Union minister calls for Indianised education

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has strongly criticized the impact of Macaulay’s education policy on India, calling it a colonial instrument that weakened the nation’s knowledge systems. Speaking at an education conference, Pradhan said the policy was designed to create English-educated clerks instead of thinkers, innovators, and nation-builders.

He pointed out that the framework introduced by Thomas Babington Macaulay in the 19th century deliberately undermined India’s vast heritage of learning in mathematics, astronomy, Ayurveda, philosophy, and literature. According to Pradhan, generations of Indians were alienated from their cultural roots, while rote learning and dependence on Western systems were promoted.

The Minister stressed that the colonial education model continues to cast its shadow on India’s schools and universities. To counter this, he highlighted the National Education Policy (NEP) as a transformative step aimed at reviving India’s traditional knowledge while preparing students with modern scientific and technological skills.

Pradhan urged teachers, policymakers, and youth to shed colonial hangovers and adopt an education system rooted in Indian values. He underlined that blending heritage with innovation will be the cornerstone of building a self-reliant and globally leading India.