Question

Why did Mahatma Gandhi want to teach children handicrafts?

Answer 1

• As per Gandhi, literacy which means simply learning to write and read is not education.
• Gandhi said literacy was not the beginning of education nor the end of education.
• As per Gandhi education should draw out the best in man and child, in spirit, mind and body.
• Gandhi was of the opinion that literacy in itself is not education.
• Gandhi expressed that he would begin educating a child by teaching handicraft, enabling a child to produce right from the moment it begins its training.
• Gandhi was of the view that a child should be taught wherefore and why of every process, handicrafts have to be taught scientifically and not merely mechanically.
• As per Gandhi, people had to learn how different things operated, how to learn a craft and how to work with their hands, is education. This would increase the capacity to understand and develop their mind.
• Mahatma Gandhi said Western education did not pay attention to practical knowledge or lived experience rather it gave importance to textbooks. He said it did not focus on oral knowledge but rather focused on writing and reading.