Role Of Education In Social Change

INTRODUCTION
Education can be used as a tool to empower the individual. Through child centered learning, students are
able to see their own role in transformation. Societal change comes from the collective
transformation of the individuals within that society. It has become secular today. It is an independent
institution now. Education has been chieflyinstrumental in preparing the way for the development of
science and technology. Education has brought about phenomenal changes in every aspect of mens life.
Francis J. Brown remarks that Education is a process which brings about changes in the behavior of
society. It is a process which enables every individual to effectively participate in the activities of society
and to make positive contribution to the progress of society.

MEANING OF EDUCATION
Education has been described as a process of waking up to life:
Waking up to life and its mysteries, its solvable problems and the ways to solve the problems and
celebrate the mysteries of life.
Waking up to the inter-dependencies of all things, to the threat to our global village, to the power within
the human race to create alternatives, to the obstacles entrenched in economic, social and political
structures that prevent our waking up.
Education in the broadest sense of the term is meant to aid the human being in his/her pursuit of
wholeness. Wholeness implies the harmonious development of all the potentialities God has given to a
human person.
True education is the harmonious development of the physical, mental, moral (spiritual), and social
faculties, the four dimensions of life, for a life of dedicated service.
Various educationists have given their views on education. Some important definitions are:
1. Mahatma Gandhi By education I mean an all-round drawing out of the best in man body, mind
and spirit.
2. Rabindranath Tagore Education enables the mind to find out the ultimate truth, which gives us the
wealth of inner light and love and gives significance to life.
3. Dr. Zakir Husain Education is the process of the individual mind, getting to its full possible
development.
4. Swami Vivekananda Education is the manifestation of divine perfection already existing in man.
5. Aristotle - Education is the creation of sound mind in a sound body.

NATURE OF EDUCATION
As is the meaning of education, so is its nature. It is very complex. Let us now discuss the nature of
education:
1. Education is a life-long process- Education is a continuous and lifelong process. It starts from the
womb of the mother and continues till death. It is the process of development from infancy to maturity. It
includes the effect of everything which influences human personality.
2. Education is a systematic process- It refers to transact its activities through a systematic institution and
regulation.
3. Education is development of individual and the society- It is called a force for social development,
which brings improvement in every aspect in the society.
4. Education is modification of behaviour- Human behaviour is modified and improved through
educational process.
5. Education is purposive: every individual has some goal in his life. Education contributes in attainment
of that goal. There is a definite purpose underlined all educational activities.
6. Education is a training- Human senses, mind, behaviour, activities; skills are trained in a constructive
and socially desirable way.
7. Education is instruction and direction- It directs and instructs an individual to fulfill his desires and
needs for exaltation of his whole personality.
8. Education is life- Life without education is meaningless and like the life of a beast. Every aspect and
incident needs education for its sound development.
9. Education is continuous reconstruction of our experiences- As per the definition of John Dewey
education reconstructs and remodels our experiences towards socially desirable way.
10. Education helps in individual adjustment: a man is a social being. If he is not able to adjust himself in
different aspects of life his personality cant remain balanced. Through the medium of education he learns
to adjust himself with the friends, class fellows, parents, relations, neighbours and teachers etc.
11. Education is balanced development: Education is concerned with the development of all faculties of
the child. it performs the functions of the physical, mental, aesthetic, moral, economic, spiritual
development of the individual so that the individual may get rid of his animal instincts by sublimating the
same so that he becomes a civilized person.
12. Education is a dynamic process: Education is not a static but a dynamic process which develops the
child according to changing situations and times. It always induces the individual towards progress. It
reconstructs the society according to the changing needs of the time and place of the society.

