Value and Character Education

[sravna]

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Much has been discussed about the need to reassess the education system and change it so that it serves a really useful purpose. My view is that the most needed change is to introduce the inclusion of assessment of the values and character that each student has ingrained in him and the scope for improvement in one's adherence to values and display of character. This has to be given equal or greater weightage in the education system than for conventional arts and science subjects that students are assessed for and importantly the assessment made in this should be the basis on which students can pursue career in certain fields such as in public service and so on.

In addition there should be support in the education system for those who fail to make the mark and the emphasis should be such that these factors can be learnt and improved upon.

This should bring in the much needed breath of clean and fresh air to crucial areas in the government and other places and should be able to revolutionize the way the affairs of the country are conducted. I have always felt that the problems that the nation faces should be addressed starting at the level of primary education and only then a fundamental change is possible.

 

[vgane]

Dear Shri Sravna,

No doubt moral education is need of the hour for the students of all class, creed and color..But equally important is taking legal action against the violators of law and culprits involved in various acts of omission, commission and other crimes..Our courts of law should be activated to fast track the criminal cases and pronounce their verdicts fast so that justice is swiftly meted to all

 

[sravna]

Yes Shri Vgane, I agree.

 

[renuka]

Dear Sravna,

I feel after Modi finished his reign..you should be PM.

Really..you have a lot of ideas.

 

[sravna]

Dear Sravna,

I feel after Modi finished his reign..you should be PM.

Really..you have a lot of ideas.

Dear Renuka,

More than the ideas it is the ability to implement that needs to be there. But thanks for the compliment.

 

[Vaagmi]

Dear Sravna,

1. You have touched only the periphery of the problem. The task bristles with the following problems.

a. AchAryAth pAdham AdattE. So only a quarter of whatever the person acquire comes from school. And school means teacher. What is the quality of our teachers? I have seen teachers drawing a last puff from the cigarette and reluctantly throwing out the half smoked cigarette before entering the classroom to take up the class. What values can a student learn from such teachers? Many teachers know very little about their subject. They just look at the worked out examples in the textbook and take the class.

b. When education becomes a business as it has happened in our country, the rich get the best education even though they may not be bright. The poor and deserving do not get the best education. They are left to be satisfied with mediocrity. The quoted price of a seat in medical college in TN for MBBS is about 50 lakhs. Do you think the brilliant students all have this sum to offer to the college? And reservation is another huge waste of resources. It is heavily loaded in favour of mediocre. Merit suffers. A country which does not honour merit is fit only to be a slave for ever. We are just that. We have brains but we have not given a single OS yet to the world in Computer. Our brilliant boys are all at best mechanics of a different category. They know how a programme is coded and how it works. They are good at tweaking it to achieve a commercial goal. They have never given one which others can tweak. This country is condemned to wallow in abject dependence for ever and ever. It is this education system that teaches values to our children and you can imagine what kind of value they will be picking up.

c. If school and peers at school form 25% of values and knowledge picked up and our children are coming out of such schools they are already 25% monsters. And to this we have to add the kind of parenting that our young crowd appears to be indulging in. Every one saying that poonool is to be hanged along with thali on the coat stand or that IC marriage is the panacea for all the ills of the society or that any alien value has to be only a liberal value while indian values are all obnoxious and orthodox the young crowd does not appear to be promising.

d. This society is ever condemned to be a slave society to foreign organizing ability and foreign value systems. No hope whatsoever.

 

[sravna]

Dear Shri Vaagmi,

What I meant is a revolution in the education system. So it means those who are supposed to teach and assess students are themselves people who are competent to do the job. I am not as much concerned about the teaching of Science and Arts subjects as I am concerned about the teaching of values and character though I want an emphasis on the former too.

As we focus on moral values we need to put in as much thought in developing the content and methodology of imparting them as we put into the imparting of Science education. It needs to be done in a well thought out manner with clear vision of what we are trying to achieve. It also means that such values are imparted by competent people who in the very least have undergone training for doing that. Such teachers may also have to be assessed as to whether they are capably performing their job. The point is, a very high priority and importance has to be given to the successful building of an education system that can mold the character of the people in the right way. The benefits I am sure will far outweigh the efforts put in.

