• How, where and when did structured schooling start?

We know that at the advent of human civilisation, the task of educating the younger generation was that of the family and especially of the parents. When we advanced to the agricultural stage, all education was imparted orally and it was experiential. Boys and girls helped their parents in their daily work and acquired the necessary skills through observation, apprenticeship and hands on learning. The family continued to be the source of folk -lore; tradition, myths, fables, legends and all this had an oral tradition; both in the east and the west.

Gradually, the parents felt that the task of educating the younger generation needed specialised skills and they were pressed for want of time. Hence the village priest- shaman- was assigned this task.

Eric Ashby regards this as the First Great Revolution in Social evolution. The responsibility of educating the young was hence passed on from the family to a so-called specialist within the community. Soon we had the invention of the written word and that brought a major shift in the process.

In ancient Vedic times, education in the ‘Patshalas’ and ‘Gurukuls’ was imparted orally. Even Buddhist education in ‘Mats’ and ‘Viharas’, and in the ‘Madrasas’ of the Muslims; continued to be given orally even after the written word was available.

The Society took upon itself the task of educating the younger generation and donated land, funds and resources to Gurus who dedicated themselves to the task of imparting education. These small centres soon grew and their fame spread far and wide. Lords, Kings and Landlords in the Feudal Society provided support. Soon the system became more and more organised and had controls, regulations and so on.

Hence it got loosely structured. Entry age was decided. Curriculum was formed. Assessment procedure was laid down. But all this had a variety of models as it varied from one tribe to another, one community to another and from one society to another. With the passage of time, the need for uniformity in certain basic practices and regulations was felt and ordered for by Kings or democratically elected Councils. It was just before the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the Printing Press that we had a somewhat loosely structured form of Schooling existing throughout the world and each civilisation was at some stage of development.

The present day structure is one that has proved to be boring, monotonous and only helpful in establishing routine and curbing creativity. That is why, we have been trying with various models like: Non Formal Education, Open School, Home Schooling etc and even major changes are being initiated in the way the schools ought to function and the purposes for which they exist.