The alarming lack of awareness about our origins, and authentic local history among both the younger and older generations in India is a real cause for concern. It is also the root cause of the controversial and mutually contradictory views that Indians hold about their own origins and selves. But when no one alive today has even been formally taught the true, authentic history, sans the opinionated and self-serving interests of a few, what more can we expect. In today’s India, how many have even heard firsthand anecdotes of how their parents or grand parents were educated before the British influenced schools took over from around 1813? Even the centenarians might struggle to recall hearing such anecdotes. The British dismissed any past events that didn’t involve them as mere mythology, contributing further to our current historical disconnect
Our tragedy began when control of our education system slipped from our hands, and the content taught in schools no longer reflected our true history, but was coloured by self-serving interests of the British first and politicians next. However, the recent rise in social media awareness about this issue is encouraging. To expedite this movement, it is crucial to urgently update our education system, right from the Primary levels to include a comprehensive and authentic account of Indian History. An account that is authentic. An account that would build the confidence in the budding Indian that he knows facts the good and the bad. An account that will fill him with pride about the good, and a strong and clear sense of self in the fact that his is a country that rose out of the bad
Imagine a course say “My Origins” or “My India”, designed to be taught over 3 years, with 3 content delivery styles tailored for Primary, Secondary, and High School. The entire course, grounded in authentic sources with proper credits, could be studied in any one style. This approach would ensure that students are not easily swayed by opinion-based narratives in future. Students could complete the course within their schooling at their own pace and in any delivery style they chose as long as they cover the 3 years content
These course sessions could replace the non-core subjects like music or yoga in the school timetable starting from the next academic year. Every child regardless of their grade, would be required to take this course. Simple multiple-choice tests could be administered to ensure students have engaged with the material and earned their year credits. Completion of this course with earned credits would be mandatory before receiving an SSC passing certificate. Uploading the “My India” course certificate on Digilocker could be made a prerequisite for uploading any other educational certificates.
The SWAYAM app offers an excellent platform to roll out this course quickly making it accessible not just in schools but to any Indian who wishes to add an academic certificate to their Digilocker. Completion of this course could even be linked to an individual’s Aadhaar, further embedding it into our national identity.
Hopefully we will have a large population of more self-aware citizen in 3 years time. Citizen better equipped to make decisions for their future based on a sound knowledge of their roots.
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