Education in Transition: Tradition, Technology, and the Loss of Trust

Last night, the young girl student from Balasore, Odisha, who had suffered 95 percent burns and was undergoing dialysis after an alleged self-immolation attempt linked to academic exploitation, passed away during treatment. The tragedy has deeply jolted our collective moral compass. The horror of the event lies not only in its violence, but in what it revealed: the collapse of trust in an educational relationship once considered sacred, the Guru and the Sishya. It urged me to reflect not merely on this singular tragedy, but on the entire arc of our educational journey, from the spiritually grounded Gurukuls to the emotionally sterile, Al-driven systems of today. How did a tradition built on respect, discipline, and truth find itself teetering at such a moral edge?

- DR SIMANT KUMAR NANDA

In ancient India, learning was a way of life. The Gurukul system emphasized not the transmission of information, but the cultivation of character. Students lived with their Guru, imbibing values through proximity, humility, and service. Listening, or sravana, was the first step, followed by manana (contemplation), and nididhyasana (internalization). The oral tradition, using slokas and mantras, was remarkably precise and psychologically tuned to memory. The Guru, far more than a teacher, was a moral compass, a life guide. Institutions like Takshashila and Nalanda, flourishing as early as the Sth century BCE, were not only knowledge hubs for medicine, astronomy, and grammar, but also spiritual centers of discourse and introspection.

Over time, as palm leaf manuscripts emerged and poetic writing flourished, reading and writing began to supplement the auditory tradition. Yet even then, poetic meters were designed for internal chanting. Manuscripts were sacred, not commercial objects. The relationship between teacher and student retained its emotional sanctity. Even during the medieval period, with the rise of temples, madrasas, and Buddhist viharas, oral learning remained central. It was only with the advent of colonial education that pedagogy shifted towards text-heavy, examination-driven, and job-oriented systems. The moral and emotional dimensions took a back seat to technical rigor and bureaucratic success.