Gargi Banerjee interviewed Dr. Sushanta Dattagupta, vice chancellor of Visva-Bharati University, in his office on the VBU campus. Excerpts:

Rabindranath Tagore often described Visva-Bharati as the greatest achievement of his life. Yet to this day there is confusion about Tagore’s educational philosophy and the goals he set for VBU…

In his formative years, Tagore was deeply disappointed with the claustrophobic colonial system of education imposed upon India. He refused to attend a formal school in Britain or India. However he was fortunate because his father Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, widely acknowledged as one of the foremost leaders of the Bengal intelligentsia, had a steady stream of intellectuals coming in and out of the Tagore ancestral home in Jorasanko. Thus although homeschooled by his elder brothers, Tagore was exposed to the ideas of the greatest thinkers and scholars of the era. He grew up in an environment where music, drama and other fine arts were an integral part of his education.

In 1901 at age 40, he moved with his family to Santiniketan to start a residential school following ashram ideals. Thus the Brahmacharya Ashram School became the foundation stone of Visva-Bharati University. Tagore was not a formal educationist and his educational philosophy influenced by his frequent travels to Europe and the Far East, evolved during his lifetime. Two decades after promoting the residential school in Santiniketan, he donated all his wealth to establish VBU as a unique centre of learning. Music, dance and art were integrated into the curriculums of all faculties to transform students into well-rounded and high-thinking citizens, involved with nation-building. Gurudev believed the purpose of education was not to ‘manufacture’ excellence, but for excellence to be the byproduct of education dispensed in VBU.

Despite its distinguished parentage and history, VBU is not ranked among India’s Top 10 universities by any media publication or organisation. What’s your comment? 
VBU is a university with unique character. Unfortunately, thus far we have been unsuccessful in conveying this to the education authorities and UGC in Delhi, who have lumped us with all other universities. The biggest problem is of insufficient funding. Under the UGC guidelines for the Twelfth Plan period, we were sanctioned Rs.850 crore for infrastructure and faculty development but have received only Rs.68 crore, of which more than 50 percent has been used to pay faculty salaries.

Consequently we are facing an acute shortage of residential accommodation for students. Tagore had conceptualised Visva-Bharati as a rooted residential community learning and living together. Therefore lack of residential accommodation has interfered with realisation of his ideals.

Would it be accurate to say that you are in despair about the present condition of VBU?

No. Despite all the problems that ail Visva-Bharati, it is still an inspiring model for educationists across India.  You won’t find VBU students confined to their classrooms but all over the campus, with Kala Bhavan students painting on the banks of the Kopai river and sculptors and their mentors chiselling late into the night. Our rural reconstruction programme at Sriniketan which has 50 adopted villages is another example of how VBU is deeply connected with rural India. We have open air classrooms not only in our schools but also in VBU where science is taught in the lap of nature.
Moreover, we accord high importance to cultural education. Each festival is celebrated in a cultural and scientific context, enabling our students to learn how intrinsic culture and nature is to our lives, and how the ecology must be preserved for the welfare of mankind.

How optimistic are you about the rejuvenation of VBU and realisation of Gurudev’s Santiniketan dream?

Although there is precious little I can do in the current framework within which I am obliged to operate, I believe that reviving the liberal and experiential curriculum which Gurudev Tagore had envisaged, and infusing it with fine arts and music will equip our students with the life skills that make well-rounded personalities. On the centenary of our founder having received the Nobel Prize for his lofty vision and deep philosophical insights relating to education, we have been re-inspired to provide our students with curriculums that will transcend bookish knowledge, broaden their minds, build character and equip them to become valued, contributing members of society. That was Rabindranth Tagore’s blueprint for education and his cherished dream.