education is the only wealth that saves our life from all kinds of difficulties and helps to make our life a better life.
3) Cultural Development:
The cultural or customs of ancient times are not seen in today's modern era, education is the only medium through which we can maintain and develop our culture.
4) Consistent Development:
One of the aims of education should be here to develop consistency in the child. Do not make such a spirit home in them that hurts others, but they should have such a sense of fellowship that they can understand the country and the palaces around them.
5) Personal and Social Objectives:
The main aim of education is to provide a better life to the child so that they can take an active part in their personal and social affairs also and move ahead for a better future for themselves and society. If this is not the case, then the purpose of education will not be fulfilled.
Gandhi divided the purpose of education into two parts-
A) the then objective
B) ultimate objective
A) the then objective
- To enable children to earn a living when they grow up.
- To train children to express their culture in their behaviour.
- To develop the physical, mental and spiritual powers of the child.
- Character building of children.
- To prepare the soul for a higher life by imparting all kinds of knowledge to the children.
B) ultimate objective
- Gandhi presented the following subjects as the ultimate objective
- Along with building the character of the child, there should also be social development in them so that the country can develop.
- The child should be made so morale that he can earn his living by himself and not depend on his parents.
- Education should also be related to culture or moral education, without which education is incomplete.
Gandhi's curriculum of education, what should be the curriculum according to Gandhi
Emphasis has been laid on making Gandhi's curriculum a livelihood. According to him, education should not only be theoretical, bookish, and literary, but life-centered and craft-centered, the following subjects have been given a place in his education-
1) Handicrafts: Harvesting-weaving, leather work, agriculture, earthwork, gardening, etc.
2) Language: Mother tongue, the national language, regional language, etc.
3) Mathematics: Arithmetic Algebra and Line Mathematics.
4) Social Science: History, Geography, Civics, Social Science.
5) Science-related education: Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, Health science, etc.
6) Art: Music, painting, dance, etc.
7) Physical Education: Sports, exercise, wrestling, drill etc.
8) Conduct education: Knowledge of moral education, social service, prayer, and other activities.
Fundamentals of Gandhi's Philosophy of Education
1) Education develops all human values in boys and girls.
2) Education is the harmonious development of the body, heart, mind, and soul of the individual.
3) Education provides protection to children against unemployment.
4) Education should be done in real-life conditions and it should be related to the social and physical environment.
5) Compulsory education should be given free of cost to every child from 6 to 14 years throughout the nation.
6) The medium of instruction should be the mother tongue and it should rank first among all languages.
