- Political education may be defined as the preparation of citizen to take well informed responsible and sustained action for participation in the national struggle for the realization of the socio-economic objectives of the country. The overriding socio-economic objectives in India are the abolition of poverty and the creation of a modern democratic, secular and socialist society in place of the present traditional, feudal, hierarchical and inegalitarian one. Under the British rule, the Congress leaders argued that political education was an important part of education and refused to accept the official view that education and politics should not be mixed with one another. But when they came to power in 1947 they almost adopted the British policy and began to talk of education being 'defiled' by politics. Hands off education was the call to political parties. But, in spite of it, political infiltration into the education system has greatly increased in the sense that different political parties vie with each other to capture the mind of students and teachers. The wise academicians wanted political support without political interference. What we have actually received is finite political interference with little genuine political support. This interference with the educational system by political parties for their own ulterior motives is no political education at all; and with the all-round growth of elitism, it is hardly a matter for surprise that real political education within the school system (which really means the creation of the commitment to social transformation) has been even weaker than in the pre-independence period.
At the same time, the freedom struggle came to an end the major non-formal agency of political education disappeared. The press could and did provide some political education. But it did not utilize the opportunity to the full and stranglehold of vested interests continued to dominate it. The same can be said of political parties as well of other institutions and agencies outstand the school system which can be expected to provide political education. All things considered, it appears that we have made no progress in genuine political education in the post-independence period and have even slid back in some respects. For instance, the education system has become even more elite-oriented. Patriotism has become the first casualty. Gandhiji gives us the courage to oppose the government when it was wrong, in a disciplined fashion and on basic principles (he believed the means to be as important as the ends) and taught us to work among the poor people for mobilizing and organizing them. Today, we have even lost the courage to fight on basic issues in a disciplined manner because agitational and anarchic politics for individual, group or party aggrandizement has become common. The education system of today continues to support the domination of the privileged groups and domestication of the underprivileged ones. The situation will not change unless we take vigorous steps to provide genuine political education on an adequate scale. This is one of the major educational reforms we need; and if it is not carried out, mere linear expansion of the existing system of formal education will only support the status quo and 'hamper' radical social transformation.
Which is the major pitfall of the present education system?It is mainly represented by the downtrodden masses.It perpetuates the domination of the privileged few.It is based on the British model of education.It is highly hierarchical and inegalitarian in nature.It does not inculcate values among the students.Option B
Given in the last para of the passage the education system of today continues to support the domination of the privileged groups and domestication of the underprivileged ones.
- Which word is nearly same in meaning as ‘defile’ used in the passage?DisparageTarnishDegenerateCriticizeContaminateOption E
Defile: damage the purity or appearance/ spoil/debase
Contaminate: to add impurity and it completely goes with the flow of the passage
Degenerate: to become worse/ very low level
Tarnish: discolor /rust/deteriorate
Disparage: regard as being of little worth/ undervalue/ minimize
- What should be the ultimate objective of political system?To foster all round growth of elitismTo bring quantitative change in the entire education systemTo create an egalitarian societyTo prepare student with high intellectual acumenTo provide genuine support to educational institutionsOption D
- According to the passage, what is the main contribution of Mahatma Gandhi to the field of political education?He spread ‘political literacy’ among the people through non-formal political education.He emphasized the need of keeping education free from political interference.He taught us agitational and anarchic politics in a disciplined manner.He made us believe that our political end should be compatible with the means.Not given in the passage.Option D
- Which is the most opposite in meaning to the word ‘hamper’ as used in the passage?expediteenhancefosteropposeinitiateOption A
- assumption/premisejudgement/punishmentdeduction/abstractionimpression/intuitionopinion/thoughtOption A
- malnourished/ deprivedprivileged/advantagedaffluent/wealthywell-off/well-healedpenniless/hard upOption A
- secondary/incidentalhigher/vitalprimary /elementaryinitial/openinglower level/leadingOption C
- taken/graspedcollected/accumulatedfetch/carryretrieve/recovercontrolled/dominatedOption B
- discover/detectannounced/distinguisheddeclare/notespot/seeobserved/noticedOption E
Directions (6-10): In the passage given below there are blanks which are to be filled with the options given below. Find out the appropriate pair of words in each case which can most suitably complete the sentence without altering the meaning of the statement.
What is the future which awaits our children? The underlying ___(6)____ of the questions that Indian children have a common future is itself dubious. It can legitimately be asked whether a student who is well-fed, attending a boarding school in the salubrious climate of the hills, and learning to use computers has any future in common with a _____(7)_____ child who goes to a school with no black boards, if indeed he does go to school. The latter may have no worthwhile future at all. And it might be worthwhile to analyze the significance of this marginalization of more than 75 percent of the children of this country.
This failure to provide an infrastructure for ___(8)____ education in the villages of India for more than 40 years after independence is in sharp contrast with the sophisticated institutions, for technical institutions of higher education are funded by government, which essentially means that the money to support them comes from taxes. And since indirect taxation forms a substantial part of the taxes __(9)_____ by the government, the financial burden borne by all the people. L.K. Jha put it graphically when he _____(10)_____ that 25 paise of every rupee spent on educating an IIT student comes from the pockets of men and women whose children may never enter a proper classroom.
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