Decolonisation in higher education

'There were these very concerted efforts [in India] to educate people to be able to contribute to the building of an independent nation. And I think that it's...that kind of vision of the university [that] still exists in some ways, because we have a very strong outreach program. For example, it's always been very encouraged that the university should go and work outside the university for the common people, for people who may not be able to come to the university -- we have many programs which do that kind of thing. There's a sense of activism, that education is not just about ivory towers, but it's also about going to the people and...contributing in some way.

--Professor Nilanjana Gupta, Retired, Department of English, Jadavpur University

'In the best of cases, of course, the students begin to get to know other kinds of students, which is one of the great things about a public university -- that students from different backgrounds can actually meet, as equals. And they can actually begin to know and understand other identities and communities.'

--Professor Nilanjana Gupta, Retired, Department of English, Jadavpur University 

'The curriculum, as it stands today, almost has nothing that is taken from the lives of this indigenous population. Whatever is written in the books, those black and white letters have no relationship to what is very intimate to the lives of this indigenous people. For them, it's rote learning. How far can rote learning take a person?'

--Professor Maroona Murmu, Department of History, Jadavpur University