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Log inBunker Roy: Learning from a barefoot movement | Video on TED.com
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Bunker Roy: Learning from a barefoot movement | Video on TED.com
by Bittu Mon Nov 14, 2011 6:53 pm
http://www.ted.com/talks/bunker_roy.html#
Bittu- Posts : 1151
Join date : 2011-08-19
Re: Bunker Roy: Learning from a barefoot movement | Video on TED.com
by Jeremiah Mburuburu Tue Nov 15, 2011 11:37 am
thanks for posting this TED talk by bunker roy. i myself had wanted to post it.
i've tracked roy's activities for many years. for a brief period in the early eighties, he was a member of india's planning commission, the body that devises soviet-style five-year plans for the central government. he must have formed "barefoot college" - i think its formal name is something like "institute for social research" - well before that.
even though roy appears to be a gandhian, one can detect some swagger in his TED presentation.
i suspect his college and his activities are financed by international aid agencies, i.e. his org is not self-sustaining. he disdains those with higher education, favouring "traditional knowledge," village wisdom, and practical skills. yet, his college and activities wouldn't have got off the ground if it were not for the decades of r & d that underly those solar panels and the photovoltaic cells of which they're made, and the capital and processes which made their manufacture possible.
moreover, roy himself, and his knowledge of what's possible and the resources available, and how to organize and finance an institution like barefoot college are products of higher education.
regardless, roy's work should be appreciated; he's shown that people without formal education, at least 25% of india's population, can produce valuable goods and services, if they're given a little help. his work also highlights the stupidity of the government of india's industrial policy of ignoring the potential of the manufacturing sector, which can employ the 25% and more.
when my son was performing poorly at school and seemed rudderless, i had wanted him to spend a year or two at barefoot college, hoping that it would inspire him. that never happened.
btw, sanjit "bunker" roy is married to aruna roy, the prime, motive force behind the enactment of of india's right to information act.
i hope that when you're in india, you'll visit barefoot college which is in the tilonia district of rajasthan, near ajmer, take a lot of photographs there, especially of people and their activities, and post them here.
i've tracked roy's activities for many years. for a brief period in the early eighties, he was a member of india's planning commission, the body that devises soviet-style five-year plans for the central government. he must have formed "barefoot college" - i think its formal name is something like "institute for social research" - well before that.
even though roy appears to be a gandhian, one can detect some swagger in his TED presentation.
i suspect his college and his activities are financed by international aid agencies, i.e. his org is not self-sustaining. he disdains those with higher education, favouring "traditional knowledge," village wisdom, and practical skills. yet, his college and activities wouldn't have got off the ground if it were not for the decades of r & d that underly those solar panels and the photovoltaic cells of which they're made, and the capital and processes which made their manufacture possible.
moreover, roy himself, and his knowledge of what's possible and the resources available, and how to organize and finance an institution like barefoot college are products of higher education.
regardless, roy's work should be appreciated; he's shown that people without formal education, at least 25% of india's population, can produce valuable goods and services, if they're given a little help. his work also highlights the stupidity of the government of india's industrial policy of ignoring the potential of the manufacturing sector, which can employ the 25% and more.
when my son was performing poorly at school and seemed rudderless, i had wanted him to spend a year or two at barefoot college, hoping that it would inspire him. that never happened.
btw, sanjit "bunker" roy is married to aruna roy, the prime, motive force behind the enactment of of india's right to information act.
i hope that when you're in india, you'll visit barefoot college which is in the tilonia district of rajasthan, near ajmer, take a lot of photographs there, especially of people and their activities, and post them here.
Jeremiah Mburuburu- Posts : 1251
Join date : 2011-09-09
Re: Bunker Roy: Learning from a barefoot movement | Video on TED.com
by Guest Tue Nov 15, 2011 12:15 pm
Jeremiah Mburuburu wrote:when my son was performing poorly at school and seemed rudderless, i had wanted him to spend a year or two at barefoot college, hoping that it would inspire him. that never happened.
you didn't send, or he didn't spend a year or two there, or he didn't get inspired? what didn't happen?
Guest- Guest
Re: Bunker Roy: Learning from a barefoot movement | Video on TED.com
by Jeremiah Mburuburu Wed Nov 16, 2011 2:40 pm
he didn't go. although barefoot college has its flaws, i believe that anyone is likely to be inspired by living and working there for a year or two.Tracy Whitney wrote:you didn't send, or he didn't spend a year or two there, or he didn't get inspired? what didn't happen?Jeremiah Mburuburu wrote:when my son was performing poorly at school and seemed rudderless, i had wanted him to spend a year or two at barefoot college, hoping that it would inspire him. that never happened.
Jeremiah Mburuburu- Posts : 1251
Join date : 2011-09-09
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