Educational philosophy of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar

Name                    : Vhadgar Dattu Gorakhnath
Program Name    : M.A. Education Ist Year
Course Name       : Basic of Education
Course Code        : MAE101
Teacher Name      : Mr. Mahesh Mali


*Importance of Education*

Ambedkar thought that education was of tremendous importance as a 

foundation of progress. He thought that because people neglected the material 

needs of life and grew indifferent to the knowledge that enabled them to secure it, 

our country remained backward and her progress came to a standstill. He did not 

visualize education simply as a means for the development of a child's personality 

or as a source of earning ones livelihood. Rather, he considered education as the 

most powerful agent for bringing about desired changes in society and a 

prerequisite for organised effort for launching any social movement in modem 

times. For him education was an instrument to liberate the dalits from illiteracy, 

ignorance and superstitions and thus enable them to fight against all forms of 

injustice, exploitation and oppression. He felt if the dalits are educated 

than they could leave their traditional occupation and take up secular occupations 

thus breaking the age-old caste based structure of divisions of labour in 

our society. 

Mahatma Jyotirao Phule also described the indispensability of education for 

the redemption of the dalits in the following words : 

"For want of education, their intellect deteriorated for want of 

intellect, their morality decayed, for want of morality, their progress 

stoppedjfor want of progress, their wealth vanished all their sorrows/J^ 

sprang from illiteracy". (Keer, Dhananjay; 1954) m^^^^^ 

Babasaheb always held that education should be co-related to the social; 

political and economic needs of a developing nation. It should be an instrument ofsocial change. It should be so devised, as to meet the realities of the times. With 

this end in view the People's Education Society, which was founded by Dr. 

Ambedkar started Diploma courses to equip students for responsible positions in 

various fields of professional activity. He thus instituted the Siddharth College of 

Mass Communication and Media and the Siddharth Institute of Industry and 

Administration. He felt that for the betterment of society only education at school 

would not be enough. Informal education at home along with the education 

through newspapers and other sources was also necessary

* Dr. Ambedkar's Ideas on the Syllabus 

Syllabus is a condensed outline or statement of the main points of a course 

of study or of books or other documents. (Good, C. V.; 1959:544) Ambedkar 

opposed the hard and fast syllabus as it brings restrictions on the teaching. He said. 

It is, therefore, necessary that the imiversity should give broad guidelines of the 

subjects concerned and teachers must be given a freedom to teach what he thinks 

proper in the light of those guidelines. For this purpose Dr. Ambedkar pointed 

out "the teachers of the university ought, under proper safeguards, to have 

entire control of the education and examination of their students". 

(Govt, of Maharashtra; 1982:45-48) ^

* His Idea of Pooling System 

This is most practical by which resources in the field of education can be 

utilized to the maximum extent. His suggestion was that instead of engaging 

many teachers of the same subject at different colleges in a particular city, these 

teachers in a particular subject should work together as a homogeneous group. 

"If these colleges could be induced to pool their teaching and library 

resources it would not only produce a strong specialized 

professoriate, over and above this it will produce a professoriate

adequate to deal with both under-graduate and post-graduate work 

and thus obviate the wastage of university rpigources". (Govt, of

Maharashtra; 1982:45-48)

*Dr. Ambedkar's Views on Examination 

He severely criticized the examination system, which was closely linked
with the standard of education. It is one of the means to reach an end. But
educationists in those days believed that the raising of the standard of
examinations is equivalent to the raising of the standard of education. (Govt, of
Maharashtra; 1982:50-51) Dr. Ambedkar opposed the idea of severe examination
system, as he believed that the "University cannot succeed in promoting research
or in promoting education, if it makes the examination system the be all and end
all of its existence". ((Govt, of Maharashtra; 1982:45-46) While givmg
alternatives for a better education Dr. Ambedkar recommended :1. Besides examinations, students work in colleges ought to be taken into
account.
2. For higher degrees there should be thesis and oral examination" (Dr.
Babasaheb Ambedkar, Writings & Speeches Vol.2, 1982:45-71). 3. Number of
examinations should be reduced to the extent possible, as a result of which a
student would get an opportunity to learn different aspects of education.