We will definitely start to produce people who would want to lead and not just be a slave to the western ideas.

 

[Vaagmi]

Dear Shri Vaagmi,

What I meant is a revolution in the education system. So it means those who are supposed to teach and assess students are themselves people who are competent to do the job. I am not as much concerned about the teaching of Science and Arts subjects as I am concerned about the teaching of values and character though I want an emphasis on the former too.

As we focus on moral values we need to put in as much thought in developing the content and methodology of imparting them as we put into the imparting of Science education. It needs to be done in a well thought out manner with clear vision of what we are trying to achieve. It also means that such values are imparted by competent people who in the very least have undergone training for doing that. Such teachers may also have to be assessed as to whether they are capably performing their job. The point is, a very high priority and importance has to be given to the successful building of an education system that can mold the character of the people in the right way. The benefits I am sure will far outweigh the efforts put in.

We will definitely start to produce people who would want to lead and not just be a slave to the western ideas.

I appreciate your optimism.

 

[sarang]

Shravanaji
I do not know what is taught in schools now. We were taught from several neethi books - athichudi, naladiyar, konraivendan etc. which explained moral and ethical concepts in simple words. To ask someone to write a book on moral education is fraught with danger in present 'secular' environment. Parents/family, neighbours/immediate community and teachers/schools all have equal role and responsibility in imparting right values. In the interest of political correctness and secularism, school books are sanitized and often made irrelevant.

Much has been discussed about the need to reassess the education system and change it so that it serves a really useful purpose. My view is that the most needed change is to introduce the inclusion of assessment of the values and character that each student has ingrained in him and the scope for improvement in one's adherence to values and display of character. This has to be given equal or greater weightage in the education system than for conventional arts and science subjects that students are assessed for and importantly the assessment made in this should be the basis on which students can pursue career in certain fields such as in public service and so on.

In addition there should be support in the education system for those who fail to make the mark and the emphasis should be such that these factors can be learnt and improved upon.

This should bring in the much needed breath of clean and fresh air to crucial areas in the government and other places and should be able to revolutionize the way the affairs of the country are conducted. I have always felt that the problems that the nation faces should be addressed starting at the level of primary education and only then a fundamental change is possible.

 

[sravna]

Shravanaji
Now I do not know that is taught in schools. We were taught several neethi rules - athichudi, naladiyar, konraivendan etc. which explained moral and ethical concepts in simple words. To ask someone to write a book on moral education is fraught with danger in present 'secular' environment. Parents/family, neighbours/immediate community and teachers/schools all have equal role and responsibility in imparting right values. In the interest of political correctness and secularism, school books are sanitized and often made irrelevant.

Dear Shri Sarang,

The tragedy is even though there are content that when learnt should improve the moral values of students they are not seen as such. They are just meant to be learnt by rote and reproduced during exams with the sole objective of securing marks. Sarang ji, I am talking of a really concerted effort in this direction. Moral values are universal in nature and I think such universal values need to be taught. It need not be aligned with a particular religion.

 

[auh]

What is value?, and, what is character? Are these universal or subjective or situational. Are these even rational? Is there an age-grading applicable? Can we have a measurable yardstick to evaluate these?

 

[sravna]

What is value?, and, what is character? Are these universal or subjective or situational. Are these even rational? Is there an age-grading applicable? Can we have a measurable yardstick to evaluate these?

Dear Shri Auh,

Good questions. By definition, by values I mean such thinking and behavior that anyone can follow in a universal and timeless way. So I do not consider them subjective or situational. Since they are universal and timeless they are not subject to the prejudices or influences or idiosyncrasies of certain time or population and hence represent unbiased and clear thinking. That is the reason they are desirable even if you follow them by faith. On the other extreme is the immoral thinking and behavior which is full of contradictions and certain to lead to self destruction. In the past we have made the mistake of promoting blind following of values which had caused many to turn away from them as meaningless. We need to rectify such mistakes and make efforts to help people really understand the importance behind such values and then follow them.

Character is all the mental traits exhibited by someone who understands and adheres to the above mentioned values.