[Reader-list] Why do Schools and Colleges in India Kill?

[taraprakash]

Well, the answer can also be found in certain Foucault readings. I guess in 
India we are still in the early stages of enlightenment, so the punishment 
appears so crude. As we progress, the punishment will get sophisticated, 
even though the effect will remain almost the same. Tagore had presumed such 
an education system in India in his Parrot Story (Tota Kahani)) where the 
king and his administration try to educate/civilize a parrot and end up 
killing him up.

Having said that, we should be grateful that people are not yet seeing it 
with green glasses otherwise it would again become just a minority issue.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <shivam at kafila.org>
To: "Shuddhabrata Sengupta" <shuddha at sarai.net>
Cc: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Saturday, April 18, 2009 4:22 PM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Why do Schools and Colleges in India Kill?


> Dear Shuddha,
>
> I wonder if it is possible to answer your question without resorting
> to cliche. But I think the primary reason for this is that we as a
> society do not look at schools and colleges as institutions of
> learning, or of imparting and sharing knowledge. That is really
> secondary. We see these institutions as merely those that give out
> degrees, and these institutions must be used for this purpose just as
> the gods are appeased for favours. The main function that pedagogical
> institutions thus perform is to 'straighten out' the students, to make
> 'boys out of men', to make them 'ready for the world'. We see these
> institutions are perform social functions rather than exclusively
> pedagogical functions.
>
> To that extent, violence is to be employed and condoned in performing
> such functions. It is not unsual to find parents asking teachers not
> to 'spare the rod'. Is this surprising really, in a society where men
> regularly beat up their wives and children?
>
> best
> shivam
>
> On Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 12:39 AM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta
> <shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:
>> Dear All,
>>
>> I find the incidence of deaths due to 'ragging' in educational
>> institutions in india and the recent death of a young girl, a student
>> of Class three, Shanno Khan, in a municipal school in Delhi caused by
>> the corporal punishment meted out to her by her teacher because she
>> could not tell the meaning of a word in English, totally shocking.
>>
>> Why is this murderous authoritarianism so prevalent in places of
>> education in India. Why do students and teachers behave like
>> executioners and impose so much violence on those weaker or smaller
>> or younger than them?
>>
>> What is it about the nature of education and pedagogy in our society
>> that makes it so conducive to producing little fascists and martinets?
>>
>> I hope this list can take some time to reflect on this.
>>
>> best
>>
>> Shuddha
>>
>>
>>
>> Shuddhabrata Sengupta
>> The Sarai Programme at CSDS
>> Raqs Media Collective
>> shuddha at sarai.net
>> www.sarai.net
>> www.raqsmediacollective.net
>>
>>
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