Education at the Crossroads

This volume asks a fundamental question: What is education? While there can be no one answer, the contributors provide a clear understanding of the current state of education in India, which stands at a crossroads. Education is a fundamental right for the empowerment of every citizen and the holistic development of the human personality. It is not only about literacy and grades, nor merely about knowledge creation. A common theme that runs through the papers is the recognition that education has to teach us to think and question. If this is the imperative, education must take cognisance of disparities in incomes and social status, the heterogeneity of culture, religion, language and lived reality. Most importantly, however, is the crucial need for value education, as brought out in the Foreword. The 20th century has seen major developments in science and technology, for instance. On the other hand, it has been lethal and destructive. It is the moment for us to draw on our rich heritage and promote intercultural education. This volume is essential reading for those in the field of education, of course, but also public policy and the non-government sector.

Edited by Apoorvanand

Apoorvanand is Professor of Hindi and was part of the core group that designed the National Curriculum framework for School Education in 2005. Member of the National Focus Group on Teaching of Indian Languages (NCERT), and on the committee to advise on renovation and rejuvenation of Higher Education in India, he currently edits Alochana, a quarterly journal on criticism

Omita Goyal

Omita Goyal is presently Chief Editor of the IIC Quarterly, the journal of the International Centre. Prior to this she worked at Sage Publications India , subsequently initiating the social science programme for Taylor & Francis under their social science and humanities imprint Routledge.