Lately, I was going through the school curriculum of my 2.5 year old daughter. Whole curriculum included English nursery rhymes , which is very obvious as we all grew up reciting those lines. In fact not only us but these rhymes are even known to our grand parents. And this is not because they were very proficient in English language but these rhymes have been carried from one generation to next one like an unseen legacy as most of the things described in them are not relevant even to child's surroundings or praxis visible in India.
Here the concern is not that these poems are in English language but how much the content is relevant to a child's praxis . Western names , places events give most individuals of the impression of so called Modernization.
Some of the examples of rhymes to site are
1. London bridge is falling down .......
My question here - How does a toddler relate to a bridge in London and that too in the situation of demise?
2. Johny Johny yes papa
My question here - Is Johny a very common name in our households?
3. Chubby cheeks , dimple chin ......Fair I am , teachers pet.
My question here - A student who is physically good in appearance will be given priority?
These are some of the most popular rhymes. Don't they exist as some kind of unreal learning in disguise for kids.
Some the questions which can be asked here are
1. Does Westernisation have to exist as a synonym for Modernisation?
2. Is a person's English proficiency the most significant competence?
3. What is Modernisation in true sense?
Modern education has a fundamentally different essence and significance. It's content is exoteric , and it is steeped in modern scientific world view. Freedom, equality, humanism and denial of faith in dogmas are the themes which a modern education contain. The roles of teacher and the taught is qualitative astrictive . To put in simple terms a modern classroom can be tailored with relevant activities like role play, story telling , simple experiments etc. As the goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to create possibilities for a child to invent and discover , to create individuals who are capable of doing new things. For this, overhauling of primary education is a prerequisite.
That will surely lead to the development of a liberated, progressive and creative society. Building up of a new form of society from the existing one and not just the blind followers.Though competence is a trait to be nurtured but it can't be gained by imitating and reiterating the other so called superior culture. However, amalgamation of cultures for intellectual development which will help in the formation of a liberated society is desirable.
As these quotes rightly state
"Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, build on to that which is already excellent"
Auliq Ice
"Nations rise and fall , flourish and decay by what they believe in and by what their culture stands for"
Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha
