Bharat is one of the civilizations, if not the only one, that survived two deadly blows of colonization. First, the Middle Eastern and than European. We lost many of our crown jewels during this period and losing the greatest universities is one of them. After a long time, we are on the path to recover that glory. And in that effort, PM Modi inaugurated the newly built campus of the university on 19 June 2024. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam proposed reviving this learning hub in 2006. With the help of many other countries including China, Korea, Australia, etc, It is well on the path to reclaim its status.
The first residential university of the world founded at Nalanda by the great emperor Kumar Gupta in 427BCE. With 2000 teachers, university had attracted the students from all over the world. Most important part of university is its library which contained over 9 million manuscripts covering science, religion, medicines, space and what not.
University flourished for over eight centuries. Unprecedented tragedy struck the university in the 12th century when the invader Bakhityar Khilaji, who destroyed this university. He also burned down the library. The library kept burning for 3-6 months, destroying all the knowledge. This tragedy pushed the world back by at least 1000 years.
Here we have a vital lesson to learn from Europe. Oxford University was established in 1096. Europe has been involved in war all the time since then. But no one ever touched this institution of knowledge. Even Hitler also avoided this university while bombing all over the UK.
It took us 60 years after independence to have a plan to revive this university. The plan was first proposed by the then-president of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam in 2006. Finally, in 2024, the university will get its brand-new campus. This marks the announcement by India to become a learning hub.
Reviving Nalanda University is a part of India's grand plan of decolonization. Getting rid of the colonization burden that we have unnecessarily carried for 75 years. But just reviving the campus is enough? Of course not. In this article, we will also look at steps ahead.
India spends nearly 3.9% of its GDP on the education sector. The government allocated 1.16 lakh crore rupees to the ministry in last FY, and the ministry was able to spend 1.08 lakh crores only. A lot of initiatives have been taken, number of IITs, AIIMs and other colleges has drastically gone up in the past 10 years, initiatives like Atal tinkering labs have also been taken, but still a long way to go.
NEP sets a much higher target of investing (not spending) 6.6% of GDP in the education sector. Once we hit that target government has more money to spend on basic infrastructure. We need state-of-the-art public schools in villages and tier III, tier II cities also.
We claim to be on the path to decolonization. But our books reflect that? The simple answer is no. School textbooks are filled with just lost, lost and lost of Indian rulers to the hand of invaders. Imagine with what mindset that child will grow up with. Who will teach them about the Ahom kingdom who brought the Mughals to its knees, Lachit Borphukan one of the greatest army generals, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Maharana Pratap, Sambhaji Maharaj, Vijaynagar Empire, Mighty Cholas, Naika Devi and the list goes on and on. School textbooks are filled with the histories of Delhi's rulers. Not saying teaching about Delhi's rulers is wrong but what is wrong is to teach only about Delhi's rulers and justify that ruling Delhi is to rule India. Completely ignoring the great rulers and people of the west, south, north east, and central and some parts of the noth too, who never gave up against the invaders.
Even the syllabus of our colleges looks age-old. Those in the ministry might have forgotten when the last major review of the syllabus was conducted. It is required to setup a committee to review the syllabus of schools and colleges. Making it competitive and of the world standards.
How can we even think of becoming a learning hub when we can't guarantee the integrity of exams affecting lakhs of students? There should be a centralized body to keep an eye on all the state and centre-level exams and the quality of question papers. Stricter laws should be in place to punish those involved in paper leaks.
India has announced its arrival to become a learning hub, but the road is that simple? Of course No. There are a few more challenges than just the three listed above. None of them is easy to solve, but than civilization that survived two blows of colonization and still stands strong is not destined to solve easy problems.
If you think all is bleak and nothing that we can do now, than that is also not the case. Lots of steps have been taken. Eklavya schools, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan has yielded very good results. IITs are going abroad. Many universities from other countries are finding India a better place to open their campuses. NEP 2020 has some very good provisions. Our intentions and vision is clear. With a few right steps, we are well on the track to achieve that goal.