13. Education is a bipolar process: According to Adams, education is a bipolar process in which one
personality acts on another to modify the development of other person. The process is not only conscious
but deliberate.
14. Education is a three dimensional process: John Dewey has rightly remarked, All educations proceeds
by participation of the individual in the social consciousness of the race. Thus it is the society which will
determine the aims, contents and methods of teachings. In this way the process of education consists of 3
poles the teacher, the child and the society.
15. Education as growth: The end of growth is more growth and the end of education is more education.
According to John Dewey, an individual is a changing and growing personality. The purpose of
education is to facilitate the process of his/her growth.
Therefore, the role of education is countless for a perfect society and man. It is necessary for every
society and nation to bring holistic happiness and prosperity to its individuals.

AIMS OF EDUCATION
Aims give direction to activities. Aims of education are formulated keeping in view the needs of situation.
Human nature is multisided with multiple needs, which are related to life. Educational aims are correlated
to ideals of life.
The goal of education should be the full flowering of the human on this earth. According to a UNESCO
study, the physical, intellectual, emotional and ethical integration of the individual into a complete
man/woman is the fundamental aim of education.
The goal of education is also to form children into human persons committed to work for the creation of
human communities of love, fellowship, freedom, justice and harmony. Students are to be moulded only
by making them experience the significance of these values in the school itself. Teachers could achieve
this only by the lived example of their lives manifested in hundreds of small and big transactions with
students in word and deed.

EDUCATION AS AN INSTRUMENT OF SOCIAL CHANGE

Education plays a very important role in moulding the character of an individual. It is one of the concrete
sources from which one get information and knowledge. It affects the society. We can make sense of its
effective role from the following points.
1] Preservation and transmission of our social, moral and cultural values.
In Education, through curriculum, students will be acquainted with social, moral and cultural values and
teachers make them familiar with values and ideal through different activities, games, story-telling etc.
Education makes them familiar with constitution, rules and regulations of citizens and so on. As we find

in NPE 1986 major objectives to produce a productive citizen has been fulfilled by education so education
preserves our value and it make others to imbibe those values.
2] Awakening of Social feelings
Through education individuals become aware about the importance of unity, love, fraternity and other
values. Education makes all people get awakened of being a part of society and how they can contribute
the world as society. People know different values and life skills and thus they develop concern for
society including social mindedness, values life skills, learning to be, learning to do, learning to know,
learning to live together via different activities story telling dramatization.
3] Political development of society
Education makes all aware about rights and duties of all, which are their responsibilities and duties so that
they can develop their civic sense. Through different lesson of political leaders and stories education
develop ideal leadership quality so that in future citizens can lead t e state as a society.
4] Economic development of society
Education develops skills in individual and makes him a productive citizen. Through education everyone
learns how to earn money and as per their qualification he gets job or labour and on the whole with the
help of education more or less everyone get work and earn money so due to increasing literacy per capita
income will increase As we find govt take help in the form of tax and thus our economy develops.
Because of education people migrate in other country and their earning helps to develop society, country.
Thus education affects the economic development of society.
5] Social control
Education makes all aware about customs and duties the same as it makes aware about the rules and
regulations as we find the rules in Indian constitution. People know how to preserve their lives via
education. They make also familiar with crimes. Thus education provides a guideline and it controls all
society.
6] Social changes and reforms
Education makes individuals perfects and aware about the rights. So can claim against dwelled
superstitions, beliefs which are harmful for them. Through education everyone learn grow to live and how
to save from difficulty and how to inculcate values and ideals in their lives and ideals in their lives so they
can appeal in court having of felling injustice. Education makes all aware about how to live peacefully
and how to face difficulties ion their lives .They become aware about the proverbs like nothing ventured,
nothing gained so they develop their risk taking attitudes via education.
7] Socialization of a child
Education trains the mind of a child and it teaches him how to inculcate values in his life. It makes the
child understand what is society, how he is a part of society, what are his roles in society, how he should
behave, how he should interact with others etc. Education helps him to understand who is he? And it
develops a sense if a social being in him. In short education socializes a child.

Thus, education produces productive citizens it helps everyone how to flourish and makes them ideal
citizens of society. To sum up, Education influences the society.

