I'm going to keep this post relatively short as the point I wish to make is quite straightforward in my opinion and I believe I'll be able to make it fairly succinctly.
Consider systems of knowledge such as modern day science and technology that have developed and evolved over the last few centuries primarily in the west.
For such systems of knowledge it is perhaps an acceptable premise that the manner in which the rest of the world engages with them and the educational framework through which they are communicated to the next generations of students are aligned with educational methodologies in the west, at least till such a time that someone somewhere either demonstrates the existence of a better knowledge system or establishes that an alternate educational framework would be better.
What the presently and widely accepted educational framework for such knowledge systems translates to in more concrete terms is three to four year bachelors degree programs followed by two to three year masters programs and finally doctoral programs that can vary a fair bit in their lengths from student to student and advisor to advisor. Within these durations, recent times have seen the implementation of the semester system along with credit based coursework across universities in India. These structures (and degree titles) have essentially been adapted from the west and as I remarked above I can see the validity of doing so for since that's where they have primarily developed and progressed for quite a while now.
However, I do sense a problem with imposing such modalities and structures on every knowledge system.
Consider education in Indian classical music for example (I also extend to other subjects later in the post):
[Before getting to the central point I want to make, I think it's important to emphasize the following: Music education is taken very seriously in the west and pretty much every university of standing has a school of music that offers education in diverse forms of music all the way till the doctoral level. The best universities in the world are not all about STEM. We need to create a similarly vibrant music education atmosphere in our universities. In doing this, we can certainly be global and offer education in forms of music from all around the world - but we must do so without losing focus on our own music systems.]
And here's the point I want to make:
I'm not quite sure that a credit based semester system is the best possible framework for education in Indian classical music (or some of the other subjects that I list later in the post).
I'm also not sure that graduating at the Bachelors or Masters level with a certain grade point average or percentage of marks is a sensible notion in the field of music. To be called a Bachelor of Music or a Master of Music must necessarily mean that you have raised yourself to a certain level of calibre in the art form. A Doctorate in Music of course would relate to taking the field itself further through research or a deep fundamental innovation. That's only for a few people anyway in any field and I personally don't like to associate rigid time frames with the pursuit.
If you read about any of the maestros in the field, past and present, you will likely find that the way they have been educated is very different from how we have become used to viewing education. And the results of their manner of education are absolutely beyond any discussion. I'll just take a few names from north Indian classical music to drive home this point: Pandit Ravi Shankar, Pandit Nikhil Banerjee, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, the Dagar brothers. Note that these are names from the recent past and the present. I have not even gone to the distant past: example: Mia Tansen. So their manner of education does extend to the contemporary.
The challenge in front of us is: To bring the classical manner of music education without dilution in modern universities of today.
Now I'm not an expert myself in this field so shouldn't really opine on how to go about implementing an alternate method of education that may be more appropriate to the field of Indian classical music in our universities. Can it be done? If so how? What kind of teacher-student ratios would be ideal? How would one qualify to teach in such a university program? Note that some of the best Indian classical musicians in the world today would probably not have "PhDs" - that's a relatively recent introduction in their field - yet, we would surely want to absorb them as faculty members! What would be the criteria to call someone a Bachelor of Music or Master of Music? What might be some of the intermediate benchmarks till one arrives at the status of being called a Pandit or Ustad? At what stages (if any) can one be meaningfully absorbed as a teacher at different levels so that the students' (and their families') economic conditions may be addressed? These are all important questions that must be addressed in my opinion by none other than experts in the field of music themselves. So I propose the following:
Let the Ministry of Culture along with the Ministries of Education and Human Resource and Development and the University Grants Commission organize a conclave of maestros in north as well as south Indian classical music and seek advice from them on all these questions. Let us adapt the educational framework they recommend. The same university can have different frameworks and modalities for different knowledge systems. I don't see a problem with that. In fact, our universities would only be the richer for it as I see things.
I propose that such an effort be extended to the following uniquely Indian systems of knowledge:
1. Indian classical music (all forms) [already discussed above]
2. Indian classical dance (all forms)
3. Yoga (philosophy and practice)
4. Indian philosophical systems
The very cultural identity of any people is intimately connected with their knowledge systems and for this identity to persist it is of paramount importance that these knowledge systems not only be preserved but an ecosystem created (academic aa well as economic) in which they thrive. Integration of Indian knowledge systems in Indian universities is of paramount importance. And we must do this in a way and through an educational framework that is appropriate for our knowledge systems.
I look forward to the day when universities across India will thrive in knowledge systems from all parts of the world with each system being addressed and communicated through modalities and structures appropriate to it.
[I also invite you to read: Strike a Pause: Globalizing Indian Universities (strike-a-pause.blogspot.com)]
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