19 each other. Through ashram life, the students learn about life, and the teachers are
helping the students as a part of their life and not of their profession.
C. Review on the Indian Education
This part discusses the Indian education. The discussion starts with the ancient Indian education. Then, the discussion continues to the modern Indian
education system, especially around 1913.
1. Ancient Education
Indian education unifies with religion and philosophy. There are many education thought in India. However, the study only mentions the two thoughts of
education which are the most well developed. They are Upanishad and Buddhism. The history of teaching Upanishad was started in 800-400 B.C. It is not
stated who started this thought. In ancient time, the teaching of Upanishad was held in some schools. There are six kinds of schools. The first is private school.
The second is Pashasd. This school regards teacher as the center of education. The third is Forest College that focuses on contemplation. The fourth is temple
school. This kind of school focuses on religious instructions and it was developed after 500 A.D. The fifth is Matha. In this school, the students learn about Vedas
and Upanishad through Brahmin learning. The sixth is Vidyapatha. This school is more liberal than Matha.
The main aim of Upanishad is to liberate the unique capacity of human being as a divine spirit. This thought regards human beings to have a free soul.
20 However, this thought constraints the education in caste system. The real
education, in Upanishad, should teach human beings to beware of sense of objects.
In Upanishad, teacher has the greatest contribution in education. Teachers get the great respect from the students. Teachers become the center of teaching
learning process. Thus, the students learn from the teacher’s life and behavior. The second religion that affects Indian education thought is Buddhism. The
education thought of Buddhism is different from Upanishad. Buddhism does not select the students based on caste. It has strict law in education that children start
their studies at the age of six and complete at the age of twenty. Buddhism is divided into three sects. They are Hinayana Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, and
Zen Buddhism. In Buddhism, education implies the clearing away of all biases and prejudices. Mayer 45 states that
“The real knowledge is based on intuition and unities an understanding of nature with a comprehension of the self
”.
2. Modern Education
