CENTRE FOR TRADITIONAL EDUCATION

LIG 160, II Stage , KHB colony, Kuvempunagar, Mysore 570023; Tel:0821-2560898; Cell:+91 9008583733

ACTIVITY REPORT (2014)

Executive Summary: The year has just begun and at CTE we have seen a flurry of activities spanning from research, documentation, networking and publishing. Also, the active web campaign has commenced much to our satisfaction and utility to the public. Funds were raised within the team and spent judiciously to carry out the mission. Visiting few conferences have proved very fruitful in networking and research wing of CTE. This short report is an attempt to present activities as it is and as exhaustively as possible along with few photographs taken.

Activity report in detail: 1. ONLINE ACTIVITY:

Snapshot of www.cteindia.weebly.com

It was imperative to start a web campaign in this age of information technology. Hence, we began the website on the free web hosting service called: www.weebly.com . The web design is ongoing, but the structure is up and ready already attracting netizens around the world. All documents are uploaded for free download and free view. In summary, our activities in this area are:

a. Started the website: www.cteindia.weebly.com b. Started social community pages (facebook and twitter) to further the mission: www.facebook.com/cte.india c. Started Youtube channel and uploaded videos related to CTE visits, interviews, etc. http://www.youtube.com/user/cteindia2013 2. RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONS: a. Research commenced on Catuh Shasti Kala (64 Traditional Arts). Started the website www.cteindiaresearch.weebly.com in that connection. Published one of the arts called Nimitta-jnana. (www.cteindiaresearch.weebly.com/nimitta-jnanam.html ). A rare manuscript called Khanar Vachana was translated and included in the book.

Snapshot of Nimitta-Jnana publication

b. Published another title: Timeless Stories of Gomata that focuses on awareness to children about Cow protection and animal husbandry.

c. Manuscript mission: i. Khanar Vachana translated and published (included in Nimitta-Jnana book) ii. Obtained a rare manuscript called Sahadeva Gosastra from Orissa State Museum, Bhuvaneswar. Translation work commenced. iii. Chatur Varna Shikshya Mansucript obtained from Digital Library of India. Not yet translated. iv. Obtained a rare manuscript: Adbhuta sagara from Digital Librabry of India. Not yet translated.

Snapshot of Gosastra manuscript

During visit to Orissa St ate Museum

3. DOCUMENTATION PROJECT: Documentation project was commenced by basically interviewing the scholars: a. Interviewed Sri Varadachar (President award winner) a 90 year old scholar Interview on curriculum for Gurukula b. Interview with Sri Prabhanjana Acharya Sanskrit scholar c. Interview with Sri Roop Kishore Shastri, Secretary- Govt of India body (Maharshi Sandipani Muni Vedapathashala Pratishthan, Ujjain) d. Interview with Dr. Kale (Mahashri Veda Vyasa Pratishthan, Pune)

4. NETWORKING: a. Visited Wardha and held dialogue with various educational experts. Collected vast resources published as well as unpublished manuscripts works. Aim is to publish them and distribute.

Visit to Wardha

b. Visited Belgaum and held dialogue with scholars there. Collected Bhagavad -gita home study course manuscript which is unpublished. Aim to publish and hold home study courses.

During visit to Belgaum

c. Visited Varanasi and held dialogue with Kulapatis of various gurukulas.

Visit to one of the Varanasi Gurukulas

d. Visited and held dialogue with directors of i. Veda Vigyan Gurukula, Bangalore ii. Poorna prajna Vidyapeetha, Bangalore iii. Rishi Prabhakra Gurukula, Bangalore iv. Veda mata Vedapathashala Gurukula, Srirangapatna 5. CONFERENCES & WORKSHOPS ATTENDED: a. Two member team of CTE attended four day workshop on Nai Talim Education system, held at Gujarat and conducted by Gujarat Vidyapeeth in association with Nai Talim Samiti, Wardha. Participated in preparing a draft resolution on open based life education. b. Attended a conference on Science and Religion, held at Varanasi and organized by Bhaktivedanta Institute.

During visit to the conference held at Varanasi

DRAFT RESOLUTION IN WORKSHOP GUJARAT: Addressed to: The prime minister of India, Chairperson of India national congress, The minister of human resource development, Secretary of education, New Delhi, Chief Ministers of all states and territories, Secretary of all states and territories, President Nai-Talimsamiti, Wardha, Vice Chancellor, Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad, Vice Chancellor, azimpremji university, Bangalore., Director, Vigyan Ashram, Pabal, Maharashtra, Head and co-ordinator, Multiversity, India, Co-ordinator, Taleemnet multiversity, India, Resolution for creating conducive education opportunity for all children in India 1. There has been plurality in the tradition of the educating children among Indian cultures that can been traced back to a few millennia. 2. This plurality of knowledge sharing and passing has been systematically unified in the past few hundred years. This happened with colonization, industrialization, development of communication technology and is in mobility. 3. In the Indian tradition, gurukula system of learning within the community, mentorship, passing of family crafts and trades, religious and spiritual education, traditions in artesian crafts, community and home tutorials , community schools (learning space) etc. 4. During the colonial rule education with its prime focus on literacy and clerical skills based on the Euro centric world view became the states preferred choice of providing education. 5. Post-independence, education has been the states responsibility along with a central agency which caters to special needs such as needs of children of central government employees posted on services. across states. Parallel to the colonial system and several of the traditional systems of education , a major initiative at the national level to address the need of the country, based on an Indian perspective and promoted by the Indian community was the Nai -Talim system envisaged by Mahatma Gandhiji. This for varied reason stifled after 50s. However some institutions in the states like Gujarat, Bihar and some others have continued to provide education on these principles. There is now a concerted effort to revise and revitalize these institutions and demand for an appropriate validation by the government of India for this system of education as done for some sections of society as Vedashala and Maderasha. 6. Parallel to the education provided in state there have been evolving community of endeavor based on philosophy and practices on emerging newer understandings.

