‘Real freedom is not the ability to just choose our politicians. Real freedom is when we can choose our gurus’
When I was nine years old, I started my first business. I made greeting cards and sold them to our neighbours. With the money I earned, I bought baseball cards and traded them with my friends in the neighbourhood. Through trading, I learned how to do negotiations, present my ideas and deal with conflict. By playing sport, doing community service and volunteering at many jobs, I learned important life skills. I happened to do well in class even though I never studied, and ended up in Harvard University. After going there, I realised that for my children it is not that necessary to waste their time going to school.
At first, I wanted to change the education system. I ended up working at UNESCO in many different countries and tried to bring more space for creative expression and practical real world projects. The system was really resistant to change. After five years of working with UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank, I understood that the system was geared to make school a cage. Everyday, the cage closes in further. Look at CCTVs in schools, more standardised testing, more competition. My idea was to do something radically different—start by trusting the learner, no matter their age.
When I met my wife in 1998 in India, we decided that we would not send our children to school and would try to build an open learning community in Udaipur. We wanted to create a space where children could freely learn things according to what they wanted and needed in their diverse contexts, where they could set their own learning agenda. The mainstream school doesn’t care about what the child thinks. It doesn’t understand their local culture, their individual experience or their community life. It doesn’t encourage them to learn practical skills.
We set up Shikshantar in Udaipur 18 years ago as an inter-generational resource centre for children, youth adults and older people to learn and unlearn, respectively. The freedom to unlearn and decondition our minds from fear and arrogance is important, particularly for parents.
We set up Swaraj University about seven years ago. The model is, we believe, each person’s learning system is unique, and we help students design their own learning plans. I believe real freedom is not the ability to just choose our politicians. Real freedom is when we can choose our gurus.
Five years ago, we launched a campaign called ‘Healing Ourselves from the Diploma Disease’. We have today over 500 businesses and NGOs willing to hire without diplomas, only a portfolio and a commitment to try. We want to challenge the unjust status quo that labels children as failures and dropouts.