Urgent need of the hour
When one thinks of values …. few emotions conjures up instantly in mind viz., love, peace, respect, tolerance, humility, honesty, co-operation, brother-hood, responsibility and many more such old world ideas. Well, you may say why these are considered as old world ideas. That is because most of these ideas seem to be slowly vanishing from the present cut-throat competitive world. It requires yeomen effort to hang on to these ideas today. Following this path is difficult indeed, requiring an iron will and determination. Only those who have gone through this know the immense sacrifices they have had to make in its adherence, but at the end of the day only such a person is a truly satisfied and a happy person within.
Any institution which imparts all the above mentioned moral values and succeeds in planting the seed permanently in a young budding brain at a tender age and inspires that person enough to follow it through in life, may be considered to have had a true value-based education and not those colleges or schools having one or two classes on moral science which is by-hearted and then poured ad verbatim during examinations and promptly forgotten the next day. In fact any institution which guides a student to be an agent of positive change and transformation in society can rightly be said to have succeeded in imbibing value-based education.
In what ways it may be imparted ?
Well theoretically speaking it may be imparted in the form of living value education a kind of value based education program, which is in force in several educational institutions across the country. It offers a variety of experiential values activities and practical methodologies to teachers and facilitators to enable children and young adults to explore and develop 12 key personal and social values viz.,
Cooperation, Freedom, Happiness, Honesty, Humility, Love, Peace, Respect, Responsibility, Simplicity, Tolerance, Unity. In simplified terms it could be any education system which teaches you the following: How to live life well? How to find happiness? How to make others happy? How to manage all kinds of people and happenings as well. How to grow and succeed in the right manner?
Which is more important academic education or value education?
This is a moot question ... which is more important - academic education or value education ? …… Well the answer is: Both are equally important. Without formal education, you will not be able to read or write. Without these skills, you cannot get a good job or manage even the simple things of daily living.
Value education is equally important. If a highly qualified, well- employed person does not know how to behave properly, all that he or she does has little meaning and will not serve him or her well. Fruitful education is the kind used for our welfare as well as that of others. This can only happen only when you have both academic and value education. Value education helps you both in difficult moments and in happy ones.
Many people with education and power take success for granted and everything goes their way. But the minute something goes wrong and they face failure, they go to pieces. You have heard of some of the world richest men taking their lives when faced with crisis situations. Even renowned kings with vast kingdoms and riches have had their share of low times. A number of them collapsed. But a few others approached spiritual masters and learned about a life of values. They changed themselves, began to follow a good way of living and became even greater than before.
Degradation of values in society:
The call for values is currently echoing more incessantly throughout our country as educators, parents and even children are increasingly concerned about and affected by violence, growing social problems, and the lack of social cohesion. Educators are, once again, forced to address issues which have arisen due to lack of values within our societies.
Examples:
One case which instantly comes to mind is that of two Class 8 students of Euro International School, a Delhi suburban school gunning down their class mate Abhishek Tyagi by pumping 5 bullets on Dec 12, 2007 in a cold-blood and pre-meditated manner, as he had been reportedly bullying them. But what makes even school-going kids barely 14 years of age resort to taking the law into their hands at such a tender age. The amount of rage and anger within in some ways may be directly attributed to exposure to violence on screen both big and small, as well as internet along-with what is happening in real life as also lack of proper values inculcated at home.
Another case is that of a teachers resorting to so-called disciplining leading to a student’s death as it happened in a school in North, when a student was ruthlessly canned for an apparently frivolous reason as putting his feet out of his seat during exams. Although on the face of it, it may look a silly reason for such extreme punishment, but it indicates the level of frustration, anguish and pressure inherent within the teaching faculty living life on edge with low salaries, unable to cope with day to day living and making ends meet in this highly materialistic society. But above all it indicates the erosion of ethical values within the very segment which has the responsibility on its shoulder to impart it to tender impressionable minds. This is indeed a frightening scenario.
Conclusion:
Both these contrasting examples of violence inherent within the teaching and taught segment, makes one do a lot of rethinking on where our esteemed values have disappeared and where our society heading towards …well only posterity can answer this question. In the meantime, we need to do a lot of rethinking before the rot stems in, and we have no means to redeem it. The time is ripe now for all right thinking, well-meaning individuals, educationists, politicians, social thinkers, leaders, NGOs, and even the man on the street to put on their thinking caps and come up with new ideas and fresh streams of thought to stem the rot (so to speak), before it is too late. The time for action is NOW.
