Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, while inaugurating Gyan Maha Kumbh-2081 in the sacred Sangam area of Prayagraj on January 10, said Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas (SSUN) seeks to bring about a positive change in Bharat’s education through Gyan Maha Kumbh. He further said that education without values has no meaning and society has to jointly take the initiative of value-based education with the Nyas (trust) to a long distance.
Course Correction
Describing Kumbh Mela as the world’s largest spiritual gathering along with Dharmik, cultural and social organisations, Dr Atul Kothari, National Secretary of SSUN, said sants and sages from across the country have gathered in Kumbh Mela and are imparting Dharmik guidance to devotees.
Importantly, in this month-long confluence, students, teachers, educationists, researchers, Government officials related to education, representatives of private educational institutions of the country will together brainstorm to accelerate the process of fundamental change in the country’s education. “Due to the influence of Macaulay’s education policy for the last 175 years, education became a mere means of getting a job. For the last few decades, most of the educational discourses were limited to the discussion of problems. Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas is committed to bring about improvement and change in this educational scenario,” said Dr Atul Kothari, while presenting the role of Maha Kumbh in the inaugural ceremony of Gyan Maha Kumbh-2081.
Pointing out that institutions and scholars working in the direction of positive work, innovation and Bharatiyattva (Indianness) in the field of education will be brought together on one platform, Dr Kothari said their work will be presented and displayed at the confluence. He said that just as in ancient Bharat, sages and sants used to gather in Naimisharanya to find solutions to problems, similarly, all the components of education will come together and brainstorm to bring positive change in the education of the country. This is the main objective of this Gyan Maha Kumbh.
“Before this Gyan Maha Kumbh, Gyan Kumbhs have been organised in Haridwar, Karnavati, Nalanda, Puducherry. With this Gyan Maha Kumbh, we will definitely move forward in the direction of giving a new alternative to the country’s education,” said Atul Kothari. He further said that the importance of this Gyan Kumbh can be understood from the fact that hundreds of karyakartas from across the country are giving their time from one month to a year to make this event a success. “I am confident that this Gyan Maha Kumbh will strengthen the efforts being made for the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020.”
“Bharatiya tradition emphasises on collective thinking. When the world did not even know how to tie the string of pyjamas, we used to talk about calculation of stars, high level science and morality,” said Dr Vagish Swaroop Brahmachari from Vishwa Jagriti Foundation.
The Gyan Maha Kumbh organised by Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas is a month-long confluence and will conclude on February 10, 2025. It will bring together over a thousand teachers, university vice-chancellors, education ministers, and secretaries of the central and state governments and deliberate on various topics in education.
RSS Kashi Prant Pracharak Ramesh Kumar, Director of Indian Institute of Information Technology, Prayagraj, Prof. Mukul Sharad Sutavane, MLA Guru Prasad Maurya and MLA Pooja Pal were also present.