* Primary Education*

Primary education occupies a significant place in the educational 

reconstruction of a developing country. Ever since educational consciousness 

developed in India, a great deal of thinking has gone into developing adequate 

programmes of primary education. When the constitution of free India was in the 

making. The expert framers of this sacred document did not ignore the great 

national endeavour to provide for primary education to suit the needs and 

aspirations of the people of free India. Article 45 of the Directive Principles of 

State policy held out a great promise for the young child. Unfortunately a few 

miles are yet to be travelled before the promise can be fulfilled. 

It is the primary education which is the first stage of the entire 

superstructure of educational setup in India. According to Indian Constitution (Art. 

45) Primary education refers to "free and compulsory education for all children 

until they complete the age of fourteen years. (Bhatia, K. K., Chadha, P. C. & 

Kadyan, K.S. & Sharma, S.; 1988:75)It was in September 1882 that Dadabhai Naoroji demanded before the first 

Education Commission of the country, that primary education should be made free 

and compulsory in India as soon as possible. Though his demand was unheeded, 

yet it did express that Indians were awakening towards the need of free and 

compulsory education.

*Higher Education *

Babasaheb stressed upon the minds of his people, the importance of self 

respect and self-elevation. He encouraged them to take higher education for their 

progress. He thought that the progress of a community always depended upon how 

its members advanced in education. That is why he laid more stress on higher 

education than on primary education. In the realm of higher education. 

Dr. Ambedkar was in favor of giving teachers necessary freedom to frame their 

own syllabi and assess the performance of their students. He was opposed to 

prescribing and following a rigidly structured syllabus.He founded the People's Education Society (P.E.S) in 1945, which started a 

college on June 20,1946. The institution was founded by him with a view to 

promoting higher education among the lower middle classes and especially among 

the scheduled castes. Later on the P.E.S started high-schools, night high schools, 

hostels, colleges and other institutions. Though he started the People's Education 

Society, still he held the view that the greater responsibility for providing 

educational opportunities should be that of the Government

*University Education *

Dr. Ambedkar worked as a professor and after-wards as a Principal of a 

college. He studied the state of University Education in our country as well as 

abroad. He was of the opinion that Colleges should not be separated from the 

University. Colleges should be partners on terms of equality and participate in 

promoting together the cultural progress of both undergraduate and postgraduate 

studies. He wanted that the undergraduate faculty and the postgraduate faculty 

should work in an integrated fashion. If both the faculties run together in a 

University, the students at the undergraduate level may get the opportunity to 

attend the lectures of the senior and distinguished professors. The senior teachers 

may also get the opportunity to select the best students and train them properly 

from the very beginning. 

Dr. Ambedkar said that the aim and function of the University education 

should be1. to ensure that the teaching done there is suited to adults; 

2. that it i s scientific, detached and impartial in character; 

3. that it aims not so much at filling the mind of the student with facts or 

theories as at calling forth his own individuality and stimulating him to 

mental effort; 

4. that it enables him to critically study the leading authorities with 

perhaps occasional reference to first-hand sources of information; 

5. that it implants in his mind a standard of thoroughness and inculcates in 

him a sense of value for reaching at the truth, (Govt, of Maharashtra; 

1982:292-295)

* Library as an Educational Institution 

A Library is a building or room equipped for housing books and other 

materials of communication and for reading, listening or viewing purposes, a 

collection of books of various kinds, a collection of films, recordings etc. (Good, 

C. v.; 1959:318) 

There is no denying the fact that Library occupies a very prominent place in 

the educational setup at present. The changing pattern of education demands that 

the learning must be accelerated and broadened by the use of many and varied 

devices and materials. In a dynamic approach to teaching. Library is an essential 

part of school. It not only supplies enriched materials in all fields of study but also 

supplies materials in all levels of difficulty. (Kochhar, S. K.; 2000:254) 

Dr. Ambedkar was a noted bibliophile. He lived, moved and had his being 

in the world of books. He was of the opinion that library was an educationalinstitution itself, so he always stressed on well-equipped libraries to be affiliated to 

all his educational institutions. Ambedkar wanted reorganisation of University 

education and the establishment of teaching universities. Therefore he introduced 

co-curricular activities in almost all his institutions along with academic activities. 