When one thinks of values …. few emotions conjures up instantly in mind viz., love, peace, respect, tolerance, humility, honesty, co-operation, brother-hood, responsibility and many more such old world ideas. Well, you may say why these are considered as old world ideas. That is because most of these ideas seem to be slowly vanishing from the present cut-throat competitive world. It requires yeomen effort to hang on to these ideas today. Following this path is difficult indeed, requiring an iron will and determination. Only those who have gone through this know the immense sacrifices they have had to make in its adherence, but at the end of the day only such a person is a truly satisfied and a happy person within.
Any institution which imparts all the above mentioned moral values and succeeds in planting the seed permanently in a young budding brain at a tender age and inspires that person enough to follow it through in life, may be considered to have had a true value-based education and not those colleges or schools having one or two classes on moral science which is by-hearted and then poured ad verbatim during examinations and promptly forgotten the next day. In fact any institution which guides a student to be an agent of positive change and transformation in society can rightly be said to have succeeded in imbibing value-based education.
In what ways it may be imparted ?
Well theoretically speaking it may be imparted in the form of living value education a kind of value based education program, which is in force in several educational institutions across the country. It offers a variety of experiential values activities and practical methodologies to teachers and facilitators to enable children and young adults to explore and develop 12 key personal and social values viz.,
Cooperation, Freedom, Happiness, Honesty, Humility, Love, Peace, Respect, Responsibility, Simplicity, Tolerance, Unity. In simplified terms it could be any education system which teaches you the following: How to live life well? How to find happiness? How to make others happy? How to manage all kinds of people and happenings as well. How to grow and succeed in the right manner?
Which is more important academic education or value education?
This is a moot question ... which is more important - academic education or value education ? …… Well the answer is: Both are equally important. Without formal education, you will not be able to read or write. Without these skills, you cannot get a good job or manage even the simple things of daily living.
Value education is equally important. If a highly qualified, well- employed person does not know how to behave properly, all that he or she does has little meaning and will not serve him or her well. Fruitful education is the kind used for our welfare as well as that of others. This can only happen only when you have both academic and value education. Value education helps you both in difficult moments and in happy ones.
Many people with education and power take success for granted and everything goes their way. But the minute something goes wrong and they face failure, they go to pieces. You have heard of some of the world richest men taking their lives when faced with crisis situations. Even renowned kings with vast kingdoms and riches have had their share of low times. A number of them collapsed. But a few others approached spiritual masters and learned about a life of values. They changed themselves, began to follow a good way of living and became even greater than before.
Degradation of values in society:
The call for values is currently echoing more incessantly throughout our country as educators, parents and even children are increasingly concerned about and affected by violence, growing social problems, and the lack of social cohesion. Educators are, once again, forced to address issues which have arisen due to lack of values within our societies.
Examples:
One case which instantly comes to mind is that of two Class 8 students of Euro International School, a Delhi suburban school gunning down their class mate Abhishek Tyagi by pumping 5 bullets on Dec 12, 2007 in a cold-blood and pre-meditated manner, as he had been reportedly bullying them. But what makes even school-going kids barely 14 years of age resort to taking the law into their hands at such a tender age. The amount of rage and anger within in some ways may be directly attributed to exposure to violence on screen both big and small, as well as internet along-with what is happening in real life as also lack of proper values inculcated at home.
Another case is that of a teachers resorting to so-called disciplining leading to a student’s death as it happened in a school in North, when a student was ruthlessly canned for an apparently frivolous reason as putting his feet out of his seat during exams. Although on the face of it, it may look a silly reason for such extreme punishment, but it indicates the level of frustration, anguish and pressure inherent within the teaching faculty living life on edge with low salaries, unable to cope with day to day living and making ends meet in this highly materialistic society. But above all it indicates the erosion of ethical values within the very segment which has the responsibility on its shoulder to impart it to tender impressionable minds. This is indeed a frightening scenario.
Conclusion:
Both these contrasting examples of violence inherent within the teaching and taught segment, makes one do a lot of rethinking on where our esteemed values have disappeared and where our society heading towards …well only posterity can answer this question. In the meantime, we need to do a lot of rethinking before the rot stems in, and we have no means to redeem it. The time is ripe now for all right thinking, well-meaning individuals, educationists, politicians, social thinkers, leaders, NGOs, and even the man on the street to put on their thinking caps and come up with new ideas and fresh streams of thought to stem the rot (so to speak), before it is too late. The time for action is NOW.
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