– Aseem Saxena, Faculty of Commerce & Management, Indore
Non – Cooperation Movement 2020
After the outbreak of COVID 19, the entire world is preoccupied with saving themselves in this year. India is busy with other political issues too, but none of us thought that we are celebrating 100th year of Non-Cooperation Movement, led by Gandhiji on 5th September 1920.
On 1st August, 1920, the day on which the dead body of Bal Gangadhar Tilak was carried for his funeral; Mahatma Gandhi began the foundation of Non-Cooperation campaign. Gandhiji thought that Britishers could settle in India only with the cooperation of Indians. Hence, if the Indians refused to cooperate, we can achieve Swaraj leading to the collapse of the British Empire. Rowlatt Act 1919, Jaliawala Bagh Masaccare and the post effect of the First World War were also some of the causes of emergence of Non-Cooperation Movement.
After 100 years of Non-Cooperation Movement, again today we are witnessing the same movement among the various pillars of education system. Students, teachers, parents, school management and government are still in the mood of not understanding each other.
Students are not in a mood to study online. A student is currently struggling ever since the online classes started. He has to be on his desk, before a laptop/desk top for more than three hours. Earlier he uses to move out with his friends after every period, trips to the library and hanging out with friends at the canteen. But now, he is involved with cups of coffee or milk while sitting with his eyes glued to the laptop and swinging between online classes and assignments.
Teachers are finding very difficult to teach online. They are trying their level best to upgrade themselves and impart their learning through online method. Many teachers find themselves unable to operate latest technology effectively in order to take a class. This in turn, often ends up in classes which are not at par and leave students with gaps in understanding that neither party are aware of. Insufficient salaries to teachers are also one of the de-motivating factors for avoiding online classes by them.
Parents don’t want to pay the fees and believe in the theory of ‘No School…No Fees’. Parents had also raised the issue of purchase of laptops and regular internet connections and are trying to prove that more expenses were made because of online classes.
On the other hand schools are demanding for the fees to run the online classes smoothly and to pay the teachers. Many cases were filed in various judiciary systems and some were in favour of schools and others in favour of parents. The politics had also entered dramatically and issuing the orders for not depositing the fees or depositing only tuition fees. With the shift towards the online teaching, all the schools are having one aim of completing the syllabus on time for the students.
It is very difficult to evaluate the role of actual classroom learning in our educational system. In the class room environment, the students used to study together, irrespective of their caste, creed, family backgrounds. But now, a number of societal and family obligations aroused and are stopping the students from working effectively as they otherwise would have done.
No doubt to accept that, a change in the system of today’s education is the need of the hour, but we all have to take it upon ourselves to stick to our age-old traditional methods under the illusion that they have successfully transformed an entire physical space of classroom into a digital one.
Coming back to the Non-Cooperation Movement, it is very different from its predecessor. Today’s movement is completely neglecting the needs of those who are not privileged in the society and therefore they are left far behind in the race of survival. The Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920 got the credibility and secured an important spot in the pages of our history, but the Non-Cooperation Movement of 2020 is the one that is not in the favor of the outright, evident and rejection which was typical of its ancestor.
The up-gradation of the movement is still on and will continue with M.D.H….
……….Mask, Distancing, Hand-wash
Other articles by Dr Aseem Saxena
Parent-teacher partnership need of today’s school education
Remembering Gandhi on his 150th birthday
Guru Dakshina – from ancient to the modern world