7. In the past century in India, beginning with Tagore and Gandhi, GijubhaiBadheka, Vivekananda, J Krishnamurthy, DavedHorsbrugh and visions and philosophies have provided scope for building educational endeavors. There have also been other non-Indian philosophies that have provided basis for education such as Montessori, Rudolf Steiner and others. 8. Apart from spiritual philosophy driven endeavors such as Jainism, shikhism, islam, veda, hindu, Christianity and several individual educators and visionaries have endeavored to provide need based education on a micro scale in non-formal and informal ways. These have been spaces of resilience and experimentations that have provided for creative and effective ways of education. Their work has fed in significant ways into the drafting of the position papers and vision documents of the government of India, NCF-2000, 2005 and several state government educating policies & programs such as SarvaShikshaAbhiyan, Nali-Kali, activity based learning etc. 9. Along with the organized and structured method of providing education in the past 2-3 decades, there is a growing community of individuals who believe in and practice teaching children at home. This is broadly understood as home schooling. This community is only grown constantly in the last decade. Around 2 years ago a nationwide body has been setup under the name of swashikshan, its mandate being the safe guarding of the childs ri ght to education as deemed fit and necessary by the parents/community with the safety and specific needs of the child in mind. Its focus is school age children and self-directed learners. To cater to the needs of young adults seeking to direct their own learning there are institutions and bodies that support and encourage this kind of learning. Some of these are Swarajuniversity, Udaipur, multiversity, goa, sanjeevani and gap year program of SIDH Missouri and post school programs. Learning societies create regular unlearning conferences providing the ground for meeting for learners and mentors. 10. With the freeing of economy, globalization & urbanizing there has been an excessive mass population from rural settings migrating towards emerging urban settlements. Migratory employment in agriculture and construction setups have dislocated and disrupted family structures and community learning spaces. The most effected in this are people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. 11. There is a flux, in how the country is largely perceiving, education. Traditional models of schoolcollege education have undergone a sea-change. There is a shift in contemporary needs, aspirations and sensibility. The plurality of emerging culture and societies demand plurality in approaches to life and education. This is also a constitutional right.

Constitutional Fundamental Right 5. Cultural and educational right, preserving right of any section of citizens to conserve their culture, language or script, and right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. 1. In 2009 the government of India passed the right to education act which became the law in 2010. As per the RTE every child in the country has the right to free and compulsory education and the onus of providing this lies on the state.

2. With the passing of this act thousands of children who were deprived of education now got opportunity. On the other hand the operationalization of the act through the state machineries has resulted in innumerable problems and raised a plethora of issues which come in direct way of child enjoying its constitutional rights of freedom and so do their parents and communities. The right to education act in many ways has not considered socio-economic condition of country and its large population where mainstream education is not always a favourable option. There are compulsions that dont permit some differently abled and differently talented children in the mainstream education system to be given the opportunity to develop their potential to the full. The RTE does not make it possible. These also include children who may wish to pursue a natural gift in sports theatre music dance etc. where mainstream schooling structure may prove an impediment. Keeping primarily this section of society in mind and after detailed deliberation on the matter, educators from across the country resolved to work in making education inclusive for these children. 3. This deliberation took place in a five day meeting from 18th to 22nd November, 2013 and Gujarat Vidyapith, rural campus, panchayati raj talim Kendra, Sadra, dist. Gandhinagar, Gujarat. This gathering came together in a meeting at the workshop for preparing aproductive work and skillbased, open education resource material on work and education principles as directed by NCF 2005 in 3.7 position paper. This workshop was organized collectively by NaiTalim Samiti, wardha, Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad and AzimPremji University, Bangalore with active collaborative technical support from Vigyan Ashram, Pabal and coordination support from multiversity (Taleemnet) India. We have resolved thatthe government of India continue the department of NIOS under the MHRD, SIOS under the respective state governments along with its open basic education program at its secondary and senior-secondary certification courses. This would be an appropriate move to deliver the fundamental constitutional right to every child of this country. Open learning system caters to sensitive and significant section of society and this facility should not be denied to any child. It is resolved that we have deliberated that the right of every child to education. _____________________________________________________________________________________

A report in Times of India newspaper on Feb 2, 2014 regarding the conference in Varanasi.

Discussion on spirituality at IIT-BHU

TNN Feb 2, 2014, 01.16PM IST

VARANASI: The two-day 8th All India Students' Conference on Science and Spiritual Quest (AISSQ-2014) organised by Bhaktivedanta Institute, Kolkata and hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) began at Swatantrata Bhavan on Saturday. The inaugural function was attended by Swami Nirmalanandanatha of Sri Adichunchanagiri Math, Karnataka, RP Singh, chairman, board of governors, IIT Guwahati, prof Rajeev Sangal, director, IIT (BHU) and others. The conference was also attended by the eminent scholars including Michael Cremo (archeologist) from Los Angeles and Hectar Rosario (mathematician) from the University of Puerto Rico along with 60 other eminent speakers from different institutes like IITs, NITs, AIIMS, IISc and other academic and research institutes of repute. Prof Rajeev Sangal, director, IIT (BHU) welcomed the guests and shared his view particularly for the students to develop high character along with science and technology, humanities by the knowledge of spirituality. President, Bhaktivedanta Institute, Kolkata, Vashu Dev Rao explained the task of Bhakti Vedanta and objectives of the institute. RP Singh, chairman, board of governors, IIT Guwahati highlighted the importance of science and spirituality. Tnn

Yours Sincerely,

Harsha B. Wari President, Centre for Traditional Education