Education, technology and development : An Indian perspective.

Technological development in developing countries affects only individual, isolated and frequently unconnected production units. British colonialism was chiefly responsible for the pattern in India, that destroyed the existing industries and crafts and disrupted the process of development of science and technology. The arrival of the British not only destroyed the existing crafts but eliminated the potential for developing any such indigenous technology. The first and foremost need in the education sector if it is to orient technology towards self-reliant economic development is to wipe out the remaining vestiges of colonial education. Colonial education emphasized teaching rather than learning, cramming rather than creative thinking, and examination-oriented study. It conditioned the whole education system to an alien culture and environment. Economic and social development will depend on the extent to which the indigenous technology developed reaches the masses and how effectively they use it in their everyday activities.