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Education
Strengthening positive sentiments
THE PROBLEM of value education of the young is assuming increasing prominence in educational discussions during recent times. Parents, teachers and society at large have been concerned about values and value education of children. The present situation in India demands a system of education, which, apart from strengthening national unity, must strengthen social solidarity through meaningful and constructive value education.
Whatever be the cause of the present value crisis, there is no gainsaying the fact that the weakening of moral values in our social life is creating serious social and ethical conflicts. It is this changing context — the declining moral standards in personal and public life on the one hand, and the national ideological commitment to the values of democracy, socialism, secularism and modernisation on the other, that constituted the driving force behind the recommendations, stressing the importance of value education in educational institutions.
While there is general dissatisfaction with the fall in moral standards, there has been no concerted attempt on the part of society to address itself squarely to the problem of value education. Unfortunately, education is becoming more or less materialistic and the value traditions are being slowly given up. The degeneration in the present day life, the demoralisation of public and private life and the utter disregard for values, are all traceable to the fact that moral, religious and spiritual education has not been given due place in our educational system. In the life of the majority of Indians, religion is a great motivating force and is intimately bound up with the formation of character and the inculcation of ethical values. A national system of education that is related to life, needs and inspiration of the people cannot afford to ignore this purposeful force. Value crisis of the present day life is baffling the minds of educators and education as well.
The effect of the value crisis on present day life is witnessed in many ways. The democratic ideology that has been accepted by our country is yet to be actualised in the form of social and economic democracy as to realise democratic values guaranteed by the Constitution of India. The individual is becoming a prey to the contradictory values and is being converted as a consequence into an extreme radical, a reactionary, a skeptic or a cynic. Also the present Indian educational system is reflecting more or less borrowed ideologies and philosophies and the national values are relegated to the back. Apart from this, the teacher-educators and teachers are not being clearly oriented to the national values, ideas, ideals and ideologies that they have to inculcate in the students. Hence, they are not in a position to play their role as value educators.
The student community is drowned neck-deep in poverty, ignorance and unhealthy surroundings. Hence, they are not in a position to comprehend the real values of our contemporary India. Our curriculum does not reflect human values and the value system. Hence our schools and colleges have become examination centres and not value centres. The problem with value education, it appears, is that while everybody is convinced of its importance, it is not clear as to what it precisely means and what it involves.
In our educational reconstruction, the problem of an integrated perspective on values is pivotal, for its solution alone can provide organic unity for all the multifarious activities of a school or college curriculum programme. An integrated education can provide for integrated growth of personality and integrated education is not possible without integration of values.
In value education, as in any other area of education, what is asked of the teacher is a total commitment to the development of rational autonomy in both thought and action. It should be noted that the most important aspect of value education consists not in unwilling adherence to a set of rules and regulations but in the building and strengthening of positive sentiments for people and ideals. Value education should prepare individuals for participation in social life and acceptance of social rules. What is more important in value education is that schools should provide a healthy climate for sharing responsibilities, community life and relationships.
In this context, the new National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFCE) prepared by the NCERT gives uppermost importance to value education in schools. The NCERT also organises in-service education courses for key level persons and prepares instructional materials. The RIE, Mysore has brought out "Treasure Trove of Values" which consists of aecdotes, fables, stories, legends, biographies and folk tales related to values which will be of great use at primary stage. The National Resource Centre for Value Education (NRCVE) has been set up in order to plan and implement programmes on value oriented education.
The NCERT has also launched a National Programme for srengthening value education. The focus of the programme is on generating awareness, material development, teacher training, development of school programmes, promotion of research and innovations in the area of education of human values and development of a framework of value education for the school system. In this context, a Regional Nodal Centre (RNC) has been set up at the RIE, Mysore, since September 2002, which is responsible for linkages, networking, monitoring and follow up, at the State, district and grassroot level for implementation of value education programmes.
The centre will also take up the responsibility of organising national consultation and regional workshops on value education with focus on strategies of awareness generation, material development and teacher training.
N. N. Prahallada
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