Gandhi was convinced that the socio-economic independence of India's masses would emerge through the means of education that were based on truth and non-violence. However, for this to happen the scheme of education had to be indigenous.
Although he himself was a product of Western education, yet by his thirties, he had completely rejected it and said that 'to give millions a knowledge of English is to enslave them.'
He proposed a new scheme which is also known as the Wardha Scheme of Education. His Nai Talim or New Education lay stress on learning by doing rather than on formal literacy. It envisaged free and compulsory education for both girls and boys from the age of 7 to 14 years. During these years vocational training was of extreme importance and was meant to be a crucial adjunct to theoretical knowledge. This was so that the student is trained to become an earning unit after he completes his education. For this, he proposed the introduction of productive handicrafts in the school curriculum as a compulsory school subject. For Gandhi, this was to be the centerpiece of the entire teaching programme, where the teaching of all other subjects would then be predicated on and cotrrelated to this.
He laid emphasis on subjects like drawing and music for development of artistic talents and on conducting compulsory physical training through a musical drill for development of the body. Gandhi was very insistent about all instruction being given in one's mother tongue. Since the new concept of learning was not dependent on textbooks alone, the teacher was not to be made subservient to prescribed textbooks and the curricula.
Within this, he laid special emphasis on education for women. This, he believed, would awaken in the minds of women a consciousness of their present condition. He was of the belief that with education women will be able to assert their rights. However, at the same time, he also held that since the domestic front is the prime responsibility of women, hence they should be taught subjects that would help them carry out their duties in this area. Therefore instructional courses should be tailor-made for men and women keeping in mind their basic responsibilities in life.
The government's 2018-19 initiative under the Samagra Shiksha programme aims to provide a holistic approach to education starting from pre-school to class 12, which also aims to bridge the gender and social gap in school education in India. Importantly it also wants to provide vocational training to the people who are in vulnerable situations which includes the disabled, the indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable conditions.
