Nai Talim

This chapter discusses Gandhi’s ideas on education. Gandhi recognized that education is both culture-relevant and culture-dependent. Education in the shape of formal schooling is an important and necessary resource for knowledge. Knowledge, however, is not an end in itself. Rather, it is an instrument and a tool that adds value to life. In Gandhi’s educational scheme, education, above all, involves moral development and the building of the character of the child. This chapter discusses not only the philosophy of Nai Talim and the attempts to implement it during his lifetime, but also the reasons for the inability of the national government to put Gandhi’s vision into practice.