Multicultural education in Indian

India is arguably the oldest civilization on this planet. And with passage of time it has become culturally, linguistically, religiously and ethnically one of the most diverse countries of the world. With 35 States & Union Territories and 200 languages, it can easily be termed as the cultural melting pot of the world. To maintain this cultural diversity, every aspect of our life should be taken care of. And what better than education to start with.

Multicultural education is the need of the hour, to make education really effective, and to ensure that the knowledge of India’s cultural diversity is available to all children in India. When the Indian constitution guarantees free as well as mandatory education to children between the age of six to fourteen years, it ensures that the cultural values of a civilization like India, passes on and on. In today’s India, children, attend one of the two types of schools: private funded schools or government funded schools - all depending on their family’s orientation and wealth. But the curriculum in both types of schools, predominantly chartered by the central government and guided by the constitution of India, is basically pluralistic in nature.Thus, the main goal of multicultural education is quality education for all its children. We can have a better understanding of it from the National Curriculum Framework (2005) which focusses on:

• Strengthening national education system for a pluralistic society

• Reducing the curriculum load

• Systemic changes in tune with curricular reforms

• Curriculum based on the values mentioned in the Constitution, like social justice, equality & secularism

• Ensuring high end holistic education for all children

• Nurturing a generation committed to democratic practices, values, sensitivity towards gender justice, etc.

• Multilingual character of Indian society as a source for the enrichment of school life

An understanding of the different facets of our culture, which certainly involves languages and traditions, makes a student groom into an adult, well aware of our cultural plurality, its relevance and importance in the present day context. It makes him knowledgeable enough to respect others’ point of view as much his own.

KR Mangalam World School in Gurgaon advocate and champion the theory of Multicultural Education, and from curriculum to conduct follow it holistically. The management of the schools, through its curriculum and co-curricular activities, makes it a point to imbibe in its students, a deep sense of pride for India’s multicultural past, which makes the country what it is.