He did not believe in mere bookish knowledge in the educational process. 

Along with formal education he strongly believed in educating the masses 

through mass media. Like most of the leaders of repute he too started four 

newspapers. This was his weapon to propagate the ideas and launch struggles 

against social and political tyranny.

*Legal Education *

As Dr. B.R. Ambedkar worked as Professor in Law Colleges, and later as 

the Principal of the Government Law College in 1935. He had taken keen interest 

in the problems concerning law at that time. He was considered a great jurist. 

He put his radical views on Legal Education in an article under the title 

'Thoughts on the Reform of Legal Education' in the Bombay Presidency. 

In it he referred to six classes of legal practitioners in the presidency and deplored 

that there should be such a diversity in the qualifications, in the matter of 

examinations and in the matter of status among persons practicing the same 

profession. 

As regards the curriculum for a complete course of legal education, he said 

that a lawyer should possess a correct understanding of the fundamental principles.a grounding in general knowledge, the art of orderly presentation of the subject 

and precision in stating facts, ability to express oneself in clear language and 

relevancy of the answers given to the questions asked. From the educationist point 

of view the study of law, requires a study of certain other auxiliary subjects 

without which the study of law alone would be an incomplete equipment for the 

practice of the profession. Observing further he said that a lawyer must have a 

legal mind, he quotes Augustine Birrell who says; 'A legal mind chiefly displays 

itself by illustrating the obvious, explaining the evident and expatiating on the 

common place.'(Keer, Dhananjay; 1954:252)

*Technical Education *

Technical Education is a type of education that emphasis the learning of a 

technique or technical procedures and skills and aims at preparing technicians. 

(Good, C. v.; 1959:554) 

Dr. Ambedkar said in order that learning and culture of the mind be 

complemented, it must be combined with healthy manual work. 

He advised students to take the fullest advantage of the facilities offered by 

the Government for studies in technical and higher fields. He was of the opinion 

that owing to the stratification of society, the scheduled castes occupy 

economically a very low place in the Indian economy. The status and conditions of 

scheduled castes could be improved only by technical education, which gives 

place for occupying executive posts.

* Education of Women*
The women of any country have an important contribution in the progress
of that country. It is the women who are capable of building such children who
may lead the country to the path of progress and prosperity. Educated women
makes the family and the society cultured. Manu, has, therefore rightly remarked
that God resides at the place where women are worshipped. By worship of women
we do not mean the worship through conventional means, but we mean
where women are respected, proper provision of education made for them and
they are given freedom equal to men in the society. The utmost expansion
of women education is necessary for the achievement of all sided development
of India.
In ancient India, education of women had made a great progress. Women
not only studied the Vedic literature but famous women such as Maittrai, Gargi,
Ghosha, Lopamudra, etc. had themselves, composed vedic verses. Women of the
ancient period had acquired great knowledge in different Shasthras and
sometimes they not only participated in the Shasthra s (learned discourses) equal
to those of men but also acted as judges or mediators.
After the Vedic period, the education of women received encouragement
during the Buddhist period also. Scholars are even of the view that it is the
Buddhists who have the credit of making the first organised effort in the field of
women education because they made proper provision of education for the
Buddhists female monks. After the decline of Buddhism, when the revival ofHinduism started women education received a major setback because
Shakaracharya, the leader of the revival of Hinduism, was against the education of
women.
In 1904, Annie Besant established central Hindu Girls school at Banaras
and Prof Karve established S.N.D.T. women's university at Poona. All India
Women Education conference was organised in 1927 and demands were made for
providing different types of education to women (Rai, B.C, 1984, 386)
After the Independence of India in 1947, our leaders paid special attention
towards the expansion of women education in the country.
When Dr. Ambedkar was a young boy of twenty he wrote a letter from
U.S.A. to one of his father's friends. In it he expressed his views about
education of women. He thought that the downtrodden's progress would
be greatly accelerated if male education was pursued side by side with female
education.
However, he did not think that boys and girls should be given the same
education. He thought that they should be given the same education upto
matriculation. Imparting education to girls on par with boys appeared to him a
waste of time, money and energy. According to him, what was the use of teaching.
Burke and Shakespeare to girls? Girls should be well-versed in home education.
(Bombay University Ambedkar Collections...ILP Manifesto). Ambedkar was a
believer in women's progress. He measured the progress of a community by the
degree of the progress which women achieved. He fought for human rights equallyfor both men and women. He advised women to learn to be clean, keep away from
vices, give education to their children, remove from them all inferiority
complexes, instil ambition into them, inculcate in their minds that they were
destined to be great and not to be in a hurry to marry. These thoughts of
Dr. Ambedkar clearly shows that he too strongly believed that if women were
educated the entire family will be educated.


