Social Education

THE problem of social education or education for the people is even more difficult than that of children's education. For the latter, we have examples of how it has been carried out. But for the education of our masses, we may say that not even that much guidance is available to us. In this respect, we can learn only a little even from foreign countries. Conditions in India are also different from those in other countries.

At present, our ideas of religion and our ways of living it have grown very weak. Besides, there are frequent strifes as a result of the multiplicity of religions in our land. There cannot be the same type of education for all—Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Christians etc. For example, we cannot put forward the same arguments in regard to cow-protection to the Muslims as we can to the Hindus. And yet we have to educate both about the evils of strife between the Hindus and Muslims. Social reform work is a huge and very difficult task. Each community has its own peculiar characteristics ; each suffers from the existence of sub-castes. Let no-one think that there are no sub-castes among Muslims or Christians. The Hindus have infected all communities with this evil. Health, hygiene and politics are the only subjects which can be imparted to all alike. I include knowledge of economics in politics. Here in India, politics and the science of health are closely related to religion, strange as this may seem. For instance, not all those belonging to different religions look on politics in the same manner. Then, too, consideration of religious sentiments becomes inevitable in deciding about the treatment of diseases. Those who are engaged in the task of imparting education to the people cannot advise beef-tea to all for recuperation after illness. Nor can they convince Muslims of the advis-ability of following the rules of hygiene in the matter of drinking water.

What It Means

Under the circumstances, what should be the starting point and what the range and outer limits of a scheme of social education ? Social education, which is nothing less than the education of the entire people, does not mean starting a night school and teaching the alphabet to tired laborers. What is a teacher, engaged in the task of social education, to do then ? At the moment, I can think of only two ways open to him : First, he should settle down in a village, mix with the people there and serve them. To the extent that he serves the people, he will also be educating them. The other is that simple books useful for educating the people should be prepared and brought out at a low cost, and a campaign should be started for spreading them among the people. Those who are interested in the work should be encouraged to read out these books to groups of illiterate people, and gradually this should become an established practice.

If this conception of people's education is correct, the first thing we should do should be to train the right kind of teachers. A people's teacher cannot do without character. If he lacks it, he will be like salt without its savor.

— True Education : p. 159