Rethinking
Nai Talim
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School children vaccinating country chicken -ducks, West Bengal
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Fruit Tree Grafting
Disinfecting Tubewells
Nai Talim
vs
A separate Activity Period
( SUPW / Work Education )
vs
Vocational Course
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Tagore
15 point Rural Reconstruction charter
1906 –Pabna Conference
Sikshasatra 1924
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National Focus Group
On “Work and Education”
NCF –2005
Chair : Anil Sadgopal
Why did Nai Talim fizzle out ?
Separate SUPW / Work Education subject
Vocational education
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Reconstruct the entire school
curriculum from the pre-primary to
senior secondary stage with a view to
making productive work (and other
forms of work as well, including social
engagement) a pedagogic medium for
knowledge acquisition,
developing values and
multiple-skill formation.
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Why did Nai Talim fizzle out ?
We will know what type of education to
provide , if we know what type of society
we want ---Dewey ( Vasavi)
INDUSTRIALISM
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Why re-think Nai Talim now ?
Collapse of Industrialism
Disruptive age ( Vasavi)
Impetus for Zero growth ( Dhruv)
What if ~ 25 M finish High School every
year ?
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75th anniversary celebrations of Nai Talim
At Sevagram on 17-18 Nov 2012
Rejuvenated Ananda Niketan
Renewed School Experiments all over India
Pune University Colleges -- new GVS ?
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Azim Premji Foundation’s Mission
Improve quality of rural govt school system
(Just – Equitable – Sustainable – Humane Society)
And its Learning in 8 years ?
One outcome
Azim Premji University
Private university with a public purpose
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Azim Premji
Foundation
(APF)
Azim Premji
University(APU)
Field institutes in
8 states
50 districts by
2015
2 demo schools
in each of the 50
districts
IAA
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Azim Premji University
Developmental Mission and its
Dilemmas
Theory and Practice
What Students ?
Language Problem
Social Science vs ?
What Faculty ?
How to Reach Practitioners ?
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Some Features
No departments
Extension / Continuing Education
(University Resource Centre URC)
Realizing the vision in the
Neighborhood
Partnerships
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APU and NAI TALIM
What do we Plan to do ?
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Nai Talim in APF schools
Critical documentation, research , action
Learning from other countries
A course in Masters ; and a specialization
Work with undergraduate colleges
Work with Rural livelihood NGOs
Network and advocacy with other
universities/actors for Diversified school
system
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Theory is when you know everything
but nothing works
Practice is when everything works
but no one knows why
In our lab , theory and practice are
combined.
Nothing works and no one knows why
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