*Views About Teachers And Professors
"No system of education can rise higher than its teachers." "The way to
child - centred education can only be through teacher - centred school." In the
words of Dr. Pires, "If a nation's teachers are C3, the nation itself cannot but be
C3. And let there be no doubt about this if we wish to be an Al nation, our
teachers will have to be Al."
The Mudaliar Report stated -
"We are convinced that the most important factor in the
contemplated educational reconstruction is the teacher - his personal
qualities, his educational qualifications, his professional training and
the place that he occupies in the school as well as in the
community," (Kochhar, S. K.; 2000:151-152)
Dr. Ambedkar said in an editorial that no real progress could be made in
education, if education was entrusted to the teachers coming from the Brahmin
community, whose minds conceived an abhorrence for the lower classes and who
showed callous disregard for the intellectual uplift of any other class. He declared
that teachers were the charioteers of the nation and there was no question more
important from the stand point of social reform than the selection of proper
persons in the teaching profession. Those who drummed into the ears of the
backward class students that they were bom to do odd jobs like their forefathers,
that they belonged to low categories, and that education was a thing meant for a
particular class, should not be entrusted with this noble, national, human,
enlightening work (Keer, Dhananjay; 1954:80-81) observed Ambedkar.
Ambedkar was of the opinion that the present educational system could not
produce good professors. He advocated the system of grouping different subjects.
He viewed that teaching and research must be the work of the professors and they
all must receive equal pay.
He outlined his concept about an ideal professor. He said; "a Professor
should not only be learned, he must speak in a clear tone and he must be well
versed in his content." He also opined that Professors should constantly seek
knowledge and try for truth and practice it. In the realm of higher education, he
was in favour of giving teachers necessary freedom to frame their own syllabi and
assess the performance of their students. (Kuber, W. N.; 1973:250).


*Appeal to Students
To Dr. Ambedkar nothing was more sacred than learning. He recalled
students of the glorious tradition and untiring industry. High aims and high sense
of public life of Ranade, Tilak and Gokhale.He advised students and young men to inculcate a spirit of service to their
community. The task of shouldering the future burden of welfare of the
community would be theirs and at no stage whatever be their status or position
should they forget it.
On September 25, 1947, he inaugurated the Parliamentary Institution of
Siddarth College of Bombay. In his thought provoking speech he impressed upon
the budding youths the need for cultivating the art of speaking. In a Parliamentary
Institution he observed, success went to the man who had the capacity to address
the house in a gentle, strong, logical and instructive manner. In order to develop
that power students must equip themselves with many things. They must widen
their vision; their capacity to think and their ability to solve the actual problem
which the people had to face. He then dealt with the various aspects of
parliamentary democracy and said that Government meant decision. Government
by compromise was no Government; because they got a decision which was
neither fish nor fowl, he concluded. (Keer, Dhananjay; 1954: 381)


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