Literacy for Social Change

Without Literacy we can never imagine an upright and robust Social changes. India is one of most
populous countries in the world, and a collection of Indigenous Societies, even if we reckon single class,
there will be thousands of families would be affecting by the change. also have enacted by
comprehending High quality education program value in having potential to close gaps among the middle
class and poor and minority children. Government has already granted Literacy as the minimum right
and requirement for Indian citizen, and mandated In Article 21 A Free and compulsory education to all
6-14 y ears of age. Also Right to education is manifested as dream plan in India V ision 2020, Report By
S.P. Gupta. Government. But however, its implementation has still required multiple years to designate at
the adequate milestone, due to prevalent socio-economic issues. Since we hav e observ ed a rise of
Industrialization from post independence era, so it really becomes essential to measure their Labour
Impact also. That influence may be compromised with low dignity of Labour and compel the Low
economic poor to yield under day-to-day livelihood in the early ages of life. Poor Parents often approve
to children to do the job in premature ages. That is a major setback to the societies. Thus, it becomes more
important the role of young educated generation to partake in disseminating the awareness among all
underprivileged and marginalized families. Although there are major initiative from the Governmental
organization, Private sectors and NGOs that work in a way to organize Communication channels and do
qualitativ e research on the deep ground level, our accountability becomes more and more as we feel like
a responsible citizens .I understand, Change is never an easy process and it would need to motivate
though attitudinal modifications in Society and though Social, economical, political changes. But if we
understand the changes as a necessary phenomenon, we must realize the Education role in bringing
staunch change in behav iors of all human beings and its contribution in enrichment of culture.

Education in the Present Period

Education today is oriented to promoting values of an urban, competitive consumer society.
Through the existing education system, India has produced in the last five decades number of
scientists, professionals and technocrats who have excelled in their fields and made a mark at the
national and international levels. The top scientists, doctors, engineers, researchers, professors, etc.
not those who were educated abroad but had got their entire education in India.
It is not a question of the extent to which education provides or fails to provide employment to people but
it is a question of education providing modern technology for the benefit of the poor and deprived
people. It is a question of the quality of education. Instead of merely viewing the growing
population as a liability, we should change the population into an asset and strength along with
trying to control its growth. This can be done only by education and human development.
The three main deficiencies in the present education system may be described as follows:

(1) The present education does not generate or fortify the type of knowledge that is relevant to our
changed society.
(2) Technology associated with a particular body of knowledge is inappropriate to our stage of
development in terms of its employment potential or investment demands.
(3) Education has failed to provide value framework which may prepare committed politicians,
bureaucrats, technocrats, and professionals on whom our nation can depend for sophisticated system of
support services to be useful in taking the country to the highest level. Though education does not
guarantee high status and higher positions to all people, yet without education, an individual is
unlikely to achieve social mobility.
Gore avers that education plays a role in equalizing opportunities in three ways.
(1) By making it possible for all those who have the desire to be educated and the ability to benefit by
that facility;
(2) By developing a content of education which will promote the development of a scientific and
objective outlook.
(3) By creating a social environment of mutual tolerance based on religion, language, caste, class,
etc. for providing equal opportunities of social mobility to all individuals in society, and for
providing equal opportunity to secure good education is crucial.
How is education related to equality of opportunity can be perceived on the basis of the findings of one
empirical study conducted in eight states in 1967 on the social background of students (age, sex, caste,
fathers occupation, fathers education, etc.) studying at various levels high school, college and
professional colleges. This study presented two posse-group, propositions:
(1) Education is priority with those in the white-collar group, and children in this group use educational
facilities more than other groups, and children in this group use educational facilities more than other
groups;
(2) Education is differentially available to those who do not belong to white-collar group (see
Gore,1994:33). If the first proposition is correct, it probably underlines the irrelevance of
education to non-white-collar groups in our society.

