Anthropology and the predicament of reforming the contemporay education system of India

Anthropology has the unique distinction of integrating both the scientific as well as the humanistic traditions into a single domain of institutionalized academic teaching. Speaking within the academic parlance, it has almost become a tautological truth to define the scope of anthropology as the “study of man” in all its totality. The word “totality” has turned out to be a problematic, especially when it comes to reforming our education systems. The current spate of globalization challenging this totality of mankind has brought with itself a rapidly burgeoning body of knowledge, endemic with enormous contradictions, discrepancies, potentialities and dangers; creating a maze, a predicament for people at-large who come from varying cultural backgrounds. Under these circumstances, there is an urgent need to not only to propagate the meaning and scope of this “study of man” to our peer group, but also emphasize the need for each and every man of the society to study anthropology. The reason being that, anthropology has something profoundly relevant and vitally significant to offer, by providing a well rounded and balanced perspective for man, this is sustainable enough to take care of his future on earth. Therefore, an attempt is being made in the present paper to bring out the importance of sensitizing and engaging, not just the students but also the teachers and administrators who run our education system, in making the anthropological perspective an integral part of their training, at all the three levels of the system, that is, school, college and university, wherein an individual's personality is in its formative stages.