Page 87 - Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 21st Century ISBN

21oha “krkCnh esa vkpk;Z fouksck Hkkos dh izklafxdrk

Kishorelal Mashruvala an outstanding scholar and an inmate of Sabarmati Ashram tried to
summarise on Gandhiji thoughts on the possible syllabus for education through a village craft under the

scheme of Nai Talim. 24
* Process of education should begin not by three Rs but with setting hands on udyog and

through that.
* The udyog selected should be such that it should be generating livelihood and the output

should be of direct use to people including the producers.
* While skill training was to generate production, children should be taught literature, arithmetic,

science, drawing-painting, history, geography etc. around the selected udyog. Thus udyog
should not be a stand-alone subject to be taught for skill development but it should also form

the foundation for training and development of mind.
* Agriculture and cloth production are national industries, hence every school must have

infrastructure and expertise to teach them to all students. The training should also be given to
those who may in future not be pursuing the vocation.

* For forward and backward linkages to agriculture and cloth production, occupations and
skills are required in the area of carpentry, black smithy, dying, printing, etc. All should be

exposed to the preliminary aspects of each of these skills.
* Farm and forest products yielding to processing must be identified and children should be

trained in those skills too.
Vinoba’s contribution in this respect is two-fold. One is that he tried to lay down specific

principles in preparing a syllabus for Nai Talim, and two he also wrote and spoke about content of
syllabus. Vinoba popularised the concept of Nitya Nai Talim. Defining it Vinoba said, “I mean that

education ought to be like a water in a river…the river goes on flowing, but the water is never the
same… but education that is set in a mould is spoiled…every day brings us ever-new experience, and

we must have the strength to adapt our lives to ever-new conditions.” 25
Nitya Nai also had another implication on syllabus. Vinoba said, “The situation of every village

is different, and plans for education must take account those differences. Education will take one form
in a village on a river back, another in a village on a hill, another in a village near a forest. It must vary

with the circumstances. The same fixed mould, the same set of text-books, will not be equally suitable
everywhere. When there is just one text-book for the whole State, no attention can be paid to these

local features and variations; in consequence the children’s interest is not awakened, and the special
needs of the individual village are not met.” 26

Vinoba could contribute more to the Gandhiji’s ideal of Nai Talim also because he lived in
Independent India and had become a guide to all those who travelled the path. He received information

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