Essay on Educational thoughts of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
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Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya was an Indian educationist, politician, journalist, lawyer and freedom activist. He was born in Allahabad, North-Western Provinces, India on 25 December 1861.
The role of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya in the course of higher education in India was unique and highly farsighted. First of all, he claimed that religion is neglected everywhere and that patriotism was impossible without religion. He believed that the unity of life which is the essence of religion is the basis of morality, patriotism and education.
According to Malaviya, the education should be pursued by each individual by his own efforts under the guidence of his spiritual preceptor. He also claimed that India cannot regain her prosperity until the study and application of modern science becomes naturalized in the country and that science cannot become a national possession as long as it has to be studied through the medium of a foreign language. He wanted a wide diffusion of science in India as a means of rescuing people from poverty and ignorance.
Malaviya had the concept of higher education, and this concept included the preservation of the best thoughts and culture of ancient India; as well as the education and training of experts in science, business and industry at the same time. He believed that the good combination of history and modernisation from the West, will provide the best results.
Malaviya believed that male and female students should have equal rights. He also firmly believed that a large number of well educated scholars will make the national army very strong and this educated army will combat ignorance and spread knowledge. Malaviya visualised that the students trained in the new, improved system of education would be able to spread the knowledge through the country and thereby develop national spirit.
Answer:
Malaviya was born in Allahabad, North-Western Provinces, India on 25 December 1861, in a Brahmin family to Pandit Baijnath and Moona Devi Malaviya. His ancestors, known for their Sanskrit scholarship, originally hailed from Malwa (Ujjain) in the present-day state of Madhya Pradesh and hence came to be known as 'Malaviyas'. Their original surname was Chaturvedi. His father was also a learned man in Sanskrit scriptures, and used to recite the Srimad Bhagavatam.
Malaviya was traditionally educated at two Sanskrit Pathshalas and later continued education at an English school. Malaviya started his schooling at Hardeva's Dharma Gyanopadesh Pathshala, where he completed his primary education and later another school run by Vidha Vardini Sabha. He then joined Allahabad Zila School (Allahabad District School), where he started writing poems under the pen name Makarand which were published in journals and magazines.
Malaviya matriculated in 1879 from the Muir Central College, now known as Allahabad University. Harrison College's Principal provided a monthly scholarship to Malaviya, whose family had been facing financial hardships, and he was able to complete his B.A. at the University of Calcutta.
Although he wanted to pursue an M.A. in Sanskrit, his family conditions did not allow it and his father wanted him to take his family profession of Bhagavat recital, thus in July 1884 Madan Mohan Malaviya started his career as an assistant master at the Govt High School in Allahabad.
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