Friday 4 March 2016

THE NEED FOR ADHERENCE TO VALUES IN PRESENT EDUCATION SYSTEM


Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all” - Aristotle

Destiny of a nation is shaped in her classrooms. One child, one teacher, one book, one pen has the power to transform the whole world. The importance of education can nicely be expressed by the lines “A pen is mightier than the sword.” It is beyond doubt that all the individuals, societies, institutions, governments throughout the world have realized the importance of education. But if we see it from a different perspective then we would realize that education alone itself can’t make this world a perfect place. If it alone could then, “Why the present world is not free of problems?” “Why still there is social unrest leading to violence?” “Why are we still experiencing miseries in day to day life?” “Why despite having everything we lack prosperity and wisdom?” The answer lies in the importance of “values”. Education without values is just like producing machine/robots and not humans. It makes no sense if we gather knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. Therefore, value education is necessary so that the civilization that teaches us to manage complexities can be sustained and further developed.
Malala Yousafzai was an ordinary school student when Taliban attacked her for propagating education among children (especially among girls). What made her to raise voice against that injustice was value system inculcated to her by parents and teachers.

What Education without values would be?
A knife in the hands of a doctor can save many lives but the same knife in the hands of a murderer becomes a source of destruction. Education without values would create world of - Politics without Principle, Religion without Sacrifice, Science without Humanity, Business without Morality, Knowledge without Character, Pleasure without Conscience and Wealth without Work!
In this era of a “knowledge explosion” which has engulfed the present-day education system, the primary goal of education for improving the quality of life has been lost sight of. The present education system presses students hard to master vast content areas without providing them opportunity to introspect how that content/knowledge can be put to best of use.
When students cheat during exams it’s because our school system values grades more than student’s value learning. Our present education system is producing good engineers, doctors, lawyers, leaders but not good humans/thinkers/philosophers. This clearly signifies the lack of values in our present education system.

Why need for adherence to values in Education?
Bookish education mere provides us knowledge but it is the value system that teaches us how to utilize it – For or against the mankind! Discovery of Atom Bomb and Penicillin are both products of knowledge but it is the values which differentiate their inventors. It is the same value system that differentiates between Gandhi and Hitler (despite both of them being intellectual). Gandhi is respected world over for propagation of truth and non-violence whereas Hitler finds his place as “devil” in the pages of history books.
There are several problems plaguing the whole world. Corruption has spread its roots everywhere and almost every section of the society is affected by it. Scholars have researched intensively but are unable to come out with a universally accepted solution. Hence, now majority are of the view that this evil can only be encountered by value education. As former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam rightly said “If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference – the father, the mother and the teacher." In other worlds he is directly emphasizing on value education to children through teachers and parents.
According to Global Risk Report, one major risk world is facing at present times is Religious/Ideological Extremism. Whole world is sitting on the brink of religious civil wars because of hatred and intolerance towards different religious ideologies. Our country also had witnessed riots. Every day in newspapers we read about  youth world over joining ISIS, Al Qaeda –This is because youth today is becoming Impatient and wants immediate results which weakens his rational thinking to differentiate between right and wrong. Hence there is need to strengthen their value system to make them more tolerant and secular.
Income Inequality could be reduced if ‘business’ is replaced by ‘business with ethics’ and the necessary values must be inculcated into the graduates – Doctors, Engineers, MBA scholars, Lawyers who will shape future of our nation so that they consider it their duty and not mere ‘profession’.
Sexual Abuse – What urges a juvenile to rape an innocent girl puts a big question mark on our ability to inculcate values in our children. Not only the individual who raped but society as a whole is responsible for these kinds of heinous acts because values were lacking in that juvenile.
Drug Abuse Problem – Major problem in state of Punjab. We can open innumerable Rehabilitation centers but they only serve as a ‘cure’ and that too with very low success rate. The best ‘prevention’ strategy in this regard will be to engage youth in value education.
Development of biotechnology and bio-informatics has on the one hand, increased agricultural production, better medical facilities, some environmental gains, but has also created problems of ‘gene cloning’ and ‘surrogate motherhood’, raising complex ethical issues. If we neglect to make connection between basic ethics and technological progress, we would be ushering in an era of barbarism with a human face.
Remember, education is better safeguard of liberty than a strong army; it is a better tool for women empowerment than mere government schemes; it is an effective tool that can better safeguards human rights rather than conventions, declarations etc which merely exist on paper.

