Mahakavi Bharathi, The Forerunner of the National Education Policy

Abstract

According to Bharathi's educational ideas, everyone can get an equal status in society through education. He lays down the curriculum to include basic writing, mathematics, history, geography, astronomy, religious-based education, economic education, inquiry-based science, political science, handcraft industry, agriculture, business, physical education, and field trips. He insists that mother tongue education is the best for education. He wants to develop the necessary vocabulary for science subjects. Female education is essential for national liberation. Education should be given to women as equal to men. He says that only then will there be equality. Industry, agriculture, commerce, and many other professions should be taught during education and uplift the community it belongs to. It will also help to uplift this country. As a sign of education, he advises empathy for simplicity, anger for smallness, and making those lower in status equal to him. Education about nationality, legal education, and physical education should be made compulsory. Education should be an expression of students' self-reflection. Bharathiyar has expressed all the above as educational thoughts through his poetry, essays, letters, journals, and lectures. The aim of this article is to show that Bharathi's educational ideas were the forerunners of today's national education policy.