Education, Social Change And Modernisation

Education has been accepted as one major agency of socialization, and teachers and educational
institutions as socializing agents. In describing education as an instrument of social change, three things
are important: the agents of change, the content of change, and the social background of those who are
sought to be changed, i.e. students. Educational institutions under the control of different cultural
groups reflect the values of those groups which support and control education. In this situation,
teachers Impart specific values, aspirations and to the children.
Social reformers, who were educated emphasized values like removal of caste restrictions, equality
of women, doing away with social evil social customs and practices, voice in the governance of the

country, establishing democratic institutions and so on. They, thus, wanted to teach liberal
philosophy through education for changing society. In other words they regarded education as a
flame or light of knowledge which dispelled the darkness of ignorance.
The use of education for spreading the values of modernization came to be emphasized from the
1960s and 1970s onwards. Highly productive economies,distributive justice, peoples participation
in decision-making bodies, adoption of scientific technology in industry, agriculture and other
occupations and professions were accepted as goals for modernizing the Indian society. And these goals
were to be achieved through liberal education. Thus, modernization was not accepted as a
philosophy or a movement based on rational values system but as a process that was to be confined
only to economic field but was to be achieved in social, political, cultural and religious fields too.
Education was sought to be utilized as channel for the spread of modernity
According to the sociological perspective, education does not arise in response of the individual
needs of the individual, but it arises out of the needs of the society of which the individual is a member1.
The educational system of any society is related to its total social system. It is a sub system performing
certain functions for the on-going social system. The goals and needs of the total social system
get reflected in the functions it lays down for educational system and the form in which it structures it to
fulfill those functions.
In a static society, the main function of the educational system is to transmit the cultural heritage
to the new generations. But in a changing society, these keep on changing from generation to
generation and the educational system in such a society must not only transmit the cultural heritage, but
also aid in preparing the young for adjustment to any changes in them that may have occurred or are
likely to occur in future. In contemporary societies, The proportion of change that is either planned or
issues from the secondary consequences of deliberate innovations is much higher than in former times.
This is more so in societies that has newly become independent and are in a developing stage.
Consequently, in such modern complex societies, education is called upon to perform an additional
function of becoming. Thus, the relationship between educational system and society is mutual;
sometimes the society influences changes in educational system and at other times the educational
system influences changes in the society.

Education of Women
The National Policy on Education, 1986 also laid emphasis on education for attaining womens equality
which will foster the development of new values. The strategies proposed are: encouraging
educational institutions to take up active programmes to further womens development removal of
womens illiteracy, removing obstacles inhibiting their access to elementary education, and
pursuing policy of non-discrimination to eliminate sex stereotyping in vocational, technical and
professional courses.

Education of SCs, STs. And OBCs

Education is directly related to the development of an individual and the community. It is the most
important single factor for economic development as well as social emancipation. For the weaker sections
of society, education has a special significance because for a number of centuries, their illiteracy and
social backwardness have been used for their harassment, humiliation and economic exploitation.

Nature Of Social Change And Its Impact On Education

Change In Wider Social Environment
The change may be in the total social environment surrounding the society. It may be due to some internal
forces or external forces arising in other societies. Social phenomena occurring in neighboring or distant
societies have very widespread impact now. English, for example, is now became a world language
for dissemination of knowledge and consequently India feels the necessity to emphasis the need
for retaining and strengthening the knowledge of English in order to continue to be benefited by
new knowledge developing all over the world.
Change In Social Goals, Objectives And Values
The social change may be in social goals, objectives and values. The changes may be in social values
that directly affect the content of social roles and social interaction. For example, the adoption of
equality as a value may ultimately lead to compulsory and free primary education, to expansion of
primary educational facilities to all children up to the age of fourteen and to providing financial and
other aid to backward classes for enabling them to avail of the expanded educational facilities.
Institutional Social Changes
The social change may be institutional which includes change in more definite structures such as
form of organization, roles and role content. The adoption of democracy and adult franchise in India
has made training in responsible and responsive citizenship absolutely necessary for the electorate.
This may ultimately affect the content and the method of teaching in educational institutions as well as
the teacher-taught relationships.
Changes In Knowledge And Technology
The changes may be in the existing knowledge and technology. Space exploration,
industrialization, agricultural and domestic technology, development of transportation, and mass
media of communication, new understanding of the human organism, individual and social behavior are
some of the scientific and technological areas in which knowledge has expanded a great deal and will still
continue to expand. Thus, the development of knowledge and technology may bring changes in syllabus,
teaching and evaluating methods and role of teacher.
Change In Size And Composition Of Population
The change may be in the size and composition of population. The explosion of population with
differential rates of increase in different regions, communities, socio-economic groups and age

