LAJPAT RAI AND NATIONAL EDUCATION: RESPONSE AND REFORM IN THE KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM IN BRITISH INDIA

Abstract [English]

Lala Lajpat Rai (1865-1928) was a keen educationist. The study of educational institutions and ideals and pedagogy were a lifelong passion with Rai. His visits abroad were preoccupied with extensive study of the other nations education system in order to ‘adapt them to needs of India.’ For Rai the purpose of education should work towards a transformation of the general psychology of the Indian people. The system of education introduced by the British had created a weak and passive Indian society. It was therefore necessary that a modern system of education which reflected the need for a modern and progressive global outlook should be developed. This paper attempts to reassess Lajpat Rai’s scheme of national education as a counterpoise to the colonial education introduced by the British in India. Rai viewed this as essential for freeing the Indian mindset from colonial influence and for sowing the seeds for growth of democratic institutions. According to Rai, teaching methods should aim to create "thoughtful and proactive individuals." Looking back to Lajpat Rai’s perspectives on establishing a nationalist education system—one that encourages individualism while maintaining a global perspective—can be instrumental in locating the recent changes within new knowledge systems.