Educational experiment in Phoenix settlement, south Africa
Phoenix Settlement was finally started in 1904 with a
small group of lndian and European idealists. In course of time Phoenix
Settlement became a little village. The basic idea was to experiment as to what
extent simplicity of life, harmonious living of people together can be
successfully and joyfully practised.
The Phoenix Settlement, established by Mahatma Gandhi
in 1904, is situated on the north-western edge of Inanda, some 20 kilometers
north of Durban.
The basic idea was to experiment as to what extent
simplicity of life, harmonious living of people together can be successfully
and joyfully practised. The settlement, devoted to Gandhi’s principles of Satyagraha (Passive
resistance) has played an important spiritual and political rope throughout its
long history, promotion justice, peace and equality. Gandhi established the
settlement as a communal experimental farm with the view of giving each family
two acres of land which they could develop. He believed that communities like
Phoenix which advocated communal living would form a sound basis for the
struggle against social injustice. Everybody on the settlement had to
participate in communal activities such as the daily prayers and singing of
hymns which Gandhi himself had instituted. The
Phoenix Settlement: Sarvodaya - ‘The welfare of all’. Phoenix Settlement is an
integral part of our history and our present, it is yours to preserve. Cherish
it and thrive on this land. It is yours, it is mine, it belongs to all our
children and grandchildren and those who have yet to enter the world. Eight
years after this visit, Gandhiji started printing his own newspaper, Indian Opinion,
in Durban. In 1904 he took the decision to remove the printing press from the
centre of town to the countryside. Albert West provides a firsthand account of
how and why Phoenix was purchased by Gandhiji.
While mobilising the Indians living in South Africa for
the struggle for self-dignity, Gandhiji had gone through various experiences
and had conducted experiments to find an alternative approach to conflict
resolution and re-structuring social relationships through non-violence. Among
these experiments those on education are the most important for us here. After
reading Unto This Last he said “I believe that I discovered some of my deepest
convictions reflected in this great book of Ruskin that is why it so captured
me and made me transform my life.”
The teachings of the book as he grasped them where
(1) That the good of the individual is contained in the
good of all.
(2) That a lawyer's work has the same value as the
barber's in as much as all have the same right of earning their livelihood from
their work.
(3) That a life of labour, i.e. the life of the tiller of
the soil and the handicraftsman, is the life worth living.
Gandhiji was also editing and publishing Indian Opinion
from Durban, which he thought should be moved to a farm, on which everyone
should labour, drawing the same living wage, and attending to press work in
their spare time. After a discussion with his colleagues about his ideas, with
which they all agreed, Indian Opinion was moved to Phoenix Settlement was
started in 1904. It became a well-knit family of committed people trying to
live their lives under the guidance of Gandhiji.
He was
very conscious about the need for the education of the members of the Phoenix
Farm, especially of children. He wrote in his autobiography. “As the Farm grew,
it was found necessary to make some provision for the education of its boys and
girls. There were among these, Hindu, Musalman, Parsi and Christian boys and
some Hindu girls. It was not possible, and I did not think necessary, to engage
a special teacher for them. It was not possible, for qualified Indian teachers
were scarce, and even when available, none would be ready to go to a place 21
miles distant from Johannesburg on a small salary… I did not believe in the
existing system of education, and I had a mind to by experience and experiment
the true system.” Gandhiji’s struggle continued. On the one hand he totally
rejected the existing system of education, but on the other he did not have
clear alternative to replace it. He had no idea of how to go about the task of
education the children of his extended family. However, he was deeply convinced
that only that education desirable which develops a healthy self-image and
inculcates certain values in the individual.
The basic idea was to experiment as to what extent
simplicity of life, harmonious living of people together can be successfully
and joyfully practised. His concept of self-supporting education for rural
India received ground for development from Phoenix itself.
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