Endless Siege: Education and Nationalism in Vidya Bharati Schools

This book is an ethnographic study of the Vidya Bharati chain of schools in India, run by a Hindu nationalist organization called the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). It explores the role and impact of textbooks in modern India, despite limited resources and a radical ideology. The schools have achieved considerable success in the private education market and are an important example of the interlinkage between ideology and nationalism in contemporary India. The author analyzes school structure, curriculum, teaching quality, institutional goals, and ideology to identify reasons behind Vidya Bharati's success and questions the failures of the public education system in India.

Format: Hardback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 13 May 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press

This is an ethnographic study of the Vidya Bharati chain of schools in India, which are run by a Hindu nationalist organization called the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The first study of its kind, this volume is an important narrative on the role and impact of textbooks in modern India. Despite having limited resources (they are run on a tight budget) and being based on a radical ideology that derives from a Hindu nationalist agenda, the Vidya Bharati schools have achieved considerable success in the free market of private education and have grown to over 12,000 schools within 40 years. They are an important example of the interlinkage between ideology and nationalism in contemporary India.

The author analyzes school structure, curriculum, teaching quality, institutional goals, and ideology in an effort to identify reasons behind Vidya Bharati's success and to show through his field research that a combined strategy of pragmatism blended with ideology has allowed the schools to become highly sought-after. This analysis then asks broader questions about the failures of the public education system in India.

Dimension: 216 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192865564