Wardha Scheme of Basic

Education (1937)
Wardha Scheme of Basic Education (1937) which is also known as Nai Talim / Buniyadi
talim was the outcome of thinking of Mahatma Gandhi. He considered education as an
effective
instrument of national reconstruction.

Origin of Gandhi's Wardha Scheme of Basic Education 1937

*At the second round table conference in London in 1931, Mahatma Gandhi pointed out
the ineffectiveness of primary education under the British rule.
*He criticized English education as it had created a permanent bar between the educated
few and the majority, who were mainly illiterate.
*By education, he meant all round development of a person’s body, mind and spirit. He
proposed a system of self supporting education.
*When Congress were elected in the provincial elections of 1937, it became there duty to
implement it into action.
*To solve financial problem of this action, MG put forward his scheme of self supporting
education in The Wardha Conference of 1937.
Wardha Education Conference 1937
An all India Education Conference was held in Wardha on 22 and 23 of October 1937.
Following resolutions were passed;
*Nationwide free and compulsory education.
*Mother tongue should be medium of instruction.
*Education should be centered around some productive work related to the local or central
handicraft.

Appointment of Zakir Hussain Committee

*A committee was appointed under the chairmanship of Dr. Zakir Hussain to formulate the
scheme of basic educationin India. It submitted its report and published in March 1938,
which is known as Wardha Scheme of Education.
*The report included Wardha Scheme of Education, its objectives, organisation of schools,
their administration, inspection and promotion of craft. The second report included
agriculture, woodcraft, metal work and other basic handicrafts.

Salient features of Wardha Scheme of Basic Education (1937)

*Free and compulsory education was to be given for 8 years (from 6 to 14 years). In two
stages junior(5 years) and senior(3 years).
*To provide education through some form of craft or productive work. It was to relieve
child from the burden of purely academic and theoretical education.
*It aimed such education which can be self-supporting in later life. The craft chosen is
taught properly, it would enable school to pay the salaries of teachers, provide livelihood to
students after leaving school and ensure the dignity of labour.
*Mother tongue must be the medium of instruction.
*Aimed at providing the citizens of future opportunity of personal growth, dignity,
efficiency and cooperative community. Develop the feeling of common citizenship, rights
and duties.
*The students and teachers were free to work according to their interest and requirement.
There was no fear of examinations.
*There are various subjects like basic craft, mother tongue, mathematics, social studies,
paintings, music and sports. English was not included in the curriculum because Hindi was
mandatory.
*Religious education was not there in the Gandhi’s Wardha Scheme of Basic Education
1937.

Evaluation of Wardha Scheme of Basic Education (1937)

Merits;
*British education was very expensive and difficult to implement in India. Gandhi ji
wanted to make education work centric and self-supporting to provide a kind of insurance
against unemployment.
*Committee pointed out the problems of overdoing craft work. It was modified to shift
emphasis from complete support to partial support.
*Craft work was psychologically desirable as it balanced intellectual and practical elements
of experience.
*The scheme provided for free and compulsory education in mother tongue. This was
thought to create a classless society free from any form of exploitation either social or
economic.
*The system was to bring social solidarity and national integration by removing the barriers
between educated and uneducated, rich and poor and between manual and intellectual
work.

Limitations of Wardha Scheme of Education (1937)

*Criticized for ignoring the negative psychological effects of work at such young age. It
would be better if the provision to learn craft would have been after the age of 12 to allow
proper mental and psychological development of the child.
*The scheme do not relate to economic policy of the state in the age of industrialisation.
Due to fast industrialisation, the knowledge of mathematics and science may become more
desirable.
*The subjets included craft work due to which students are sometimes too tired to take on
the academic teaching properly.

Implementation;
The work on this scheme was initiated mainly after independence and made a decent
progress for about a decade. But gradually due to several problems and challenges the
scheme could not remain permanent.

Failure;
The self supporting aspect of the system was severely criticized for turning the schools into
small scale industry. There was a neglect of liberal education due to much emphasis on craft.
Lack of funds, well trained teachers and proper administrative policy was responsible for
the failure of this scheme.
Though this scheme has failed, its fundamental principles are still relevant for our present
education system. It can be reformed on modern lines to serve the present requirements.

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