International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Education and India’s National Education Policy 2020: A Comparative Philosophical Analysis

National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is a radical change in the Indian education system that focuses on the holistic growth, multidisciplinary learning, and pedagogy, which is learner-centred. Interestingly, most of these principles echo previous philosophical visions that were expressed by Indian educational thinkers. One of them is Sri Aurobindo with his notion of Integral Education, which is a complex system which tends to focus more on the coordinated growth of the physical, vital, mental, psychic and spiritual levels of human personality. This paper is a comparative philosophical inquiry that aims at exploring the conceptual connexion between the educational ideology of Sri Aurobindo and the guiding ideals of NEP 2020. A qualitative approach to philosophy is used in the research, where textual and conceptual analysis of the main writings by Sri Aurobindo and the official policy document of NEP 2020 can be employed. By using the thematic comparison, it becomes possible to see that the areas of convergence are numerous: they are holistic education, multidisciplinary learning, experiential pedagogy, multilingual education, and adapting Indian knowledge systems. The results indicate that much of the central concepts within NEP 2020 echo philosophical concepts expressed by Aurobindo in Integral Education over one hundred years ago. Yet, at the same time that NEP 2020 is more mainly concerned with institutional and structural changes, Aurobindo philosophy offers a more comprehensive normative framework of the ethical development of self, and the development of human consciousness. The paper claims that adopting the philosophical practises of Integral Education will be able to enhance humanistic and ethical principles of modern education reforms besides bringing in a more holistic and culturally based education system in India. Keywords: Sri Aurobindo, Integral Education, NEP 2020, Holistic Development, Experiential Learning, Multilingual Education, Educational Philosophy.