Framework
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Recourse Development in its Eighty First Report on Value based Education (1999) highlighted that Truth (Satya), Righteous Conduct (Dharma), Peace (Shanti), Love (Prema), and Non-violence (Ahimsa) as the core universal values which needed to be identified as the foundation stone on which the value based education programme can be build up. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a specialized body of UN for propagating education has also realized the importance of values in education.
Value education must begin right from the family and must be continued in schools. The family system in India has a long tradition of imparting value education. But with the progress of modernity and fast changing role of the parents it has not been very easy for the parents to impart relevant values in their wards. Also schools and universities today run on profit motive considering imparting education as mere business and not a duty. Hence a holistic and multi-pronged approach may be adopted starting from informal education by birth itself and then continuing it in schools and University level. First and foremost need is to rejuvenate the family system of imparting value education to child. Ethical and moral values must be included in school curriculum. School must strive to provide ‘Gurukul’ like culture to students (Teachers can prove to be a vital link for this as a good teacher teaches from heart and not from the books). Emphasis must be put on Human Rights Education in Universities by introducing research and documentation courses at graduate and post graduate levels. Values of empathy, compassion, secularism, inclusiveness and pluralism must be highlighted to fulfill ideals of justice, equity, freedom, democracy and human rights. Philosophies of great reformers and thinkers must be taught and healthy discussions/debates must be held. In this regard Swami Vivekananda philosophy of ‘not I but thou’, meaning you are a part of me and I of you, in hurting you I hurt myself and in helping you I help myself can be of immense importance. Focus must be on broad values such as cultural, universal, personal and social values. Even there is need to inculcate Environmental values to avoid instances of deforestation, global warming, water and air pollution. The concept of our planet as ‘mother earth’ must be reviewed by introducing environmental values in curriculum.
We must keep in mind that it is the value system that could prepare the younger generation to become responsible citizens who finally would contribute to the welfare of society and to the advancement of human race. True values would be inculcated when we would be able to produce more and more ‘eklavyas’ in our class rooms who just like him (sliced off his thumb without hesitation and offered it to Drona as guru dakshina’) would devote themselves for the development of nation and betterment of mankind/society as a whole.

What "Religion" means to me ?

Relgion - Its not just a word - It encompasses the whole of universe and If you supposedly happen to be theist, then not only universe, it may encompass the creator of universe as well.
For some, 'religion' means worshipping god may be for inner satisfaction or may be out of fear. For others it may be the means for maximising happiness. Some profess religion by visiting Mecca, some by practising a shot of marijuana, some by kidnapping innocent girls (Boko Haram) in name of it, some by justifying killing innocent people, raping women & girls. Everyone is now using religion as a tool to satisfy his/her own needs and interprets it accordingly.

For me "religion" is synonym for putting smile on faces and for this matter it would not be incorrect if I call myself as an "atheist". Yes being born in a Hindu family, I also use to believe in religion. (Here I'm not referring to word "religion" but the way it is professed). Slowly the supposedly holy threads in hand of mine were replaced by watch. I still have belief in the word 'religion' but I outrightly reject some of the methods by which it is professed. My religion doesn't depends on fluctuating oil prices, neither my god becomes so much angry through its cartoons that it justifies killing. My God is not a function of space and time. My religion is not god fearing but god loving.




Yes! I’ve been to temple, I bowed in a mosque, I have make prayers in a Church as well but I couldn’t spot any difference/reason in them like some people argue – My God is superior to you, Our holy book is superior than yours! Jai Shri Ram is same for me as Allah ho Akhbar which in turn appears to me having same meaning as Long Live Christ!