Swami Vivekananda’s Vision and Its Relevance to the Modern Education System

Abstract

Human communities cyclically forget their innate dignity and retreat into narrow identities of caste, region, and sect. Against this backdrop, Swami Vivekananda stands out as a seminal voice insisting that the aim of life—and hence of education—is the realization of the divinity already present in every individual. This article revisits Vivekananda’s educational philosophy, grounded in Vedānta and the Upaniṣads, and argues for its strong contemporary relevance. Moving beyond information transfer, he advocated “man-making education,” which integrates intellectual, physical, moral, and spiritual development; cultivates character and self-reliance; and harmonizes scientific temper with value-orientation and social responsibility. After outlining the intellectual foundations of his thought, the paper explicates the core dimensions of his educational model—personal excellence, women’s empowerment, and uplift of the masses—before assessing its resonance with current policy (e.g., India’s NEP 2020) and practice (value education, holistic learning, service-learning). The paper closes with practical recommendations for curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, teacher education, and institutional culture that can translate Vivekananda’s insights into implementable designs without reducing them to devotional slogans.