CHENNAI: How early should children start learning about their country? This question brought forth strong reactions from a ThinkEdu Conclave panel that included a life coach, a Deutsche Bank Global Strategist and a Jindal School professor.
P Kanagasabapathi, a Sastra University professor, who chaired the session, said, “If an ideal management graduate from India was asked about the primary sector of this country, they would still say it is agriculture, when the truth is that agriculture sector contributes only 14 per cent of the GDP while the service sector contributes over 65 per cent to the GDP. There is a need for mentoring students with the right perspective and in local subjects and topics.”
Deutsche Bank’s Sanjeev Sanyal spoke of how most history books pushed the wrong kind of ideas, “Much of the history books we have today contain the history of foreign invaders and more precisely, the history of Delhi. If you are not from this part of the country you would not have heard of the Cholas, the Pandyas and you probably would not have heard about the Vijayanagara Empire. If not for Bajirao Mastani one would never have heard about Bajirao, the greatest general of India.” Many historians agreed with the outdated syllabi of history and English language books as they are too scared to replace them lest the government charge them with Right-wing bias, he said, adding, “It is more likely that a student today might be aware of Macbeth rather than Shakuntala, because if you try to bring in some element related to the Indian past, it might be termed saffronising.”
Lata Shenava, life coach and trainer, said, “Pick any Hindi serial and all you have is a child being molested, a woman being burnt, bonded labour, the Devadasi system. Every parent wants the child to go abroad and not come back. Only 48 per cent of children speak their mother tongue and rest come from the ‘India Shining’ population, where they know only one language.”