Subhas Chandra Bose Jayanti 2023: What Were Netaji's Views on Ideal Education Policy?

Subhas Chandra Bose Jayanti 2023: Jan 23 is celebrated as the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. This year, we celebrated the 126th birth anniversary of Netaji. The Subhas Chandra Bose Jayanti is also referred to as Parakram Diwas. Parakaram is the hindi translation of "courage," which justifies the life of Netaji as it was full of courage and sacrifices.

Subhas Chandra Bose was born on Jan 23, 1897, in Cuttack, Odisha. He completed his primary education in the Protestant European School, Cuttack, which was administrated by the Britishers and followed the English school curricula. For Matriculation Examination, Subhas Chandra Bose switched to an Indian school named Ravenshaw Collegiate School, Cuttack, in 1909 because the P.E. school followed the English school curricula and taught students much about Great Britain's history & geography and very little about India. Subhas Chandra was against this philosophy and switched to an Indian school for matriculation examinations. Further, after completing his matriculation, Bose moved to Presidency College and later to Scottish Church College Calcutta to pursue his degree in Philosophy. Subhas Chandra Bose always believed in Indian education policy; this is the main reason he switched from a British school to an Indian school.

Later in 1920, Subhas Chandra Bose went to the University of Cambridge, England, to prepare for the Indian Civil Services examination. He cleared the civil services examination with flying colours, but a year later, he resigned from his post and returned to India due to agitation against British rule in India. Bose joined the non-cooperation movement begun by Mahatma Gandhi after coming back to India. Subsequently, Subhas Chandra Bose started a newspaper named "Swaraj" to promote the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee. The title 'Netaji' was given to Subhash Chandra Bose by the German and Indian officials at the Special Bureau of India in Berlin.

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What Were Netaji's Views on Ideal Education Policy?

Subhas Chandra Bose - "Netaji" always believed that the primary role of a college education is to acquire intellectual discipline and a critical frame of mind. He believed that the goal of higher education in India should be to create a system that enables students to gain practical knowledge and apply what they studied in colleges and universities. 

Furthermore, Bose had a well-considered opinion on establishing Indian public schools along the lines of English institutions. Bose asserts that "the right psychological method for a cultural rapprochement between the East and the West is to bring Indian students into direct personal touch with the West when they are developed, rather than forcing English instruction on them when they are young."