groups may necessitate many changes in the educational system. Students with different levels of
intelligence and educational aspirations, belonging to different socio-economic classes, different
castes and religious groups have begun to come in the same type of educational institution and are
huddled in same classroom. All these changes also necessitate change in the educational system.
Thus, different types of social changes occurring in society make the existing educational system
dysfunctional to a certain extent and in course of time pressurize to bring changes in it.
Social Change And Lags In Indian Educational System
In response to social change educational system must also change. The change may be in
consonance with the social change and meet the new goals and demands of various social groups
adequately. Otherwise a lag is created between the goals and demands of the society and the
goals and demands of the educational system. A number of such lags have occurred in the Indian
educational system after independence and in many ways perform a dys functional role in Indian society.
This has been accepted by the Kothari Commission very clearly. It reported: As is well known, the
existing system of education is largely unrelated to life and there is a wide gulf between its content and
purposes and the concerns of national development Instead of promoting social and national
integration and making an active effort to promote national consciousness, several features of the
educational system promote divisive tendencies; caste loyalties are encouraged in a number of
private educational institutions; the rich and poor are segregated, the former attending the better type of
private schools which charge fees while the latter are forced, out of circumstances, to attend free
government or local authority .

Modernisation Of Education In India : Problems

The modernization of education in India becomes a special problem in several ways. India has adopted
the path of economic development within the framework of a free society and therefore it cannot adopt
authoritarian means to modernize education. The centre has to get the willing consent of the states and
each state has to get the willing consent of its elected representatives in their legislative assemblies
before introducing any major change in the allocation of resources to education or in the
educational system itself.
Secondly, India has no colonies to depend on for resources to meet the expenditure on modernizing its
educational system. It has to depend on its own self and find out its own resources which are bound to be
very limited. But, it can avail assistance from advanced countries and international agencies like
UNESCO which have developed programmes to assist educational development in developing countries.
However, the fact that this aid will also be limited has to be taken into account
Thirdly, India has lots of diversities. It economy is mixed, including modern factories along with
traditional agriculture. Its tribal, rural and urban groups show very wide contrasts in their physical
and social conditions of living. The different levels of development at which the various sections of
society stand differentiate their educational needs and complicate the problem of educational

development. The aims, methods and organization of education which may be functional for one group
may be dysfunctional for the other.
Lastly, in western societies, economic modernization preceded political and social modernization.
Consequently, in their educational thinking, they could lay moreemphasis on the needs of the
individual than on the economic needs of the country.
But India, being largely agricultural and poor has to think of the economic needs of the country before
it thinks of the needs of individuals. It cannot initially afford to waste its resources on educational
programmes that are not productive in economic terms.
Thus the Indian education system needs a complete overhaul through proper legislation and its effective
implementation. Legislations should be made taking into account the regional diversities of each state.
The masses should be made aware of the new developments.

Conclusion
Education has become one of the influential instruments of social change in India. It has led to the
mobilization of peoples aspirations for development and change. Thus in modern complex national
societies, education can neither be regarded as a controlling force conserving cultural heritage, nor could
it be viewed as an agent of social change. It can only be regarded as a cooperative force in
bringing about social changes decided by the forces possessing more pervasive power in society.
Thus the Indian education system needs a complete overhaul through proper legislation and its effective
implementation. Legislations should be made taking into account the regional diversities of each state.
The masses should be made aware of the new developments.